Moshe (Mosheh) Merin (also Moniek Merin and Moszek or Mojżesz Israel Merin in

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

; 1905 – June 1943) was the head of the Jewish Community Council, or

Judenrat A ''Judenrat'' (, ) was an administrative body, established in any zone of German-occupied Europe during World War II, purporting to represent its Jewish community in dealings with the Nazi authorities. The Germans required Jews to form ''J ...

, in the

Sosnowiec Ghetto The Sosnowiec Ghetto () was a World War II ghetto set up by Nazi German authorities for Polish Jews in the Środula district of Sosnowiec in the Province of Upper Silesia. During the Holocaust in occupied Poland, most inmates, estimated at over ...

during the Nazi German

occupation of Poland Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

in World War II. It is believed that he was murdered in the

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...

.Yad Vashem
Moniek (Moshe) Merin, The Central Database of Shoah Victims' Names.
Automatic translation from Hebrew. Item ID: 3968401. Submitted by Sara Khana Unger Kleiner. As with most Jewish Council leadership of the time, his actions or lack thereof during

the Holocaust in occupied Poland The Holocaust saw the ghettoization, robbery, deportation and mass murder of Jews, alongside other groups under similar racial pretexts in occupied Poland by the Nazi Germany. Over three million Polish Jews were murdered, primarily at the ...

are highly controversial.

Life

Moniek Merin was born in

Sosnowiec Sosnowiec is an industrial city county in the Dąbrowa Basin of southern Poland, in the Silesian Voivodeship, which is also part of the Metropolis GZM municipal association.—— Located in the eastern part of the Upper Silesian Industrial Re ...

(Sosnovitz) in the

Prussian Partition The Prussian Partition (), or Prussian Poland, is the former territories of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth acquired during the Partitions of Poland, in the late 18th century by the Kingdom of Prussia. The Prussian acquisition amounted to ...

, at the border with Austria-Hungary. He was married twice and divorced. His teenage daughter from the marriage to Marysia (Mania) Gancwajch, Halinka Merin, survived

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

according to

USHMM The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust, dedicated to the documentation, study, and interpretation of the Holocaust. Opened in 1993, the museum explores the Holocaust through p ...

records, saved by a Polish farmer, name unknown. Merin made his living by trading goods before the Nazi-Soviet

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

. He was described by others as an unstable and impulsive man.

World War II

After the German takeover of Sosnowiec on September 4, 1939, Merin presented himself to the Nazis as head of the

Community Council, when the former president (from before the invasion of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

), Lejzerowicz, remained silent in a meeting with the German officers. Merin reported from behind the last row of community members subjected to a 24-hour detention in a public bath. It remains unclear whether or not he was on the pre-war council; his advance rested on the fact that he could speak the

German language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...

. Such was the beginning of his career as chairman of the

in the

and the adjacent

Będzin Ghetto The Będzin Ghetto (a.k.a. the Bendzin Ghetto, , Bendiner geto; ) was a World War II ghetto set up by Nazi Germany for the Polish Jews in the town of Będzin in occupied south-western Poland. The formation of the 'Jewish Quarter' was pronounce ...

forming a single administrative unit.

Consolidation of power

In January 1940, Merin was installed by the Nazis as leader of the Central Office of the Jewish Council of Elders in

East Upper Silesia East Upper Silesia (; ) is the easternmost extremity of Silesia, the eastern part of the Upper Silesian region around the city of Katowice ().Isabel Heinemann, ''"Rasse, Siedlung, deutsches Blut": das Rasse- und Siedlungshauptamt der SS und die ras ...

(), responsible for some 45 Jewish communities of approximately 100,000

Polish Jews The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jews, Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the long pe ...

. Within a year, he controlled dozens of Judenräte. Merin is noted to have been very harsh in his dealings with the Jewish groups opposing occupation including Hanoar Hazioni,

Hashomer Hatzair Hashomer Hatzair (, , 'The Young Guard') is a Labor Zionism, Labor Zionist, secular Jewish youth movement founded in 1913 in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austria-Hungary. It was also the name of the Hashomer Hatzair Workers Party, the ...

, Gordonia,

Poalei Zion Poale Zion (, also romanized ''Poalei Tziyon'' or ''Poaley Syjon'', meaning "Workers of Zion") was a movement of Marxist–Zionist Jewish workers founded in various cities of Poland, Europe and the Russian Empire at about the turn of the 20th ce ...

, and Hitachdut. Merin aided the Nazis in the hunt for the leaders of the aforementioned groups, going so far as to place a request for their arrest and signing their execution orders himself. He did this with full cooperation of the Jewish Police Force, whose leader fervently defended Merin's every decision. Merin's approach was similar to that of

Chaim Rumkowski Chaim Mordechaj Rumkowski (February 27, 1877 – August 28, 1944) was the head of the Jewish Council of Elders in the Łódź Ghetto appointed by Nazi Germany during the German occupation of Poland. Rumkowski accrued much power by transforming ...

's, ''Judenälteste'' of the

Łódź Ghetto The Łódź Ghetto or Litzmannstadt Ghetto (after the Nazi German name for Łódź) was a Nazi ghetto established by the German authorities for Polish Jews and Roma following the Invasion of Poland. It was the second-largest ghetto in all of ...

, in that he was convinced that by tying the Jews in his ghettos to forced labor, some would survive the war. However, Merin engaged in extortions going far beyond what other ghetto leaders would ever attempt. On one occasion, Merin requested 15,000 zlotys of ransom for each of the 100 prisoners he promised to free from the deadly slave labour. The amount was three-hundred-times higher than the highest similar ransom collected in the

Lublin Ghetto The Lublin Ghetto was a World War II ghetto created by Nazi Germany in the city of Lublin on the territory of General Government in occupied Poland. The ghetto inmates were mostly Polish Jews, although a number of Roma were also brought in.Dor ...

. None of the Jews were released, and the money was never refunded. Like Rumkowski, Merin attempted to make justifications for the 25,000 Jews he helped to deport by claiming that their sacrifice enabled the survival of those who remained as he stated: "If I have lost only 25 percent when I could have lost all, who can wish better results?" It is because of his insistence on fulfilling every German request that Merin has been depicted as a

Nazi collaborator In World War II, many governments, organizations and individuals Collaborationism, collaborated with the Axis powers, "out of conviction, desperation, or under coercion". Nationalists sometimes welcomed German or Italian troops they believed wou ...

. Merin reconfigured the leadership of his councils by expelling those who opposed his methods, and by appointing Jews loyal only to him, including his brother-in-law and a notorious criminal,

Abraham Gancwajch Abraham Gancwajch (1902–1943) was a prominent Nazi collaborator in the Warsaw Ghetto during the World War II occupation of Poland, and a Jewish kingpin of the ghetto underworld. Opinions about his ghetto activities are controversial, though ...

, to carry out further Nazi orders in Sosnowiec and its surrounding area. In spite of his full cooperation with the Nazis, Merin was sent to

Auschwitz-Birkenau Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...

in June 1943, one month before the last Holocaust transport left the

Notes

References

* Konrad Charmatz (2003),
Nightmares: memoirs of the years of horror under Nazi rule in Europe, 1939-1945.
' Syracuse University Press; , via Google Books. *

Israel Gutman Israel Gutman (; 20 May 1923 – 1 October 2013) was a Polish-born Israeli historian and a survivor of the Holocaust. Biography Israel (Yisrael) Gutman was born in Warsaw, Second Polish Republic. After participating and being wounded in the ...

(1990),
Encyclopedia of the Holocaust.
' Macmillan, * Jarosław Sobaszek, Łukasz Podlejski (2005), ''Żydzi w Sosnowcu-historia niepełna.'', Wydawnictwo Adore, Dąbrowa Górnicza, * Natan E. Sternfinkiel (1946), ''Zagłada Żydów Sosnowca'', Katowice, {{DEFAULTSORT:Merin, Moshe 1905 births 1943 deaths Polish Jews who died in the Holocaust Jewish Polish history Polish people who died in Auschwitz concentration camp Polish civilians killed in World War II Executed Polish collaborators with Nazi Germany Executed Jewish collaborators with Nazi Germany Sosnowiec Ghetto