I would be remiss, as a person who lost relatives at the hands of the Nazi murderers, if I did not point out that Rumkowski was a tragic figure caught up in the unbelievable horror and utter madness of the Holocaust.
Perhaps in some ways an egotistical opportunist, drunk with the "power" the Nazis conferred on him by putting Rumkowski in control of the day to day life of the Lodz Ghetto, nevertheless this flawed and doomed individual did in fact manage to delay the eventual deportation and murder of thousands of Jews in the Lodz Ghetto which included Rumkowski himself and his own family. all of whom later died in Auschwitz Concentration camp.
My own relatives died in the Buchenwald and Sobibor death camps but had they been in the Lodz Ghetto their stay on this Earth would have been slightly prolonged by the actions and decisions of the admittedly flawed and at times dictatorially ruthless Rumkowski who against all odds did in fact manage to keep thousands of Jews in Life long after the inhabitants of most of the Jewish Ghettos had already been deported and sent to their deaths.
To compare Mordechai Chaim RUMKOWSKI (1877-1944)who was himself murdered by the Nazis in Auschwitz, with a person like Joel Klein, Esq. the uncredentialed Faux Chancellor of the New York City Schools system would be comical if it were not so sad and tragic.
Mr. Klein who lives in luxury in a Park Avenue Duplex would not know the meaning of real human suffering if it stared him in the face.
He assuredly is not aware in the slightest (or chooses to ignore) the suffering he has, by his dictatorially vicious policies, visited upon countless thousands of innocent New York City UFT member Teachers.
I refer here to his ruthless and knowingly premeditated agenda that had and still has, as its long term aim, the goal of driving out of the NYC school system as many teachers as possible due to their age, or their refusal to conform to his goosestep Educationally flawed and misinformed policies.
Or- because they refuse to remain silent in the face of the rampant corruption in the NYC DOE and/or constant retaliation against Whistle-blowers who take seriously their legally mandated obligation to report wrongdoing, whenever and wherever it is observed.
Degrees of human suffering should never be compared and I would be the last person on this Earth to equate the suffering that former Federal prosecutor Joel Klein has visited upon the dedicated Public School Teachers of New York City, with the horrific suffering and murder of my own and so many other's extended families and relatives during the Holocaust.
That said, it must be appreciated that while the well known dictatorial personality of Holocaust victim Mordechai Chaim RUMKOWSKI is clearly evident in the flawed character of Joel Klein, Esq. it must be conceded that Rumkowski, despite his many dictatorially ruthless acts, also kept thousands of Jews alive in the Lodz Ghetto long after most of the Jews in the other walled Ghettos had been sent to their death.
In short, between Joel Klein and and the doomed and very tragic figure, Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski, I will choose Rumkowski any day of the week, as the individual who deserves to be considered worthy of praise.
While it cannot be denied that Rumkowski, whatever his many faults, did in fact help many, it must equally be conceded that Joel Klein and his countless stooges, lacheys, lapdogs and assorted confederates have never helped anyone but themselves.
Chairman of the Judenrat in the Lodz ghetto in Poland. Formerly an unsuccessful businessman and an orphanage director, Rumkowski was appointed Judenrat chairman on October 13, 1939, after the German invasion of Poland.
Like all Judenrat heads, Rumkowski was torn between helping the Jewish population in the ghetto survive, and giving in to the demands of the German authorities. Rumkowski, however, is considered to be one of the most controversial of all Judenrat leaders, in that he often cooperated with the Germans and treated the Jews of his ghetto dictatorially.
Rumkowski reported directly to the German ghetto administration, which was headed by Hans Biebow. He was completely responsible for everyday life in the ghetto: providing food, housing, heat, work, and health and welfare services for the suffering ghetto population. Rumkowski controlled all aspects of the ghetto, even its cultural life. When rabbis were forced to stop working, he himself began performing marriages. His picture even appeared on the ghetto's money. Rumkowski was also responsible for setting up 120 factories, which employed thousands of the ghetto’s Jews, all employed in producing goods for the Germans. Rumkowski believed that if he could create a productive and vital work force for the Nazis, then they would not destroy the ghetto.
Rumkowski also believed that in order to save the ghetto as a whole, he would have to cooperate with the Nazis and give in to their deportation demands. By the end of 1941, the extermination camp at Chelmno had been established and the Germans forced Rumkowski to organize the deportation of a portion of the ghetto population. Initially, Rumkowski tried to convince the Germans to reduce the number of Jews to be deported. However, the Germans refused and made Rumkowski responsible for deciding who was to be deported. During the first 5 months of 1942, 55,000 Jews from Lodz were sent to their deaths at Chelmno.
During the second week of September 1942, another deportation was carried out. The Nazis demanded that Rumkowski turn over all children and old people. He cooperated with their demand and calmly asked families to surrender their children. Twenty thousand Jews were brutally rounded up and sent to Chelmno.
Subsequently, there was a respite from the deportations, strengthening Rumkowski in his belief that keeping the peace and working for the Germans, would help prevent further deportations. During that period of time, the Lodz Ghetto was left alone while other ghettos all over Poland were being destroyed.
However, by the late spring of 1944, the Soviet army was advancing toward Lodz. The Nazis decided to liquidate the Lodz Ghetto. Rumkowski was forced to arrange the deportation. From June 23 to July 14, 1944, approximately 7,000 Jews were sent to Chelmno. The Jews of Lodz resisted the deportations passively, leading the Nazis to decide to liquidate the ghetto immediately, with SS and German police units carrying out the evacuation. The Germans closed the ghetto's factories and dissolved all Judenrat-run institutions.
The Jews were now taken to Auschwitz. Rumkowski encouraged the Jews to calmly report for deportation, but they ignored his request. The Germans completed the liquidation of the ghetto in late July and August, sending the Jews to their deaths. Only a few hundred Jews managed to hide successfully. Rumkowski and his family were not spared---they were deported to Auschwitz on August 30, 1944, and were murdered there. Lodz was liberated by the Soviet army on January 19, 1945.
Some historians view Rumkowski as a collaborator and traitor. Others believe he made a serious, yet flawed, attempt to rescue as many Jews as possible. _______________________________
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And Łódź Ghetto Judenälteste Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski?
Re: Is There A Difference ?
ReplyDeleteI would be remiss, as a person who lost relatives at the hands of the Nazi murderers, if I did not point out that Rumkowski was a tragic figure caught up in the unbelievable horror and utter madness of the Holocaust.
Perhaps in some ways an egotistical opportunist, drunk with the "power" the Nazis conferred on him by putting Rumkowski in control of the day to day life of the Lodz Ghetto, nevertheless this flawed and doomed individual did in fact manage to delay the eventual deportation and murder of thousands of Jews in the Lodz Ghetto which included Rumkowski himself and his own family. all of whom later died in Auschwitz Concentration camp.
My own relatives died in the Buchenwald and Sobibor death camps but had they been in the Lodz Ghetto their stay on this Earth would have been slightly prolonged by the actions and decisions of the admittedly flawed and at times dictatorially ruthless Rumkowski who against all odds did in fact manage to keep thousands of Jews in Life long after the inhabitants of most of the Jewish Ghettos had already been deported and sent to their deaths.
To compare Mordechai Chaim RUMKOWSKI (1877-1944)who was himself murdered by the Nazis in Auschwitz, with a person like Joel Klein, Esq. the uncredentialed Faux Chancellor of the New York City Schools system would be comical if it were not so sad and tragic.
Mr. Klein who lives in luxury in a Park Avenue Duplex would not know the meaning of real human suffering if it stared him in the face.
He assuredly is not aware in the slightest (or chooses to ignore) the suffering he has, by his dictatorially vicious policies, visited upon countless thousands of innocent New York City UFT member Teachers.
I refer here to his ruthless and knowingly premeditated agenda that had and still has, as its long term aim, the goal of driving out of the NYC school system as many teachers as possible due to their age, or their refusal to conform to his goosestep Educationally flawed and misinformed policies.
Or- because they refuse to remain silent in the face of the rampant corruption in the NYC DOE and/or constant retaliation against Whistle-blowers who take seriously their legally mandated obligation to report wrongdoing, whenever and wherever it is observed.
Degrees of human suffering should never be compared and I would be the last person on this Earth to equate the suffering that former Federal prosecutor Joel Klein has visited upon the dedicated Public School Teachers of New York City, with the horrific suffering and murder of my own and so many other's extended families and relatives during the Holocaust.
That said, it must be appreciated that while the well known dictatorial personality of Holocaust victim Mordechai Chaim RUMKOWSKI is clearly evident in the flawed character of Joel Klein, Esq. it must be conceded that Rumkowski, despite his many dictatorially ruthless acts, also kept thousands of Jews alive in the Lodz Ghetto long after most of the Jews in the other walled Ghettos had been sent to their death.
In short, between Joel Klein and and the doomed and very tragic figure, Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski, I will choose Rumkowski any day of the week, as the individual who deserves to be considered worthy of praise.
While it cannot be denied that Rumkowski, whatever his many faults, did in fact help many, it must equally be conceded that Joel Klein and his countless stooges, lacheys, lapdogs and assorted confederates have never helped anyone but themselves.
________________________________
________________________________
ReplyDeleteMordechai Chaim RUMKOWSKI
(1877-1944)
________________________________
Chairman of the Judenrat in the Lodz ghetto in Poland. Formerly an unsuccessful businessman and an orphanage director, Rumkowski was appointed Judenrat chairman on October 13, 1939, after the German invasion of Poland.
Like all Judenrat heads, Rumkowski was torn between helping the Jewish population in the ghetto survive, and giving in to the demands of the German authorities. Rumkowski, however, is considered to be one of the most controversial of all Judenrat leaders, in that he often cooperated with the Germans and treated the Jews of his ghetto dictatorially.
Rumkowski reported directly to the German ghetto administration, which was headed by Hans Biebow. He was completely responsible for everyday life in the ghetto: providing food, housing, heat, work, and health and welfare services for the suffering ghetto population.
Rumkowski controlled all aspects of the ghetto, even its cultural life. When rabbis were forced to stop working, he himself began performing marriages. His picture even appeared on the ghetto's money. Rumkowski was also responsible for setting up 120 factories, which employed thousands of the ghetto’s Jews, all employed in producing goods for the Germans.
Rumkowski believed that if he could create a productive and vital work force for the Nazis, then they would not destroy the ghetto.
Rumkowski also believed that in order to save the ghetto as a whole, he would have to cooperate with the Nazis and give in to their deportation demands. By the end of 1941, the extermination camp at Chelmno had been established and the Germans forced Rumkowski to organize the deportation of a portion of the ghetto population. Initially, Rumkowski tried to convince the Germans to reduce the number of Jews to be deported. However, the Germans refused and made Rumkowski responsible for deciding who was to be deported. During the first 5 months of 1942, 55,000 Jews from Lodz were sent to their deaths at Chelmno.
During the second week of September 1942, another deportation was carried out. The Nazis demanded that Rumkowski turn over all children and old people. He cooperated with their demand and calmly asked families to surrender their children. Twenty thousand Jews were brutally rounded up and sent to Chelmno.
Subsequently, there was a respite from the deportations, strengthening Rumkowski in his belief that keeping the peace and working for the Germans, would help prevent further deportations.
During that period of time, the Lodz Ghetto was left alone while other ghettos all over Poland were being destroyed.
However, by the late spring of 1944, the Soviet army was advancing toward Lodz. The Nazis decided to liquidate the Lodz Ghetto. Rumkowski was forced to arrange the deportation. From June 23 to July 14, 1944, approximately 7,000 Jews were sent to Chelmno. The Jews of Lodz resisted the deportations passively, leading the Nazis to decide to liquidate the ghetto immediately, with SS and German police units carrying out the evacuation. The Germans closed the ghetto's factories and dissolved all Judenrat-run institutions.
The Jews were now taken to Auschwitz. Rumkowski encouraged the Jews to calmly report for deportation, but they ignored his request. The Germans completed the liquidation of the ghetto in late July and August, sending the Jews to their deaths.
Only a few hundred Jews managed to hide successfully. Rumkowski and his family were not spared---they were deported to Auschwitz on August 30, 1944, and were murdered there. Lodz was liberated by the Soviet army on January 19, 1945.
Some historians view Rumkowski as a collaborator and traitor. Others believe he made a serious, yet flawed, attempt to rescue as many Jews as possible.
_______________________________