The Judenberater or Judenreferent (German plural: Judenberater; Judenreferenten), variously translated as "Jew advisers" or "Jew experts", were Nazi SS officials who supervised anti-Jewish legislation and the deportations of Jews in the countries under their responsibility. Key architects of the The Holocaust, most of them were under the direct command of Adolf Eichmann.[Herbert F. Ziegler, A review to the book by Theodor Dannecker: Ein Funktionär der 'Endlösung' , Central European History, Vol. 32, No. 4, 1999. ]
Role
The
Judenreferent was not an "adviser" in the literal sense of the term, as he was deployed exclusively in allied or occupied states to
promote anti-Jewish measures and their deportations, and was a
direct participant in anti-Jewish activities before and during World War II.
In France and several other countries defeated by Germany, the Jewish advisers were subject to the disciplinary command of the Sicherheitspolizei. In allied countries such as Bulgaria and Romania, they were subordinate to the police attaché ( Polizeiattaché) or the German ambassador.
According to Claudia Steur, the Judenberater can be divided into two groups: those like Dannecker, Dieter Wisliceny, Alois Brunner, Boßhammer and Franz Abromeit were close confidants of Adolf Eichmann and served as role models for the other "Jewish advisors". The remaining ones were initiated relatively late in the Final Solution, and their "striving for power, prestige and social advancement" was an important motive for their later participation in the Holocaust.
German policy was to involve allied governments in the persecution of Jews in order to make them complicit in the Holocaust.
List
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Belgium: Victor Humpert (1941), Kurt Asche (1941–42), Fritz Erdmann (1942–43), Felix Weidmann (1943–44), Werner Borchardt (1944)
[Lieven Saerens: Rachel, Jacob, Paul et les autres : une histoire des Juifs à bruxelles. Trad. du néerlandais par Serge Govaert. Brüssel : Mardaga, 2014 ]
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Bulgaria: Theodor Dannecker (1942–43)
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Croatia: Franz Abromeit (1942–44)
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Vichy France: Carltheo Zeitschel (1940–42),
[Roland Ray, Annäherung an Frankreich im Dienste Hitlers?: Otto Abetz und die deutsche Frankreichpolitik 1930–1942, 2000, , Chapter 10, Section 4: "Motor der 'Endlosung' in FrankReich: Judenreferent Carltheo Zeitschel"] Theodor Dannecker (1940–42), Heinz Röthke (1942), Alois Brunner (1943–44)
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Nazi Germany: Leopold von Mildenstein (1934–36) and Herbert Hagen (1937–39) were two of those who held the title of Judenreferent in Nazi Germany, under the overall command of Reinhard Heydrich.
[Max Williams, Reinhard Heydrich: The Biography: Volume 1 (2001), p. 61.]
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Greece: Dieter Wisliceny (1943), Alois Brunner (1943), Anton Burger (1944)
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Hungary: Adolf Eichmann, Dieter Wisliceny, Theodor Dannecker, Franz Abromeit, Hermann Krumey, Otto Hunsche (1944–45)
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Italy: Theodor Dannecker (1943–44), Friedrich Boßhammer (1944–45)
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Netherlands: Wilhelm Zoepf (1941–43)
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Romania: Otto von Bolschwing (1940–41), Gustav Richter (1941–44)
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Slovak State: Dieter Wisliceny (1940–44), Alois Brunner (1944–45)
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Tunisia: Carltheo Zeitschel (1942), Walter Rauff (1942–43)
Perpetrators
Most of the perpetrators, who later rose to become "Judenberater" (advisers to the Jews), were born between 1905 and 1913, had joined the NSDAP before 1933, did not find a secure position until they joined the
Schutzstaffel, and quickly advanced to positions of power.
They "slowly grew into a role that became increasingly brutal, which they then, without doubting the appropriateness of the orders given to them, carried out diligently and consistently until the end of the war."
Works cited
