The Group 13 network (, ) was a Jewish collaborationist organization in the Warsaw Ghetto during the German occupation of Poland in World War II. The rise and fall of the Group was likely a proxy for power struggles between various factions in the German military and bureaucracy, for their own financial benefit.
Background
The group was founded in December 1940 and led by Abraham Gancwajch,
the former head of
Hashomer Hatzair in Łódź.
[W. D. Rubinstein, The Left, the Right, and the Jews Universe Books, 1982, , p. 136.] The Thirteen took its informal name from the address of its main office at 13 Leszno Street in
Warsaw. Sanctioned by Sicherheitsdienst (SD),
and also known as the Jewish Gestapo,
the unit reported directly to the local
Gestapo office.
Organizational structure
Group 13 had between 300 and 400 uniformed Jewish officers, distinguished by caps with green bands.
Membership in the
13 required payment of several thousand zlotys, issued by the German Nazi-controlled bank.
Although it was intended to curtail
black market activity, the group actually
extorted large sums of money through
racketeering and
blackmail.
Its most important branch was the Office to Combat Usury and Profiteering.
[Anna Heilman, Never Far Away: The Auschwitz Chronicles of Anna Heilman University of Calgary Press, 2001, , p. 52.] It also ran its own prison.
Group 13 vied for control of the Ghetto with the Judenrat,[Itamar Levin, Walls Around: The Plunder of Warsaw Jewry During World War II and Its Aftermath Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004, , pp. 94–98.] and infiltrated Jewish opposition within the Ghetto.
Dissolution
In July 1941, Group 13 lost its political status to the Judenrat, and the Office to Combat Usury and Profiteering was taken over by the Jupo police force.
Subsequently, the remaining members of Group 13 centered on Gancwajch, and concentrated their efforts on setting up their own infirmary and ambulance service (the so-called Emergency Service, or the First Aid Station), which was created in May 1941. The organization's purpose was quickly subverted, and its resources were used predominantly for smuggling and contraband.
[Israel Gutman, The Jews of Warsaw, 1939-1943: Ghetto, Underground, Revolt Indiana University Press, 1982, , pp. 90–94.] They ran other illegitimate operations, such as a brothel at the Britannica Hotel,
and had near-total control over horse-drawn carriages and all other transportation within the Ghetto.
In April 1942, many former Group 13 members were executed in Operation Reinhard.
Gancwajch and surviving members of the group later re-emerged posing as Jewish underground fighters, though in reality they were hunting for Poles in hiding or supporting other Nazi collaborationists. After closing the Jewish Gestapo, Gancwajch remained in Warsaw, outside the Ghetto, where he continued working for the Nazism.
See also
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Żagiew, Polish Jewish group that collaborated with the Nazi government
-
Stella Kübler, German Jewish Nazi collaborationist
-
Chaim Rumkowski, Jewish head of the italic=y of the Łódź Ghetto
-
Jacob Gens, Jewish head of the Vilna Ghetto
-
Ans van Dijk, Dutch Jewish Nazi collaborationist
-
Moshe Merin, Jewish head of the italic=y of the Sosnowiec Ghetto
-
Jewish Ghetto Police, Jewish auxiliary police within the Nazi ghettos formed by local italic=y
-
Collaboration with the Axis Powers
