Assimilated Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto, 1940-1943

Glossary

207 Glossary Aleynhilf. (yid. Self help) popular name for ŻTOS (pol. Jewish Society for Social Help), in November 1941 transformed into ŻOS (pol. Jewish Social Help), an organization coordinating welfare activities in the Warsaw Ghetto. Even though it was officially subordinated to the German established Jüdische Soziale Selbsthilfe, Aleynhilf remained largely independent and within its organizational framework there were numerous clandestine social and cultural organizations. American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. (AJDC) organization set up in 1914 to provide aid to Jews in Europe through organization of healthcare, vocational training, and provision of credit to workers. It functioned legally in the Warsaw Ghetto until December 1941, financing soup kitchens, providing help for children and refugees, and supporting clandestine activities. Armia Krajowa. (AK, pol. Home Army) underground resistance organization sanctioned by the Polish government-in-exile, the military arm of the Polish Underground State, formed in February 1942. Its largest undertaking was the Warsaw Uprising, an attempt to liberate Warsaw, lasting from August 1 to October 2, 1944. Armia Ludowa. (AL, pol. People’s Army) a resistance group allied with Polska Partia Robotnicza (PPR, pol. Polish Workers Party), set up in January 1944 to support Soviet Union military actions. AL remained outside the framework of the Polish Underground State. Aktion. deportation of the Warsaw ghetto’s inhabitants to Treblinka which began on July 22, 1942, and lasted until September 21, 1942. The second Aktion, between January 18–21, 1943, was interrupted by the January revolt— armed resistance by the ghetto inhabitants. Bund. (Algemeyner Yidisher Arbeter Bund in Poyln un Rusland, yid. General Jewish Workers’ Alliance in Poland and Russia) Jewish socialist party 208 | Glo ssa r y founded in 1897, which propagated the program of national Jewish autonomy. In interwar Poland the Bund cooperated closely with the PPS (Polska Partia Socjalistyczna, pol. Polish Socialist Party). Centos. (Centralne Towarzystwo Opieki nad Sierotami, pol. the Central Association for the Care of Orphans) an organization set up in 1924 and devoted solely to helping children. In interwar Warsaw, and later in the Warsaw Ghetto, it operated as the main children’s relief agency, financing and running children’s kitchens, orphanages, day-care centers, and libraries. Hasid. (heb. pious) follower of the religious renewal movement which began in the mid-eighteenth century in Podolia and spread through most of eastern Europe. Delegatura Rza ˛du Rzeczypospolitej na Kraj. a provisional government for Poland. An agency of the Polish government-in-exile and the highest authority in the Underground Polish State framework during the Second World War. Einsatz Reinhardt. (ger. Operation Reinhardt) code-name for the action of murdering Jews in the Generalgouvernement. Endecja. popular name for Polish National Democratic Party (Narodowa Demokracja), a nationalist political movement, calling for the exclusion of Jews from Polish economic life. The principal ideologue of Endecja was Roman Dmowski. Gazeta Żydowska. (pol. Jewish Newspaper) German-controlled newspaper, published three times a week between 1940 and 1942 in Kraków. It was the only newspaper distributed legally in the ghettos of Generalgouvernement. Generalgouvernement. an administrative-territorial unit comprising part of Nazi-occupied Poland, established on October 26, 1939. It was divided into Warsaw, Kraków, and Lublin districts, with a capital in Kraków. After the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, the fifth province—Galicja—was added to its territory. Government of the Republic of Poland in Exile. (pol. Rza ˛d Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej na Uchodźctwie) the successor of the Polish government, formed in France in September 1939. After the fall of France it operated from London. Hashomer Hatzair. (heb. Young Guard) pioneering socialist-Zionist youth movement, set up in 1913 in Galicia. During the war, its members played an important part in organizing civil and armed resistance against the Germans. Glo ssa r y | 209 Haskalah. (heb. Enlightenment) ideological and social movement among European Jews which resulted from the European Enlightenment, advocating secular education and use of national languages. Its adherents were known as maskilim. House Committees. organizations of Jewish self-administration, composed of inhabitants of one or a few apartment buildings. They were initially established in 1939 to fulfill air-raid duties. Jewish Order Service. organization set up in October 1940 to take over the duties of the “Navy Blue” police in the newly established ghetto. It was headed by a pre-war colonel of the Polish State Police, Józef Szeryński, and soon became synonymous with the abuses of power. Judenrat. administrative...