Nazi Germany and the Mountain Jews: Was There a Policy?

During their occupation of the North Caucasus in late 1942 the German forces found themselves in control of several thousand members of a little-known ethnic group called the Mountain Jews. The Nazi authorities were uncertain, however, whether these were actually "racially" Jews, and let themselves become involved in a drawn-out discussion of the question. Prior to their retreat in 1943 the Germans killed hundreds of the Mountain Jews, but the majority of those who had come under occupation survived thanks to the Germans' hesitation.