[F.] The
"crystal night" [on 9/10 November 1938]
[6.17. Reichsvereinigung (RVE) set up -
support for "non-Aryans"]
[Since 10 Nov 1938:
Prohibition for Reichsvertretung RV -
Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland (RVE) in
project]
The November pogrom was a good occasion, from their
point of view, to break with the past. Immediately after
the pogrom the Nazis decided not to allow RV to be
reconstituted. However, there were divided counsels
among them as to the precise form of organization that
should be forced on the Jews.
In January, Göring still thought that the Jewish central
organization should be an adjunct to the new central
emigration bureau that he had in mind. But other ideas
prevailed, and
[17 Feb 1939:
on February 17, 1939, the Jewish newssheet,
Jüdisches Nachrichtenblatt
[Jewish Newspaper] the only Jewish "paper" that the
Nazis allowed to appear, announced that a new central
organization of German Jewry would be set up, the
Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland (RVE)
[Reich's Federation of the Jews in Germany], whose
members would be nominated by the Gestapo.
[4 July 1939:
Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland set up
(RVE)]
However, it was not until July 4, 1939, that the
official announcement establishing the new RVE came out.
This was largely owing to internal squabbling between
German ministries.
[April 1939: Berlin
Jewish leader Stahl applies for leadership of
projected RVE at the Gestapo]
But the crisis also brought forth some ugly squabbles
between the Berlin community, led by the conservative
liberal Heinrich Stahl, and the old leadership of RV.
Things were brought to a head in April, when Stahl went
to the Gestapo to ask for its help in asserting his
pretensions to leadership of the Jewish community. The
Gestapo apparently did not intervene directly, but
[RVE structures - JDC
supports the Baeck-Hirsch-Lilienthal group]
in the new RVE, Stahl was made copresident with Rabbi
Leo Baeck.
(End note 89: Shaul Esh: The Establishment of the
Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland and Its
Activities (Hebrew); In: Yad Vashem Studies; Jerusalem
1968, 7:19-38)
JDC was informed of what was going on in Germany; it
could only deplore internal differences at such critical
times. It was not aware, of course, of the intrigues of
the Stahl group, but whenever the
Baeck-Hirsch-Lilienthal group of leaders required it,
JDC supported (p.258)
Table 18
JDC Expenditures in Germany and Austria in
1938 and 1939 (in $)
|
Year
|
Total JDC expenditures
|
In Germany
|
In Austria
|
1938
|
3,799,709
|
686,000
|
431,438
|
1939
|
8,447,221
|
978,102
|
|
(End note 90:
Sources:
-- R12
-- R21
the figures do not always tally. For Germany,
for instance, a brochure entitled: Aid to Jews
Overseas (R9), gives the figure of $ 981,200).
|
them to the best of its ability. It must be remembered
that people like Baerwald, Kahn, and Max M. Warburg
(Felix's brother, who finally emigrated to the U.S. in
1938) knew the German Jewish leadership intimately and
had confidence in the group that had founded and led RV
since 1933. Indeed, Max Warburg had been the initiator
of RV, had taken a decisive part in setting up its
leadership, and had been to a great extent the arbiter
of its policies.
In light of this grim situation - and also, it must be
added, as a result of increased income - JDC was able to
increase its financial support for German Jews. A part
of that support came through the Quakers, who, as always
in times of stress, cooperated closely with JDC.
[Special support for
"non-Aryans"]
In February 1939 JDC voted a sum of $ 100,000 to be
spent by the American Friends Service Committee,
"provided that no publicity whatsoever should be given
to this grant, and with the provision that there should
be taken into account the reluctance on the part of the
contributors to JDC to have American dollars go into
Germany."
(End note 91:
-- AC [Administration Committee files], 2/2/39 [2
February 1939];
-- Germany-AFSC [Quaker American Friends Service
Committee], 2/9/39 [9 February 1939])
The Friends were inclined to spend this money to help
"non-Aryans", that is, people not connected with the
official Jewish community but considered to be Jews by
the Nazis. Through perhaps overcareful management only $
26,908 of this money was spent before war broke out in
September [1939].
