(, 'Factory Action') is the term for the roundup of the last

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

deported from

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, beginning in 27 February 1943. Most of the remaining Jews were working at Berlin plants or for the Jewish welfare organization. The term ''Fabrikaction'' was coined by survivors after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

; the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

had designated the plan "Große Fabrik-Aktion" (Large Factory Action). While the plan was not restricted to Berlin, it later became most notable for catalyzing the

Rosenstrasse protest Rosenstrasse (or Rosenstraße) is a street in Berlin. It may more specifically refer to: *Rosenstrasse protest Rosenstrasse (or Rosenstraße) is a street in Berlin. It may more specifically refer to: * Rosenstrasse protests, street protests, Be ...

, the only mass public demonstration of German citizens which contested the Nazi government's deportation of the Jews . Rosenstrasse Berlin

Situation

In September 1942 there were about 75,800 Jews left for labour in the

arms industry The arms industry, also known as the arms trade, is a global industry which manufactures and sells weapons and military technology. It consists of a commercial industry involved in the research and development, engineering, production, and servi ...

. With the final roundup of Berlin Jews soon to come, the Nazi government informed factory owners that their Jewish workers, even those married to Germans, were going to be deported to labor camps and that the government would work swiftly to replace their labor with forced laborers from the east- factory owners were to prepare for this transition. The

Reich Security Main Office The Reich Security Main Office (german: Reichssicherheitshauptamt or RSHA) was an organization under Heinrich Himmler in his dual capacity as ''Chef der Deutschen Polizei'' (Chief of German Police) and ''Reichsführer-SS'', the head of the Nazi ...

(RSHA) took action planning multiple deportation trains to Riga and

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

. Because the war consumed most of the transportation capacity the deportations were not performed immediately, but the factories were informed that their Jewish labour workers would be "evacuated" at the end of March 1943. At the beginning of 1943, the plan included 15,100 Jewish workers in Berlin and 5,300 outside of the capital with most of them living in major cities or labour camps. On 20 February 1943, SS-Obersturmbannführer

Adolf Eichmann Otto Adolf Eichmann ( ,"Eichmann"
''

mixed marriages * Married

Geltungsjude Geltungsjude was the term for people who were considered Jews by the first supplementary decree to the Nuremberg Laws from 14 November 1935. The term was not used officially, but was coined because the persons were deemed (''gelten'' in German) J ...

n (people ''considered'' to be Jewish under the Nuremberg laws) living with

Aryan Aryan or Arya (, Indo-Iranian *''arya'') is a term originally used as an ethnocultural self-designation by Indo-Iranians in ancient times, in contrast to the nearby outsiders known as 'non-Aryan' (*''an-arya''). In Ancient India, the term ' ...

relatives * Jews over the age of 65 unless married to Jews below that age * Jewish veterans of the First World War carrying medals * and a list of special persons listed by name Though these persons would not be deported they would not be allowed to work in the arms industry. They were to be placed into different positions where they could be called in without the factories to intervene in the deportation.

Action

In most of the cities, the Jews were called in on 26 February 1943 to register the next day with the Gestapo for a check of their labour papers. In Breslau, most of the Jews were rounded up without prior signals the morning of 27 February through interception at their home or work place and transported to the synagogue. In Dresden, the labour camp Hellersberg was used for concentration. In most parts of the Reich, these actions were finished after two days. In Berlin, the roundup of ten thousand Jews began 27 February 1943 in preparation of the Fuhrer's 54th birthday on 20 April. Those arrested were working in various ammunition factories. The arrested persons were transported to six locations in Berlin for concentration: * the main hall of the Clou Concert Hall (a former covered market) on Mauerstraße in

Mitte Mitte () is the first and most central borough of Berlin. The borough consists of six sub-entities: Mitte proper, Gesundbrunnen, Hansaviertel, Moabit, Tiergarten and Wedding. It is one of the two boroughs (the other being Friedrichshain-Kreuzb ...

district * a garage in the Hermann Göring Barracks in

Reinickendorf Reinickendorf () is the twelfth borough of Berlin. It encompasses the northwest of the city area, including the Berlin Tegel Airport, Lake Tegel, spacious settlements of detached houses as well as housing estates like Märkisches Viertel. Subdivi ...

district * the horse stalls of a barracks on Rathenower Straße in

Moabit Moabit () is an inner city locality in the borough of Mitte, Berlin, Germany. As of 2016, around 77,000 people lived in Moabit. First inhabited in 1685 and incorporated into Berlin in 1861, the former industrial and working-class neighbourhood i ...

district * the synagogue on Levetzowstraße in Moabit * the Jewish Senior Center ("das jüdische Altersheim") on the Großen Hamburger Straße in Mitte district * the house of the Jewish Community on Rosenstraße in Mitte (where Jewish men married to German women were brought, due to their special circumstances of being in a "mixed marriage"). The "Fabrikaktion" is perhaps especially noted for engendering the

, in which the "Aryan" wives of Jewish prisoners protested in front of the Jewish Community on Rosenstrasse for the release of their Jewish husbands. During the 27 February roundup, about 2,000 of the ammunition factory workers were Jewish and in an intermarried relationship, which prompted the protest. "Fabrikaktion" motivated Germans with strong relationship ties to Jews to become rescuers. German wives felt compelled to protect their Jewish husbands, and were willing to risk more in order to save them as was demonstrated at Rosenstrasse. Forced laborers, even those working under the SS, were taken from their places of work during "Fabrikaktion". A group of Jewish forced laborers working in the RSHA library were taken to Auschwitz following this event, with the two surviving men having been saved by their German wives.

Fugitives

About 4,700 of the remaining 11,000 Jews left in Berlin were able to escape and to go into hiding. This matches with stories of survivors telling that they had been warned by their colleagues and foremen - in one case even a police officer - shortly before the action took place. On the other hand, most of the fugitives were captured - the Gestapo used search service and the help of Jewish "Greifer" collaborators. It is estimated that only 1,500 Jews were able to hide away until the end of the war in Europe.

Literature

* Wolf Gruner: ''Widerstand in der Rosenstraße. Die Fabrik-Aktion und die Verfolgung der „Mischehen“ 1943''. fibu 16883, Frankfurt 2005, * Claudia Schoppmann: ''Die "Fabrikaktion" in Berlin. Hilfe für untergetauchte Juden als Form des humanitären Widerstandes.'' In: Zeitschrift für Zeitgeschichte 53 (2004), H.2, Seite 138-148 * Beate Kosmala: ''Missglückte Hilfe und ihre Folgen: Die Ahndung der "Judenbegünstigung" durch NS-Verfolgungsbehörden.'' In: B.Kosmala / C.Schoppmann (Hrsg.): Solidarität und Hilfe für Juden während der NS-Zeit. Band 5: ''Überleben im Untergrund.'' Berlin 2002, *Nathan Stoltzfus: ''Resistance of the Heart: Intermarriage and the Rosenstrasse Protest in Nazi Germany.'' New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1996, *Nathan Stoltzfus: ''Protest in Hitler's "National Community": Popular Unrest and the Nazi Response.'' New York: Berghahn Books, 2016,

Notes and References

External links