The or (German plural: ; ), variously translated as Jewish advisers or Jewish experts, were

Nazi SS The ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS; also stylized as ''ᛋᛋ'' with Armanen runes; ; "Protection Squadron") was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe duri ...

officials who supervised anti-Jewish legislation and the deportations of Jews in the countries under their responsibility. Key architects of the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

, most of them were under the direct command of

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

Theodor Dannecker Theodor Denecke (also spelled Dannecker) (27 March 1913 – 10 December 1945) was a German SS-captain (), a key aide to Adolf Eichmann in the deportation of Jews during World War II. A trained lawyer Denecke first served at the Reich Security M ...

: Ein Funktionär der 'Endlösung' '', ''Central European History'', Vol. 32, No. 4, 1999.

Role

The ''Judenreferent'' was not an "adviser" in the literal sense of the term, as he was deployed exclusively in allied or defeated states to ''promote'' anti-Jewish measures and their deportations, and was a ''direct participant'' in anti-Jewish activities before and during

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 ...

. In France and several other countries defeated by Germany, the Jewish advisers were subject to the disciplinary command of the ''

Sicherheitspolizei The ''Sicherheitspolizei'' ( en, Security Police), often abbreviated as SiPo, was a term used in Germany for security police. In the Nazi era, it referred to the state political and criminal investigation security agencies. It was made up by the ...

''. In allied countries such as Bulgaria and Romania, they were subordinate to the police attaché (''Polizeiattaché'') or the German ambassador. The "Jewish advisers" of the SS received their instructions exclusively from the '' Eichmannreferat'', who kept himself up to date through "regular activity reports and briefings on their actions". According to Claudia Steur, the can be divided into two groups: those like Dannecker, Wisliceny,

Brunner Brunner may refer to: Places * Brunner, New Zealand * Lake Brunner, New Zealand * Brunner Mine, New Zealand * Brunner, Houston, United States * Brunner (crater), lunar crater Other uses * Brunner (surname) * Brunner the Bounty Hunter, a character ...

, Boßhammer and Abromeit were close confidants of

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

Final Solution The Final Solution (german: die Endlösung, ) or the Final Solution to the Jewish Question (german: Endlösung der Judenfrage, ) was a Nazi plan for the genocide of individuals they defined as Jews during World War II. The "Final Solution to th ...

, and their "striving for power, prestige and social advancement" was an important motive for their later participation in the Holocaust. German policy was to involve allied governments in the persecution of Jews in order to make them complicit in the Holocaust.

List

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

: Victor Humpert (1941), Kurt Asche (1941–42), Fritz Erdmann (1942–43), Felix Weidmann (1943–44), Werner Borchardt (1944) *

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

(1942–43) *

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

Franz Abromeit Franz Abromeit (8 August 1907 – 30 June 1964) was an SS officer and worked in the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA). He was guilty of war crimes against Jews, but escaped from Germany at the end of World War II in Europe. In 1964 he was declared ...

(1942–44) *

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Carltheo Zeitschel Carltheo Zeitschel also Carl Theo, (13 March 1893 – allegedly 1945), was a German physician, diplomat, Nazi functionary and SS-major (1940). Instrumental in the Holocaust in France, Zeitschel served as adviser on Jewish affairs (Judenreferen ...

(1940–42),

Heinz Röthke Heinz Röthke (19 January 1912 – 14 July 1966) was a German SS-''Obersturmführer'' of Nazi Germany and a convicted war criminal. Röthke was the Gestapo Jewish expert in Paris and as such was in overall charge of the concentration camp in Occ ...

(1942),

Alois Brunner Alois Brunner (8 April 1912 – December 2001) was an Austrian (SS) SS-Hauptsturmführer who played a significant role in the implementation of the Holocaust through rounding up and deporting Jews in occupied Austria, Greece, Macedonia, France, ...

(1943–44) *

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Leopold von Mildenstein Leopold Itz, Edler von Mildenstein (30 November 1902 – November 1968) was an SS officer who is remembered as a lead supporter in the Nazi Party of some of the aims of Zionism during the 1930s. He sometimes worked as a writer and signed using h ...

(1934–36) was one of the first who held the title of ''Judenreferent'' in Nazi Germany, under the overall command of

Reinhard Heydrich Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich ( ; ; 7 March 1904 – 4 June 1942) was a high-ranking German SS and police official during the Nazi era and a principal architect of the Holocaust. He was chief of the Reich Security Main Office (inclu ...

.Max Williams, ''Reinhard Heydrich: The Biography: Volume 1'' (2001), p. 61. *

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

Dieter Wisliceny Dieter Wisliceny (13 January 1911 – 4 May 1948) was a member of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) and one of the deputies of Adolf Eichmann, helping to organise and coordinate the wide scale deportations of the Jews across Europe during the Holocaust. ...

(1943), Alois Brunner (1943),

Anton Burger Anton "Toni" Burger (19 November 1911 – 25 December 1991) was a (Captain) in the German Nazi SS, in Greece (1944) and of Theresienstadt concentration camp. Military career Anton Burger was born in Neunkirchen, Austria, the son of a station ...

(1944) *

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

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

Hermann Krumey, Otto Hunsche (1944–45) *

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

: Theodor Dannecker (1943–44),

Friedrich Boßhammer Friedrich Boßhammer (1906–1972) was a German jurist, SS-''Sturmbannführer'' and close associate of Adolf Eichmann, responsible for the deportation of the Italian Jews to extermination camps from January 1944 until the end of the war in Europ ...

(1944–45) *

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Wilhelm Zoepf Wilhelm Zoepf, also rendered Zöpf, (11 March 1908 in Munich – 7 July 1980) was a German Schutzstaffel (SS) Sturmbannführer and a figure in the Holocaust. Early years Educated at the ''Maximiliansgymnasium München'', Zoepf was a lawyer by pro ...

(1941–43) *

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

Gustav Richter Gustav Richter (12 November 1913 – 5 June 1997) was an aide to Adolf Eichmann, an adviser on Jewish affairs (''Judenberater''), during Nazism era. He was a member of the Nazi Party and of the '' SS'', the paramilitary organization of the Na ...

(1941–44) *

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

(1940–44), Alois Brunner (1944–45) *

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

(1942),

Walter Rauff Walter (Walther) Rauff (19 June 1906 – 14 May 1984) was a mid-ranking SS commander in Nazi Germany. From January 1938, he was an aide of Reinhard Heydrich firstly in the Security Service (''Sicherheitsdienst'' or ''SD''), later in the Reich Se ...

(1942–43)

Perpetrators

Most of the perpetrators, who later rose to become "Judenberater" (advisers to the Jews), were born between 1905 and 1913, had joined the

NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

before 1933, did not find a secure position until they joined the SS, and quickly advanced to positions of power. They "slowly grew into a role that became increasingly brutal, which they then, without doubting the appropriateness of the orders given to them, carried out diligently and consistently until the end of the war."

Works cited

References

{{reflist Holocaust perpetrators Nazi SS