Judenreferat

The or (German plural: ; ), variously translated as Jewish advisers or Jewish experts, were Nazi SS officials who supervised anti-Jewish legislation and the deportations of Jews in the countries under their responsibility. Key architects of the Holocaust, most of them were under the direct command of Adolf Eichmann.Herbert F. Ziegler, A review to the book by ''Theodor Dannecker: 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.

In France and several other countries defeated by Germany, the Jewish advisers were subject to the disciplinary command of the '' Sicherheitspolizei''. 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, Boßhammer and Abromeit were close confidants of Adolf Eichmann and served as role models for the other "Jewish advisors". The remaining ones were initiated relatively late in the Final Solution, 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: Victor Humpert (1941), Kurt Asche (1941–42), Fritz Erdmann (1942–43), Felix Weidmann (1943–44), Werner Borchardt (1944)
* Bulgaria: Theodor Dannecker (1942–43)
* Croatia: Franz Abromeit (1942–44)
* France: Carltheo Zeitschel (1940–42), Theodor Dannecker (1940–42), Heinz Röthke (1942), Alois Brunner (1943–44)
* Germany: Leopold von Mildenstein (1934–36) was one of the first who held the title of ''Judenreferent'' in Nazi Germany, under the overall command of Reinhard Heydrich.Max Williams, ''Reinhard Heydrich: The Biography: Volume 1'' (2001), p. 61.
* Greece: Dieter Wisliceny (1943), Alois Brunner (1943), Anton Burger (1944)
* Hungary: Adolf Eichmann, Dieter Wisliceny, Theodor Dannecker, Franz Abromeit, Hermann Krumey, Otto Hunsche (1944–45)
* Italy: Theodor Dannecker (1943–44), Friedrich Boßhammer (1944–45)
* Netherlands: Wilhelm Zoepf (1941–43)
* Romania: Gustav Richter (1941–44)
* Slovakia: Dieter Wisliceny (1940–44), Alois Brunner (1944–45)
* Tunisia: Carltheo Zeitschel (1942), Walter Rauff (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 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

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References

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Holocaust perpetrators
Nazi SS