Żegota
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Żegota (, full
codename A code name, call sign or cryptonym is a Code word (figure of speech), code word or name used, sometimes clandestinely, to refer to another name, word, project, or person. Code names are often used for military purposes, or in espionage. They may ...
: the "Konrad Żegota Committee"
Yad Vashem Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...
Shoa Resource Center
Zegota
/ref>) was the Polish Council to Aid Jews with the
Government Delegation for Poland The Government Delegation for Poland ( pl, Delegatura Rządu Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej na Kraj) was an agency of the Polish Government in Exile during World War II. It was the highest authority of the Polish Secret State in occupied Poland and was ...
( pl, Rada Pomocy Żydom przy Delegaturze Rządu RP na Kraj), an underground Polish resistance organization, and part of the Polish Underground State, active 1942–45 in
German-occupied Poland German-occupied Poland during World War II consisted of two major parts with different types of administration. The Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany following the invasion of Poland at the beginning of World War II—nearly a quarter of the ...
. Żegota was the successor institution to the
Provisional Committee to Aid Jews The Provisional Committee to Aid Jews ( pl, Tymczasowy Komitet Pomocy Żydom) was founded on September 27, 1942, by Zofia Kossak-Szczucka and Wanda Krahelska-Filipowicz. The founding body consisted of Polish democratic Catholic activists associat ...
and was established specifically to save Jews. Poland was the only country in
German-occupied Europe German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...
where such a government-established and -supported underground organization existed. Estimates of the number of Jews that Żegota provided aid to, and eventually saved, range from several thousands to tens of thousands. Operatives of Żegota worked in extreme circumstances – under threat of death by the Nazi forces.


Background and organization

The Council to Aid Jews, or ''Żegota'', was the continuation of an earlier aid organization, the
Provisional Committee to Aid Jews The Provisional Committee to Aid Jews ( pl, Tymczasowy Komitet Pomocy Żydom) was founded on September 27, 1942, by Zofia Kossak-Szczucka and Wanda Krahelska-Filipowicz. The founding body consisted of Polish democratic Catholic activists associat ...
(''Tymczasowy Komitet Pomocy Żydom''), that was founded on 27 September 1942 by Polish
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
activists
Zofia Kossak-Szczucka Zofia Kossak-Szczucka ( (also Kossak-Szatkowska); 10 August 1889 – 9 April 1968) was a Polish writer and World War II resistance fighter. She co-founded two wartime Polish organizations: Front for the Rebirth of Poland and Żegota, set up ...
and
Wanda Krahelska-Filipowicz Wanda Krahelska-Filipowicz (15 December 1886–1968), code name “Alinka”” or “Alicja”, was a leading figure in Warsaw’s underground resistance movement throughout the years of German occupation during World War II in Poland, co-fou ...
("Alinka"). The Provisional Committee cared for as many as 180 people, but due to political and financial reasons it was dissolved and replaced by Żegota on 4 December 1942. One of the co-founders of Żegota was
Henryk Woliński Henryk Woliński (1901–1986) was a member of the Polish resistance movement in World War II, specifically the Armia Krajowa (AK), where he reached the rank of colonel. He was the head of the "Jewish Department" in AK's Bureau of Information ...
of the
Home Army The Home Army ( pl, Armia Krajowa, abbreviated AK; ) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) esta ...
(''AK'') who helped integrate it with the Polish Underground State. Woliński is also credited with developing the idea for this organization. Kossak-Szczucka initially wanted Żegota to become an example of a "pure Christian charity", arguing that Jews had their own international charity organizations. Nevertheless, Żegota was run by both Jews and non-Jews from a wide range of political movements.
Julian Grobelny Julian Grobelny (16 February 1893 – 5 December 1944) was an activist in the Polish Socialist Party (PPS) from 1915, in the lead-up to Poland's return to independence. During the interwar period he was a social activist. After the German-Soviet ...
, an activist in the prewar
Polish Socialist Party The Polish Socialist Party ( pl, Polska Partia Socjalistyczna, PPS) is a socialist political party in Poland. It was one of the most important parties in Poland from its inception in 1892 until its merger with the communist Polish Workers' ...
, was elected as General Secretary, and
Ferdynand Arczyński Ferdynand Marek Arczyński (December 8, 1900 in Kraków – 1979 in Warsaw), cryptonym "Marek" or "Lukowski", was one of the founding members of an underground organization Żegota (Council for Aid to Jews) in German-occupied Poland, from 1942 t ...
 – a member of the Polish Democratic Party – as treasurer.
Adolf Berman Adolf Avraham Berman (, 17 October 1906 – 3 February 1978) was a Polish-Israeli activist and communist politician. Biography Born in Warsaw in the Russian Empire (today in Poland), the younger brother of Jakub Berman. Berman attended the Unive ...
and Leon Feiner represented the Jewish National Committee (an umbrella group representing the
Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...
parties) and the
Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
General Jewish Labour Bund. Both parties operated independently, channeling funds donated by Jewish organizations abroad to Żegota and other underground operations. Other members included the Polish Socialist Party, the Democratic Party (''Stronnictwo Demokratyczne'') and the Catholic Front for the Rebirth of Poland (''Front Odrodzenia Polski'') led by Kossak-Szczucka and Witold Bieńkowski, editors of its underground publications. The right-wing National Party (''Stronnictwo Narodowe'') refused to take part in the organization.


Operations

Żegota had specialized departments for issues such as clothing, children welfare, medical care, housing and other relevant issues. It had around one hundred cells that provided food, medical care, money, and false identification documents to thousands of Polish Jews hiding in the "
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 ' ...
" side of the German occupation zone. Creation and distribution of false documents has been described as one of the organization's major tasks, and it is estimated to have produced up to a hundred sets of false identities for Jewish refugees. Another estimate credits Żegota with forging about 50,000 documents such as marriage certificates, baptismal records, death certificates and employment cards to help Jews pass off as Christians. In forging documents, Żegota cooperated with the
Home Army The Home Army ( pl, Armia Krajowa, abbreviated AK; ) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) esta ...
, which often provided facilities for forging German identification papers. The organization headquarters was located in Warsaw at 24 . Żegota was active chiefly in Warsaw, but it also provided money, food, and medicines for prisoners in several forced-labor camps, as well as to refugees in
Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
, Wilno (
Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...
), and Lwów (
L'viv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...
). Żegota's activities overlapped to a considerable extent with those of the other major organizations dedicated to helping Jews in Poland – namely the Jewish National Committee, which cared for some 5,600 Jews; and the ''Bund'', which cared for an additional 1,500. Together, the three organizations were able to reach some 8,500 of the 28,000 Jews hiding in Warsaw, and perhaps another 1,000 hiding elsewhere in Poland. Żegota's children's section in Warsaw, headed by a Polish social worker
Irena Sendler Irena Stanisława Sendler (), also referred to as Irena Sendlerowa in Poland, ''nom de guerre'' Jolanta (15 February 1910 – 12 May 2008), was a Polish humanitarian, social worker, and nurse who served in the Polish Underground Resista ...
, cared for 2,500 Jewish children. Many were placed with foster families, in public orphanages, church orphanages, and convents. Żegota repeatedly asked the
Polish Government-in-Exile The Polish government-in-exile, officially known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile ( pl, Rząd Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej na uchodźstwie), was the government in exile of Poland formed in the aftermath of the Invasion of Pola ...
and the
Government Delegation for Poland The Government Delegation for Poland ( pl, Delegatura Rządu Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej na Kraj) was an agency of the Polish Government in Exile during World War II. It was the highest authority of the Polish Secret State in occupied Poland and was ...
to appeal to the Polish people to help the persecuted Jews. The Government in Exile gradually increased its funding for Żegota throughout the war.
Richard C. Lukas Richard Conrad Lukas (born 1937) is an American historian and author of books and articles on military, diplomatic, Polish, and Polish-American history. He specializes in the history of Poland during World War II. Lukas is best known for '' Th ...
estimated that 60,000, or about half of the Jews who survived
the Holocaust in occupied Poland The Holocaust in Poland was part of the European-wide Holocaust organized by Nazi Germany and took place in German-occupied Poland. During the genocide, three million Polish Jews were murdered, half of all Jews murdered during the Holocaust. ...
(such estimates vary), were aided in some shape or form by Żegota.
Czesław Łuczak Czesław Łuczak (born 19 February 1922 in Kruszwica – 10 August 2002 in Poznań) was a Polish historian focusing on World War II. He served as Rector of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań from 1965 to 1972; and, from 1969 to 1981 and from ...
estimates the number of aid recipients at about 30,000.
Paul R. Bartrop Paul R. Bartrop (born November 3, 1955) is an Australian historian of the Holocaust and genocide. From August 2012 until December 2020 he was Professor of History and Director of the Center for Judaic, Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Florida Gu ...
estimated that Żegota helped to save about 4,000 Jews and provided assistance to about 25,000 in total.


Operational difficulties

Under the German occupation, hiding or assisting Jewish refugees was punishable by death. However, it was no less dangerous due to the risk posed by fellow Poles, some of whom did not see kindly lending help for Jews. Irena Sendler is quoted as saying "during
he war He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
it was simpler to hide a tank under the carpet than shelter a Jewish child." According to
Richard C. Lukas Richard Conrad Lukas (born 1937) is an American historian and author of books and articles on military, diplomatic, Polish, and Polish-American history. He specializes in the history of Poland during World War II. Lukas is best known for '' Th ...
, "The number of Poles who perished at the hands of the Germans for aiding Jews" is difficult to establish, with estimates ranging from several thousand to as high as fifty thousand.Richard C. Lukas
''Out of the Inferno: Poles Remember the Holocaust''
University Press of Kentucky, 1989; 201 pp.; p. 13; also in
Richard C. Lukas Richard Conrad Lukas (born 1937) is an American historian and author of books and articles on military, diplomatic, Polish, and Polish-American history. He specializes in the history of Poland during World War II. Lukas is best known for '' Th ...
, ''The Forgotten Holocaust: The Poles under German Occupation, 1939–1944'', University Press of Kentucky, 1986; 300 pp.
Paul R. Bartrop Paul R. Bartrop (born November 3, 1955) is an Australian historian of the Holocaust and genocide. From August 2012 until December 2020 he was Professor of History and Director of the Center for Judaic, Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Florida Gu ...
estimated that about 20,000 Żegota operatives were killed by the Nazis, and thousands of others were arrested and imprisoned.


Financial situation

The
Polish Government-in-Exile The Polish government-in-exile, officially known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile ( pl, Rząd Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej na uchodźstwie), was the government in exile of Poland formed in the aftermath of the Invasion of Pola ...
, based in
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, faced immense difficulties funding its institutions in German-occupied Poland; this affected funding for Żegota as well. Part of the funds had to be sent in via highly inefficient airdrops (only some 17% of which succeeded) and some could only be delivered late in the war. Waldemar Grabowski, ''"Rada Pomocy Żydom »Żegota« w strukturach Polskiego Państwa Podziemnego"'' ("Żegota within the Structures of the Polish Underground State"), ''Biuletyn Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej'' (Bulletin of the
Institute of National Remembrance The Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation ( pl, Instytut Pamięci Narodowej – Komisja Ścigania Zbrodni przeciwko Narodowi Polskiemu, abbreviated IPN) is a Polish state resea ...
), no. 11 (120), November 2010, IPN, pp 50–51.
Despite these difficulties, throughout the war, the Polish Government-in-Exile continually increased its funding for Żegota: the Polish Government's monthly support was increased from 30,000 złoty to 338,000 złoty in May 1944, and to 1,000,000 złoty by war's end. The Polish Government's overall financial contribution to Żegota and Jewish organizations came to 37,400,000 złoty, 1,000,000 dollars, and 200,000
Swiss francs The Swiss franc is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It is also legal tender in the Italian exclave of Campione d'Italia which is surrounded by Swiss territory. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) issues banknotes and the f ...
(see financial details below).https://sprawiedliwi.org.pl/pl/aktualnosci/75-lat-temu-powstala-krakowska-zegota ("Żegota Was Established in Kraków 75 Years Ago").
Stefan Korboński Stefan Korboński (2 March 1901 in Praszka - 23 April 1989 in Washington, D.C., USA) was a Polish agrarian politician, lawyer, journalist, and a notable member of the wartime authorities of the Polish Secret State. Among others, he was the last ...
, ''Polacy, Żydzi i Holocaust'' (The Poles, the Jews, and the Holocaust), 1999, p. 58.
According to Marcin Urynowicz, the percentage of the funds allocated by the Polish Government-in-Exile to help Jews, including through Żegota, was based on their percentage in Poland's prewar general population.
Antony Polonsky Antony Barry Polonsky (born 23 September 1940, Johannesburg, South Africa) is Emeritus Professor of Holocaust Studies at Brandeis University. He is the author of many historical works on the Holocaust, and is an expert on Polish Jewish history. ...
writes that "Zegota's successes—it was able to forge false documents for some 50,000 persons—suggest that, had it been given a higher priority by the Delegatura and the government in London, it could have done much more." Polonsky quotes
Władysław Bartoszewski Władysław Bartoszewski (; 19 February 1922 – 24 April 2015) was a Polish politician, social activist, journalist, writer and historian. A former Auschwitz concentration camp prisoner, he was a World War II resistance fighter as part of th ...
as saying that the organization was considered a "stepchild" of the underground; and
Emanuel Ringelblum Emanuel Ringelblum (November 21, 1900 – March 10 (most likely), 1944) was a Polish historian, politician and social worker, known for his ''Notes from the Warsaw Ghetto'', ''Notes on the Refugees in Zbąszyn'' chronicling the deportation of Je ...
, who wrote that "a Council for Aid to the Jews was formed, consisting of people of good will, but its activity was limited by lack of funds and lack of help from the government." A similar description is given by historian Martin Winstone, who writes that Żegota fought an uphill battle for funding and received more support from Jewish organizations than from the Polish Government-in-Exile. He also notes that the Polish right-wing parties completely refused to support it. Shmuel Krakowski described the funding as "modest", and writes that the Polish government could have allocated more to funding the organization. He writes that "
he funding He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
was indeed very little considering not only the needs of the council and the immensity of the Jewish tragedy but also the resources at the Polish underground's disposal... they could have been much more generous in allocating resources needed to save human lives." Joseph Kermish describes the relationship between Żegota and the
Government Delegation for Poland The Government Delegation for Poland ( pl, Delegatura Rządu Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej na Kraj) was an agency of the Polish Government in Exile during World War II. It was the highest authority of the Polish Secret State in occupied Poland and was ...
as strained, with frequent disagreements about funding and the extent of the humanitarian crisis Żegota was trying to address. It has been estimated that the cost of saving one Jewish life was around 6,000–15,000 Polish zloties.


Prominent activists

In a letter from 26 February 1977
Adolf Berman Adolf Avraham Berman (, 17 October 1906 – 3 February 1978) was a Polish-Israeli activist and communist politician. Biography Born in Warsaw in the Russian Empire (today in Poland), the younger brother of Jakub Berman. Berman attended the Unive ...
mentions the following activists as especially meritorious: *
Maria Grzegorzewska Maria Grzegorzewska (18 April 1887 – 7 May 1967) was a Polish people, Polish educator who brought the special education movement to Poland. Born to a family from the Samogitia, Żmudź region, she was strongly influenced by her parents' belie ...
*
Irena Solska Karolina "Irena" Flora Solska (née Poświk; 27 October 1877 — 8 March 1958) was a Polish actress and stage director. She was a member of the Young Poland modernist artistic movement. Solska made her debut under the name of ''Irena Górska'', ...
* Janina Buchholtz-Bukolska * Irena Sawicka * Ewa Rybicka * Stanisław and Maria Ossowscy *
Jan Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Num ...
and Antonina Żabińscy * Stefania Sempołowska * Jan Wesołowski * Sylwia Rzeczycka * Regina Fleszarowa


Postwar recognition

In 1963 Żegota was commemorated in
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
with the planting of a tree in the Avenue of the Righteous at
Yad Vashem Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...
, with
Władysław Bartoszewski Władysław Bartoszewski (; 19 February 1922 – 24 April 2015) was a Polish politician, social activist, journalist, writer and historian. A former Auschwitz concentration camp prisoner, he was a World War II resistance fighter as part of th ...
present. In 1995 a monument to the organization was unveiled in Warsaw. Another monument was unveiled in 2009 in the Survivors' Park in Łódź. Żegota is also commemorated in plaques at places of its regional offices in Warsaw and Kraków. In 2009 a commemorative series of coins was issued by the
National Bank of Poland The Narodowy Bank Polski (; the National Bank of Poland), often abbreviated to NBP, is the central bank of Poland, founded in 1945. It controls the issuing of Poland's currency, the Polish złoty. The bank is headquartered in Warsaw, and has bra ...
.


See also

* List of Żegota members *
Rescue of Jews by Poles during the Holocaust Polish Jews were the primary victims of the Nazi Germany, German-organized The Holocaust in Poland, Holocaust in Poland. Throughout the German occupation of Poland (1939–1945), occupation of Poland, many Poles rescued Jews from the Holocaust, ...
*
Aleksander Ładoś Aleksander Wacław Ładoś lɛ'ksandɛr 'wadoɕ(December 27, 1891 – December 29, 1963) was a Polish politician and diplomat, who 1940–45 headed the Legation of Poland to Switzerland. Ładoś was a member and de facto leader of the Ładoś ...
*
History of the Jews in Poland The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Ashkenazi Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the lon ...
*
Timeline of Jewish-Polish history This article presents the timeline of selected events concerning the history of the Jews in Poland beginning with the formation of the Polish state under its first ruler, Mieszko I of Poland. Timeline 960 – A Jewish merchant and trader fr ...
* Polish resistance movement in World War II *
Occupation of Poland (1939–45) Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...


Notes and references

Specific General * * * * * * *


External links


Excerpts from the book ''Żegota'' by Irena Tomaszewska & Tecia Werbowski




{{DEFAULTSORT:Zegota Rescue of Jews by Poles in occupied Poland in 1939-1945 Polish Underground State 1942 establishments in Poland Organizations which rescued Jews during the Holocaust 1945 disestablishments in Poland