Search JTA's historical archive dating back to 1923

Nazis Impose Collective Responsibility on Jewish Artisans in Poland

January 6, 1942
See Original Daily Bulletin From This Date
Advertisement

A list of trades in which Jews are permitted to work was published by the Nazi authorities in Poland where the Nazi administrators are now organizing collective workshops in the ghettos, making each worker responsible for the entire output, it was reported in Polish official circles here today. The trades in which Jews may engage include tailoring, shoe-making, brush-making, knitting, book-binding, glass-blowing, wearing, spinning, optical work, button-making, hat-making, soap-and-candle-making, paper-making, carpentry, house-painting, cabinet-making, and electrical engineering.

At present there are, according to the report, seven collective tailoring shops in the Warsaw ghetto providing employment for about 1,000 workers. One collective glove shop, in Warsaw provides work for about 300 workers, while 1,000 work in three shoe-making establishments there. Similar collective shops also function in the ghetto in Vilna. Each collective must carry out the orders placed by the German authorities within a given time. Failure by the collective to carry out the order within the specified time results in punishment for each member of the collective. When a quote of military boots was not delivered by a Jewish shoe-making collective in Warsaw, each worker was fined twenty percent of his salary. In another case, Jewish worker were imprisoned for three days each when the work of their collective shop was found faulty.

Recommended from JTA

Advertisement