by Alex Grobman, Ph.D.

When Rabbi Alexander S. Rosenberg, director of JDC's Religion Department for the United States Zone of Germany, arrived in Germany in September 1945, he reported that "there was no organized effort to have kosher meat."¹ The JDC had not planned to provide kosher food and meat, because of the expense, the immediate need to secure food, clothing and shelter for the DPs and a failure to understand the importance kosher food played in their spiritual rehabilitation. Rosenberg soon learned, however, that some Jews viewed kosher food as a vital necessity.

Rather than wait for someone to provide kosher meat for them, some survivors arranged for schochtim (ritual butchers) at the DP camps at Landsberg and Feldafing to slaughter live cattle purchased from the Germans. They killed the animals either in the camp kitchens or in the barracks under the most "appalling sanitary conditions." At some of the other camps, such as Zeilsheim outside of Frankfurt, with a population of 7,000, they did without meat.²

At Zeilsheim, Rosenberg did the initial slaughtering himself "to induce" the camp committee to establish a kosher kitchen. He later brought schochtim to continue the work. Here, too, the cows were purchased from the Germans and killed under primitive conditions. This process continued until the end of October 1946 when Rosenberg made arrangements with slaughterhouses in Frankfurt and Landsberg where the Jews could bring the cattle to be killed. At DP camps at Feldafing and Foehrenwald, the kosher slaughtering continued under poor conditions. In November, Brigadier General Stanley M. Mickelson, chief of the United States Army's Displaced Persons Division in Germany informed Rabbi Rosenberg, that the ritual killing of cattle, schechita required by Jewish law, would have to cease in order to protect the German stock. Since there was no kosher canned meat available, Rosenberg immediately submitted a memorandum to Judge Simon Rifkind, a federal judge who came to Germany on October 20, 1945 to serve as Advisor on Jewish Affairs, and alerted him to the danger of losing access to kosher meat.³

Rosenberg also discussed the problem with Jacob Trobe, the director of JDC operations in Germany, who agreed to send a request to the JDC in New York for kosher canned meat. At the same time, Rosenberg continued "to hammer away" at Judge Rifkind and Jacob Trobe to allow the ritual slaughtering to continue. The local rabbis in the Third Army Area sent their demands to General Walter J. Muller, United States Military Governor in Bavaria, and General Lucian K. Truscott, who replaced General George Patton as the commander of the Third Army. Various groups visiting the camps from the U.S. on behalf of the American Jewish Conference and the American Jewish Committee also protested to General Truscott, but to no avail. During that time, the religious Jews either did not eat meat for several weeks, or if they did, they killed the animals at "great risk" through "black market operations."⁴

On December 18, 1945, a committee of three rabbis came to see Rosenberg and asked him to lead a delegation to Generals Frederick E. Morgan and Walter Bedell Smith to plead their case for kosher meat. Morgan was head of UNNRA operations in Germany and Smith was General Eisenhower's chief of staff. Trobe refused to allow Rosenberg to see either of them because he knew that the Army would not budge on this issue. The blame for this intransigence lay with Rabbi Joseph Shubow, an American chaplain stationed in Berlin, according to Trobe. Shubow, a Reform rabbi, "volunteered the information to [Army] Headquarters that it was not fair to discriminate in favor of a small group of DPs when all American soldiers are forced to eat canned meat."⁵

Rosenberg persisted and Rifkind agreed to a meeting with General Smith. In a report on his hour-and-a-half meeting with Smith on December 20, 1945, Rosenberg wrote that at one point he and Smith almost came to "an unfriendly breach, when I sternly told him that I was amazed at the indifference with which he had stated that they [the DPs] will have meat in three months," when the kosher canned meat ordered by the JDC would arrive, "and that nobody cared what they will have in the meantime." He "snapped back also sternly that the American public would be even more amazed if they would find out that a small group of Jews is being discriminated in favor against the American Army."⁶

Rosenberg asked whether the opinion of Rabbi Shubow had influenced him. Smith "retorted" that Judge Rifkind had concurred with this view and they would not have paid attention to Shubow's opinion alone. After further discussion, Smith agreed to allow ritual slaughtering if they guaranteed it would not be abused. He accepted their guarantees. He also agreed that in the few remaining days left before he left Germany he would try to convince the staff to let them be.⁷

Before leaving, Rosenberg turned to Rabbi David Horowitz of the Landsberg DP camp to ask that he offer a blessing in Hebrew for Smith on the eve of his departure from Germany. Horowitz, who sat through the meeting without uttering a word, hesitated since such blessings were reserved only for kings. Rosenberg suggested that Horowitz recite the priestly blessing without mentioning the name of God. He then turned to the general for permission for Rabbi Horowitz to bless him. Smith replied "on the contrary, ask him to include me in his daily prayers." Smith rose from his chair and walked over to the rabbi who offered his hand. Horowitz recited the priestly blessing in Hebrew. With that they left the general.⁸ It is clear that Smith had not told Rosenberg or Horowitz that his mother was Jewish, although he had been raised as a Protestant.⁹

With this directive, Rosenberg was able to arrange for the slaughtering of kosher meat in Munich, Frankfurt, Nuremberg, Regensburg, Stuttgart and Eshwege. Whether Jews received kosher meat outside the camps depended on the agreement the local Jewish committees could work out with the Germans. Rosenberg also arranged for a fully equipped formerly Nazi-owned restaurant in Munich that served 60 people per seating, to be turned into a kosher restaurant under rabbinical supervision. The operation was on a 30-day trial basis and was conditional on the arrival of canned meat from the JDC, and Rosenberg worried they might close him down.¹⁰

Rosenberg urged Judge Rifkind and Herbert Katzki, the JDC director in Germany, to make a forceful case to the military authorities. Katzki succeeded in making the case for the continuation of the operation and General Truscott's head-quarters agreed that the directive continue in force despite the fact that at least 12,000 people were eating kosher food instead of the 4,800 envisaged in the directive.¹¹

At the end of July 1946, 90 percent of the Jews fleeing to Germany from Russia wanted kosher meat. For this reason Rosenberg asked Leo W. Schwarz, director of the JDC in Germany from 1946 to 1947, to provide these people with basic conditions to maintain their religious way of life. "There is no reason why these religious people should be penalized for their principles and forced to subsist on salmon and bread for days," he wrote. ¹² Furthermore, Rosenberg declared that the Jews eating kosher food in the camps had to pay too high a price for doing so. These people "were supposed to turn in their ration of canned fish, canned meat and canned cheese, which robs them not only of calories but also of the variety of food. As a result, many prefer not to accept kosher meat in order not to lose this food, and suffer in their conscience; a situation arises where the camp management has not enough of the other supplies to turn in and the camp goes without meat often for weeks."¹³

Obtaining kosher fats became another problem Jews encountered when trying to keep kosher. When the American Red Cross stopped supplying margarine, lard and non-kosher German-made margarine was sent to the camps. Rosenberg proposed the military immediately release American margarine, which was kosher and available in American military stores. He also asked for the release of German vegetable oil to replace non-kosher fat, and that German factories be retained to produce vegetable margarine under rabbinical supervision. This last suggestion was the best solution because it came from the German economy and assured a constant supply. The Germans could be compensated with non-kosher fats from the Americans. Unlike lard or animal oils, the margarine was used as a spread for bread, and therefore was a substitute for butter. Rosenberg saw no reason why not to implement the policy immediately. "There was no reason why people should unnecessarily suffer two or three weeks, and sometimes longer, before they can have their proper meals, since it is only a matter of proper organization. The needs of the religious people should not be taken any more lightly than the needs of the general population," he argued."¹⁴

Rosenberg also asked Chaplain Emanuel Rackman, an aide to the Advisor on Jewish Affairs and later Chancellor at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, for his help with this problem. Rackman brought the matter to the attention of Jack Whiting, the zone director of UNNRA, who said that he did not see that a request for "an enormous increase" in kosher rations was unreasonable and indicated to Rackman that he would cooperate to the fullest.¹⁵

It is clear that when the JDC had members of its staff with extensive Jewish backgrounds and the commitment to assist observant Jews, it could respond to their needs. But in other situations where there was no advocate, as in the case of the revolt in Italy, the JDC did not always appreciate the importance of providing kosher food as part of the rehabilitation process.

Another example of this dichotomy occurred just before Passover 1947. Chaplain Abraham Klausner, in speaking with some of the 1450 Jews of the Monchenberg DP camp, discovered complaints about the lack of food for Passover. ¹⁶

"The observant Jew can manage, they argued, but the observant Jew can not even use the oleomargarine that the AJDC sent to the camps. The label, they noted, clearly indicated it contains two items, one to make it milchig (dairy)--and who eats milchig on Passover?--and one to bar it from Passover use." When Klausner asked what they wanted instead, they said potatoes. Klausner arranged for five tons of potatoes to be delivered to the camps at a cost of 22,000RM or $100.00.¹⁷

Klausner cited other examples where he had to intervene to provide food for Passover sedarim including Merxhausen, a hospital with 160 Jews suffering from tuberculosis. A number of days before the holiday, the sick sent a representative to the office of the JDC with a request that "at least do not forget us on Passover." The JDC turned to Klausner for help. Klausner reported that "At Merxhausen, on Passover evening there was truly a Seder with all good things to eat. There was joy and there was singing--all this at the cost of 23,500 RM, or if you will, at seventy cents per person." ¹⁸

At Camp Rochelle, one of the newer camps established in Kassel, Klausner was asked to provide potatoes, which he did. Klausner asked the National Jewish Welfare Board (JWB) to reimburse him for his expenses so he could continue to provide aid to the DPs. Since the JWB was responsible for the chaplains, not for providing aid to the DPs, Klausner realized they might be reluctant to give him the money. They could legitimately say "Klausner, all these things are good, but there are institutions and responsibilities..." To that he would respond, "We can not feed our people the sins of institutions!"¹⁹

In Italy, Jews wanted kosher food for their first Passover after liberation, including many of those who had become accustomed to eating non-kosher food during the war. The survivors asked Jacob Griffel to arrange for it to be delivered, but officials of the JDC refused claiming it would cost too much money. Only those who had requested food earlier would be given it now. In protest, the Jews threatened to set the kitchen on fire if they did not get what they wanted. ²⁰

Hoping to find a way to convince the JDC to provide kosher food, Griffel wrote a long letter to Brooklyn-based Rabbi Joseph Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Though partially paralyzed and in poor health, the Rebbe succeeded in making kosher food available through the JDC. A few days after he received Griffel's letter, a call came from the American Embassy to those who ran the camp instructing them to "supply kosher to anyone who wants it, whether he asked for it before or not." Griffel never learned how Schneerson managed to bring this about.²¹

To help meet the need of providing kosher food on a regular basis, Nathan Baruch assisted in establishing kosher kitchens in DP camps throughout the American Zone of Germany. If a DP camp had a kitchen, camp personnel could improvise, but if this was not possible, he tried to arrange for a kosher kitchen to be built. Whenever the Vaad established a kitchen, it made each opening a special event. In October 1947, when it opened a kosher kitchen for the Frankfurt community and for the hundreds of transients that passed through the city each week, Baruch invited many dignitaries to participate. General Thomas L. Harrold, Chief of the DP Operations, EUCOM (European Command), delivered very warm greetings to the assembly. Major Abraham Hyman and Chaplain William Dalin of Judge Louis Leventhal's Office of the Advisor on Jewish Affairs were also present. (At the time the Judge was in Austria.) There were also representatives from the JDC, HIAS, the IRO and a Mr. Werber, the president of the Frankfurt Jewish Committee.

The following week Baruch hosted another group of dignitaries including Judge Leventhal and his wife, General Harrold and his staff, Colonel G. R. Scithers, Liaison Officer for the Central Committee for the Liberated Jews of Germany, Rabbi Michael Munk of Berlin and David Trager, president of the Central Committee. Unfortunately the Vaad did not have enough funds to maintain these facilities--eventually they had to be funded by the JDC. But the Vaad started them and took some credit for their establishment. ²²

Dr. Philipp Auerbach, a survivor of Auschwitz, Gross-Rosen and Buchenwald, facilitated this process of establishing the kitchens. As chairman of the Association of Jewish Communities in Bavaria, he was put in charge of the Jewish DPs in the British Zone of Occupation, and in 1946 became state commissar for the racial, religious and politically persecuted in Bavaria.²³ Through his efforts, Baruch received big pots, pans and utensils requisitioned from German factories. Of course, Auerbach was not supposed to do this. All such items were to be shipped from America, but the JDC did not fulfill these needs.

Baruch received these supplies because of his close friendship with Auerbach, who was headquartered in Munich. Auerbach was a typical German who took his position very seriously. Baruch was very nice to him and kept him fully supplied with cigars. Mrs. Auerbach liked cigarettes and Baruch gave them his tobacco rations. Baruch also provided Mrs. Auerbach with items from the PX, endearing him to her husband even more. As a result, Auerbach provided Baruch with requisition orders whenever Baruch needed them.

The first Passover Baruch was in Germany, Auerbach requisitioned truckloads of dishes and glassware to distribute for the holiday. He also procured material from clothing factories--rolls of silk and woolens. As a result, whenever a couple got married, Baruch was able to give them things they needed, including fabric for a suit and a dress, which could be inexpensively produced by German tailors and seamstresses.

Whatever Baruch did to show his appreciation, whether it was cigarettes or other PX items was miniscule in comparison to what he received in return. But Auerbach had a weakness that caused him some problems. He had a tendency to criticize the German administration on German radio on a regular basis.²⁴

His undoing came in 1952, after Baruch had already returned to America. "In that year [Auerbach] was accused of accepting bribes (passive Bestechung), blackmail (Erpressung), misuse of his office and illegally using the title of 'Dr.' As a consequence of these serious accusations and of his precarious health, Auerbach committed suicide on 16th August 1952."²⁵

The Vaad used its role in providing kosher food and kosher kitchens to publicize its activities and solicit funds. As Passover 1947 neared, the Agudath Harabonim sent a letter to its constituents: "You would not believe it, but twenty-two months after liberation there are still thousands of Jews for whom this will be their first Passover in many years. This year, no one must be forgotten. We call upon you as a Jew to say to your starving, homeless co-religionists in Europe's camps, 'Let us all who are hungry enter and eat.' Ten dollars enables a Jew to celebrate Passover. This year a Passover food package is not only a religious necessity, but a necessity for life itself."²⁶

Irving Bunim asked that 70 percent of the shipment for Passover 1947 be sent to Germany so it could be distributed under Baruch's supervision. He also suggested that the people in Germany do whatever they could for the Jews in Austria and Italy. Passover sedorim should be held under the auspices of the Vaad and Vaad personnel should invite reporters from the Times and the Associated Press because it makes a good human-interest story.²⁷

Gertrude Gould, who worked with the Vaad on publicity and public relations, also suggested that when the packages arrived, Vaad personnel should take pictures of their distribution to the DPs, including children dressed in everyday clothes.²⁸ Baruch succeeded in providing Gould with Passover photographs and the stories she needed. One of the stories was used in an advertisement in the Morning Journal on the eve of Passover. Other cables were used as a general release to the entire non-Jewish and Anglo-Jewish press.²⁹

While the pictures Baruch sent were "considerably improved," they were quite far from what Gould "would call good photographs." She wondered whether it was the fault of the photographer or the printing paper. She also wondered whether Baruch could ask top ranking Army officers to write letters extolling the Vaad's work in the field of religious rehabilitation and calling upon the Vaad to extend its activities. The letter, which could be addressed to Baruch or the Vaad in New York, would be used as a fundraising letter.³⁰ This had been a very clever suggestion, but the military did not allow its personnel to write fundraising letters.

The sedorim conducted by the Vaad were reported in the American press around the country as Bunim suggested. The New York office also used pictures in the Vaad Hatzala Bulletin that was distributed to Vaad supporters. Some of the pictures Baruch sent were not clear enough for publication. Sometimes because the mail was slow, pictures arrived after the holiday, as happened Passover 1947.³¹

Endnotes

1 Kosher Meat Project Rabbi Alexander S. Rosenberg March 7, 1946 YIVO Archives, Leo Schwarz Collection, Folder 249, Reel 22.

2 Kosher Meat Project.

3 Kosher Meat Project.

4 Kosher Meat Project.

5 Kosher Meat Project.

6 Kosher Meat Project

7 Kosher Meat Project

8 Kosher Meat Project

9 Grobman, Rekindling the Flame, 97.

10 Kosher Meat Project.

11 Kosher Meat Project.

12 Alexander S. Rosenberg to Leo W. Schwarz, July 22, 1946, YIVO Archives, Leo Schwarz Collection, Folder 247, Reel 22.

13 Rosenberg to Schwarz.

14 Rosenberg to Schwarz

15 Emanuel Rackman to Rabbi Alexander Rosenberg July 23, 1946 YIVO Archives, Leo Schwarz Collection, Folder 247, Reel 22.

16 Rabbi Abraham Klaunser to National Jewish Welfare Board April 19, 1947 YIVO Archives, Leo Schwarz Collection, Mk 488 Folder 104­116, Reel 13.

17 Klausner, April 19, 1947.

18 Klausner

19 Klausner.

20 Kranzler, To Save A World, 197.

21 Kranzler, 198.

22. Rabbi Nathan Baruch to Daniel Adelson, Deputy Voluntary Agencies Liason Officer, PCIRI Sub-Zone Hq., December 8, 1947. Author's file.

23 Ronald Webster, "American Relief and Jews in Germany, 1945-1960: Diverging Perspectives," Leo Baeck Institute YearBook XXXVIII (London: Secker and Warburg, 1993) 312-313.

24 Baruch interview, September, 2000.

25 Webster, 312.

26 Rabbi L. Seltzer to my fellow Jews, February 5, 1947. Author's file.

27 Irving Bunim to Rabbi Nathan Baruch, March 16, 1947. Author's file.

28 Rabbi Nathan Baruch, April 3, 1947. Author's file.

29Gould, April 3, 1947.

30 Rabbi Nathan Baruch, "Report to the Vaad, " October 20, 1947. Author's file.

31 Gertrude Gould to Rabbi Nathan Baruch, April16, 1947. Author's file.

Dr. Alex Grobman

Dr. Alex Grobman is an historian with an MA and Ph.D. in contemporary Jewish history from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He is president of the Institute for Contemporary Jewish Life, a think tank dealing with historical and contemporary issues affecting the Jewish community, and a consultant to the Brenn Institute.

Dr. Grobman established the first Holocaust center in the U.S. under the auspices of a Jewish Federation in St. Louis, Missouri and served as its first director. He also served as director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angles where he was the founding editor-in chief of the Simon Wiesenthal Annual, the first serial publication in the United States focusing on the scholarly study of the Holocaust. Dr. Grobman edited Genocide: Critical Issues of the Holocaust, a companion to the Center's Academy Award winning film Genocide.

Dr. Grobman is the author of Rekindling the Flame: American Jewish Chaplains and the Survivors of European Jewry, 1944-1948, and editor of In Defense of the Survivors: The Letters and Documents of Oscar A. Mintzer AJDC Legal Advisor, Germany, 1945-46. His latest book Denying History: Who Says the Holocaust Never Happened, and Why Do They Say It? was published in hardcover by the University of California Press in Berkeley in spring 2000 and in paperback in May 2002. He has also edited three academic books: Anne Frank in Historical Perspective, Those Who Dared: Rescuers and Rescued, and Schindler's List.

(The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of Tzemach Dovid)

He latest book Out of the Depths of Despair: The Vaad Hatzala in Post-War Europe will be published in 2002.