Feature
Jewish Blood for Jewish Money: The Story of 'The Europe Plan'

By Sammy Kaufman

Rav Michoel Dov Weissmandl zt"l

For Part II of this series click here.

For Part IV of this series click here.

This was originally published in 1995.

Part 3

In the first part we saw how he plan was conceived by Rav Weissmandl and the correspondence with Jewish leaders to try to secure financial resources to save Jews, with no success. We continue to follow the efforts to gain support for the plan from the Zionist institutions.

A Change Of Heart?

American Zionist leaders met on the eleventh of April to discuss Rav Weissmandl's detailed letter of the first of December, which the Swiss representatives of the various world Jewish organizations had been asked to forward to their superiors in the Allied countries.

In addition to the Slovakian letters that seem to have taken four months to reach the United States from Switzerland, other letters arrived from Silberschein and from Lacker, of London, to urgently discuss the matter. An English translation of Rav Weismandl's letter was sent to Stephen Wise, Nachum Goldmann, Pearlsweig and Kubovitzky, with the request attached to "meet immediately in order to reach a conclusion about our response." (Min Hameitzar)

Despite having been sent from Constantinople, which is nearer to Slovakia than to New York, the contents of the following admiring but hardly reassuring letter, show only a slightly greater sense of urgency in that quarter. "If a miracle occurs and the down payment to Willi delays the murders in certain places, the fact that you have managed to find a way to the cruel oppressor's heart is of great cedit to you. If at the last moment it transpires that Saly and his organisation do not give the entire down payment, Eretz (i.e.the Zionists) will not let you down. The yishuv will hurry to grasp its remaining means... to save you from the impending devastation. The yishuv will not let you give up your red domim for the want of golden domim, (a play on words that was originally employed by Rav Weissmandl in his letter of December the twenty-third.)"

The first positive, if intangible, response had already arrived in a letter from Saly Meyer [the Joint's Swiss representative] dated the thirty-first of March, in which he informed the Bratislava Zionists that without any obligation, he would try to obtain a hundred thousand dollars for Wisliceny. This money was to be deposited in a bank in the United states until after the War. (Fuchs)

In other words, as soon as the War ended, Wisliceny would exchange his S.S. uniform for civilian clothing and go to the American Embassy to request a visa for the United States to enable him to withdraw the bribe money that he had been paid in order to stop murdering Jews. As naive and optimistic as it sounded, to expect Wisliceny to accept such an arrangement, it was still several months before any money was actually deposited.

The Joint, through Meyer, had promised to help, if somewhat vaguely. A similar pledge was made on behalf of the yishuv.

On the eighteenth of April, this letter was sent from Constantinople to Switzerland.

"With Kaplan's authorization, the Committee informs Geneva of Eretz's participation, up to a certain sum (?) and requests to know how much the Joint is taking upon itself." (N.Barzel)

Schwalb wrote to Barlas on the twenty-eighth of April, "Our friend Silvado [Silberschein] told me about the telegram you sent him and Lichtheim about the rabbonim. You ask for the Joint's help and substantial participation. In one of my letters I informed you that it undertook to pay one hundred thousand Swiss Francs [around twenty-five thousand dollars,] so that Gisi could start negotiating." (the letter—from the C.Z.A.—is quoted by Fuchs)

On the twentieth of April, Wisliceny arrived in Bratislava for his meeting with Gisi Fleischmann. Mrs. Fleischmann called Schwalb on the twenty-eigth and told him that in several days time, a messenger would be coming to him bearing the proposals which Wisliceny had made at his meeting with her (Schwalb in his letter to Barlas.)

Rav Weissmandl (Min Hameitzar) also refers to this crucial stage of the negotiations, where a timetable and precise details of the agreement were set. On the twenty third of April, Barlas telegraphed Lichtheim, "If this deal should fall through, Eretz will never forget who is guilty."

Barlas wrote that it was impossible to read the letters from Slovakia "without [experiencing] painful and distressing emotions" and that they were duty bound to act, (quoted by Porat). The deal was thus all set and the agents (in Constantinople) had recommended that it be bought. All that was needed now was a nod of approval from Eretz Yisroel. This had to come from Ben Gurion himself. The question is, why didn't it?

The Auschwitz Extermination Camp in a 1944 picture taken by US bombers

Priorities

Apollineri Herteglas was the President of the Zionist Federation of Poland, from which country he escaped, arriving in Eretz Yisroel in 1940. Having worked together with Gruenbaum in Poland, he was appointed as the Political Secretary of the Rescue Committee which Gruenbaum headed.

On the twenty-fourth of April, Herteglas submitted a memorandum entitled, Notes Concerning Rescue and Aid, which opened with the following warning: Intended for Zionist elements only. Must not fall into the hands of non-Zionist members of the Rescue Committee. The purpose of the memorandum was to define "the aim of the Committee's work on behalf of the Jews in occupied Europe." The copy which is preserved in the Zionist Archives bears the note, Copy: Ben Gurion.

During the very period that the details of The Europe Plan were being finalized, the following astonishing remarks appear in Herteglas' memorandum. "It is impossible to save all the Jews... if the results of the Committee's efforts will only be slight, they may as well be politically advantageous... Shouldn't this project have a Zionist-National character, attempting first and foremost, to save those who can benefit Eretz Yisroel? I am aware that stated this baldly, the question is a cruel one. However, we must admit that if we can save only... ten thousand, all of whom would help in building the land and reviving the nation, while on the other hand, we could have a million who would either be a burden, or at best constitute an apathetic element, we ought to restrain ourselves and save the ten thousand, despite the complaints and the entreaties of the million... We therefore have no choice but to forgo rescuing the damaging element. The yishuv ought to save the pioneering youth, that segment that has undergone training and is spiritually suited to Zionist work. We ought to save the Zionist activists, for the Zionist Movement owes them something in return for their work. These [elements] will be able to greatly forgive the present yishuv... from a Zionist point of view, mere philanthropic rescue... can only do damage... If it is absolutely necessary that the entire project is run according to a Zionist point of view, then cooperation with Agudas Yisroel and the Revisionists will not only be of no benefit, it will be extremely damaging."

In the light of these remarks, it is hardly surprising that the writer reaches the following conclusion about The Europe Plan, "The program for the rescue of Slovakian Jewry... is nothing more than blackmail, which will be followed by annihilation." (C.Z.A.)

Two weeks after this memorandum was presented to Ben Gurion, another meeting was held between members of The Working Group and Wisliceny. At this meeting, the German set forth his proposals and set what was to be a final deadline for a month later, on the tenth of June.

Speaking for his superiors, he offered firstly, the suspension, between the tenth of May and the tenth of June, of the deportations from all the occupied lands, excluding Germany, Austria, Poland and the lands of the Protectorate. Secondly, the total suspension of the deportations if the Jewish leaders paid two or three million dollars, as long as a down payment of one hundred and fifty to two hundred thousand dollars was received by the tenth of June. The timetable for the remaining payments would be negotiated by the parties between the tenth of June and the tenth of August.

These are the details that are contained in a letter sent by Rav Weissmandl after Steiner and Mrs. Fleischmann had met with Wisliceny. On the following day, another meeting was held at which Wisliceny named the countries from which the deportations would stop: France, Belgium, Holland, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and Hungary. Mrs. Fleischmann reported this meeting on the day it was held. (Min Hameitzar, C.Z.A., also Porat)

In her letters, she stressed that, "Know that our partner is heartless... You must not desert us... The rescue program is a higher purpose, for the sake of which it is worth living." Ben Gurion and the directorship of the Jewish Agency received a report on Mrs.Fleischmann's letter.

"Our word has been said," Rav Weissmandl continued in his letter, "We impose a strict oath upon the heads and the leaders of Am Yisroel... if you chas vesholom waste the time on reflections, talking, meetings, fears, discussions, sophistry, counselling and suggestions, then no such murder, by the agency of Jews, will ever before have taken place. We know that our words are harsh but we must nevertheless speak the truth. If the middle of June arrives and we do not have the money we need for the down payment, chas vesholom and chas milehazkir... then we will have done harm by opening the negotiations... [by]... hastening the [survivors'] deaths... It is bitter for us to speak so harshly but we know that if only the community there would open its purse and give... to the community here... many tens of thousands would still be alive." (Min Hameitzar)

"We have already paid too much blood," wrote Rav Weissmandl on the twelfth of May. "We have fulfilled our membership obligations more than any other nation." Dr. Fuchs writes that when making this comment, Rav Weissmandl must have had Nathan Schwalb's words in mind, written at the time of the earlier negotiations over Slovakian Jewry, to the effect that the Jews also had to suffer losses as the price for claiming Eretz Yisroel in the negotiations that would follow the War. "For we will only gain the Land through blood," Schwalb had written.

Members if the Working Group

Ebb And Flow

Addressing a meeting of the secretariat of the Histadrut's Executive Committee on the thirteenth of May, Menachem Bader urged action in implementing The Europe Plan. "While [it is true that] the proposal carries the seal of the rabbonim, it emanates from a small group of people, in which a great power is concentrated... the outstanding personality in the group is Gisi Fleischmann... We have no choice but to move towards any proposal for we will never be able to justify our refusal, whether for political, strategic or any other reasons, even if we are risking the loss of our money [in agreeing to the Germans' proposal.]" (Executive Committee Archive, quoted by D. Porat and N. Barzel)

In the wake of this speech, Neustadt called for the setting up of a fund that would collect twenty-five thousand million liras from the general public, in order to save whatever could still be saved. (N.Barzel)

However, replying to Bader in a meeting of the Zionist Executive Committee on the seventeenth of May, Gruenbaum said that he saw no possibility of fulfilling the Slovakian demands and that South African or Australian Jewry should be approached. When, at the same meeting, it was proposed that the yishuv react to the disappointing results of the Bermuda Conference, at which the nations of the world had met to discuss the problem of the Jewish refugees trapped in Europe, ultimately without offering anything that pretended to alleviate the situation. "Various suggestions have been made... amongst them... the interruption of work for several minutes each day, as a sign of protest."

In response, Gruenbaum had this to say. "I do not think it is our job to interrupt normal life... and I am neither so stingy nor so miserly that I am unable to see Jews enjoying a little happiness in their lives. It's good that there is one corner of the world where a Jew... [can find] pleasure in his life. I don't know why I should interrupt his pleasure." (quoted by Porat and Bet Tzvi)

While they waited in hope, oblivious to Gruenbaum's verdict, the members of the Working Group found little pleasure in their lives. Time moved on and the tenth of June drew closer. On the thirty-first of May Rav Weissmandl wrote, "Three weeks have passed since we sent you an emissary to tell you that there is an opening [for] saving the remnant of Yisroel... We are therefore sending another messenger... If chas vesholom and chas milehazkir, the tenth of June arrives and we do not make the down payment, you will have perpetrated evil such as has never before been known. For these reshoim know well how to demand blood in exchange for money, immediately and with murderous cruelty—how much more so after extended negotiations like these... you can save a life for two or three dollars. We beg and beseech you, with tears flowing from our eyes... the present writer does not have the strength to write, for his thoughts are troubled and his eyes are clouded with tears. We place our trust in Hashem the good, to open your hearts.." (Min Hameitzar)

Gisi Fleischmann went to meet Wisliceny on the tenth of June, with empty hands. Wisliceny agreed to extend the date for the down payment until the first of July and promised that the deportations would not resume until the tenth of July, by which time, if no money had arrived, he would travel to Paris to continue the deportations from France.

"I want to point out," wrote Gisi Fleischmann on the eighteenth of June, "that until now, Willy has negotiated faithfully but if we don't fulfill our undertakings, the results will be fearful, for the German precision is what counts most with him." (ibid.)

On the same day that she wrote this letter, Mrs. Fleischmann telephoned Schwalb, conveyed her message to Constantinople. (N. Barzel) On the same day again, Saly Meyer wrote Mrs. Fleischmann that he would try and obtain two hundred thousand dollars, that would be kept in an American bank until after the War. "Although this promise would not satisfy Wisliceny, Saly Meyer nevertheless expected Mrs. Fleischmann to make various offers to the Germans... while she was empty handed all the time." (Fuchs, Min Hameitzar)

Insufficient as his help may have been, Saly Meyer was still ahead of the yishuv in acting. At a meeting of the Zionist Executive Committee on the twenty-fourth of June, Dubkin reported that the demands for aid that had suddenly begun to arrive from Constantinople, far exceeded anything imagined even by the most active supporters of sending money to Slovakia. He added that if these demands were met and fifty thousand liras (around two hundred thousand dollars,) were designated for rescue, a mere twenty-one thousand liras would remain from the entire rescue budget for that year. (N.Barzel, from C.Z.A.)

At a meting of the Jewish Agency's directorship on the twenty-seventh of June, the letters that had been written in Slovakia in May, arriving in Eretz Yisroel via Constantinople, were discussed. Gruenbaum proposed asking Kaplan, the Agency's treasurer, to raise the amount that was set aside for rescue, by ten thousand liras, stipulating that it was to be as a loan. 'But it won't be a loan,' Kaplan pointed out.

"Kaplan went on to warn that, 'It is dangerous to spend money that is meant for building the land, on other things,' and suggested that the issue of aid be considered once again before a decision was taken. A proposal was made by Dr. Shmurak to set the entire matter aside, 'until the question is clarified and information has been received in writing.' Ben Gurion summed up by noting that the other members agreed with Dr. Shmurak's position and further discussion was postponed." (ibid.)

"The basic attitude that had been expressed in January 1943, remained unchanged," notes Na'ima Barzel. The same distinction was still being made between rescue and aliya.

Bader wrote to Vanya Pomerantz and Ze'ev Schind on the eleventh of June, "concerning a deal that had been proposed by one of the double agents with whom he worked... [to bring] a boat that could carry a thousand olim from a Rumanian or Bulgarian port, in exchange for two hundred thousand Turkish liras. Bader consulted Shertok and Ben Gurion, who were of the same opinion: "To make contact with the Devil." (A.Horowitz)

Letter from Rav Weissmandel asking that Auschwitz be bombed.

Towards The Point Of No Return

At the beginning of July, a messenger left for Slovakia carrying a receipt for the deposit, by the Joint, of two hundred thousand dollars in a Swiss bank account. The money was to remain blocked until after the War. (D. Porat)

Obviously, Mrs. Fleischmann did not dare approach Wisliceny with such an offer. In a letter written on the seventeenth of July that was intended for Saly Meyer, she wrote, "Do you really believe that I will go to the German after a ten week interruption, setting forth all your conditions on the one hand, while promising him a down payment of two hundred thousand dollars... after the War, until which time we cannot give him anything? Don't you think that he may feel we are making a laughing stock of him? I am waiting to speak to Willi and I still don't know how I am going to deliver this negative answer... I must end this letter by declaring that I remove all responsibility from myself in the event that Willi is unprepared for further discussion of the suspension of the deportations." (Min Hameitzar)

One of the conditions referred to by Mrs. Fleischmann was contained in a letter from Schwalb, calling for Jews to be allowed to leave the lands of the Reich for Eretz Yisroel. (ibid.)

In the meantime, the Nazis kept to their word and the transports to the death camps ceased during July. (ibid.) The Working Group gained a few more days due to Wisliceny's being stationed in Greece. He let them know that his arrival for the close of the negotiations would be delayed until the twentieth of July. (ibid.)

In a letter written on the nineteenth of July, Rav Weissmandl again described the sequence of events in the history of The Europe Plan, explaining all the reasons that the Nazis had for being interested in it. He apparently no longer placed any hope in begging his fellow men for help. "There is nothing more for us to say... we pray to the Guardian of Yisroel, 'Guard the remnant of Yisroel and enable Your people Yisroel to manage without needing help from each other or from any other nation.'"(Archive of Kibbutz Lochamei Hagetaot, quoted by Porat)

All material on this site is copyrighted and its use is restricted.
Click here for conditions of use.