Reich Association of Jews in Germany

The Reich Association of Jews in Germany (German: Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland), also called the new one for clear differentiation, was a Jewish umbrella organisation formed in Nazi Germany in February 1939. The Association branched out from the Reich Representation of German Jews (Reichsvertretung der Deutschen Juden) established in September 1933. The new Association was an administrative body concerned predominantly with the coordination and support of the emigration and forcible deportation of Jewish people,^[1] subject to the Reich government's ever-changing legislation enforced by the RSHA (Reichssicherheitshauptamt). The legal status of the new organisation was changed on 4 July 1939 on the basis of the Nuremberg Laws,^[1] and defined by the 10th Regulation to the Citizenship Law issued by the Reich's ministry of the Interior.^[2] The Association assumed the so-called old Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland, which was the name under which the Reichsvertretung der Deutschen Juden (Reich's deputation of German Jews) had been operating since February 1939.^[3]

The new Reichsvereinigung assumed the staff, installations and buildings of the old Reichsvereinigung. The RSHA subjected the new Reichsvereinigung to its influence and control, and confirmed Rabbi Leo Baeck as president, who had been elected as president of the old Reichsvereinigung. By the end of 1939 the RSHA appointed Adolf Eichmann as its Special Referee for the Affairs of the Jews (German: Sonderreferent für Judenangelegenheiten), officiating in a bureau in Kurfürstenstraße #115–116, Berlin; his department was later known as RSHA Referat IV B4.^[4] Eichmann had come to dubious fame for expelling 50,000 Jewish Austrians and Gentile Austrians of Jewish descent^[5] within the first three months after the Anschluß.^[6] Thus he was commissioned to expel Jewish Germans and Gentile Germans of Jewish descent from within the old Reich borders. The local supervision of the Reichsvereinigung was commissioned to the local Gestapo branches.

^ ^a ^b Gudrun Maierhof (1 March 2009). "Central Organizations of Jews in Germany (1933-1943)". Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
^ Yad Vashem (2015). "Tenth Regulation to the Reich Citizenship Law, July 4, 1939". Reich Association of the Jews (July 1939). Jewish Virtual Library.org. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
^ Leonard Baker (1978). Days of Sorrow and Pain, Leo Baeck and the Berlin Jews. Macmillan Publishing Co. pp. ff, 244, 271. ISBN 9780025063402. Google Books, snippet view.
^ Hilberg, Raul (2003). The Destruction of the European Jews. Vol. II (3rd ed.). New Haven and London: Yale University Press. p. 425. ISBN 0-300-09587-2.
^ Besides Jewish Austrians, Austrians of all faiths but Judaism were categorised by Nazi terms as Jews (a definition applying all over Nazi-ruled areas) if they happened to have three or four grandparents being or having been members of Jewish congregations.
^ Hartmut Ludwig, "Das ›Büro Pfarrer Grüber‹ 1938–1940", In: ›Büro Pfarrer Grüber‹ Evangelische Hilfsstelle für ehemals Rasseverfolgte. Geschichte und Wirken heute, Walter Sylten, Joachim-Dieter Schwäbl and Michael Kreutzer on behalf of the Evangelische Hilfsstelle für ehemals Rasseverfolgte (ed.; Evangelical Relief Centre for the formerly Racially Persecuted), Berlin: Evangelische Hilfsstelle für ehemals Rasseverfolgte, 1988, pp. 1–23, here p. 14. No ISBN.

[Maierhof-1] Gudrun Maierhof (1 March 2009). "Central Organizations of Jews in Germany (1933-1943)". Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia. Retrieved 19 July 2015.

[JVL-2] Yad Vashem (2015). "Tenth Regulation to the Reich Citizenship Law, July 4, 1939". Reich Association of the Jews (July 1939). Jewish Virtual Library.org. Retrieved 19 July 2015.

[Baker1978-3] Leonard Baker (1978). Days of Sorrow and Pain, Leo Baeck and the Berlin Jews. Macmillan Publishing Co. pp. ff, 244, 271. ISBN 9780025063402. Google Books, snippet view.

[4] Hilberg, Raul (2003). The Destruction of the European Jews. Vol. II (3rd ed.). New Haven and London: Yale University Press. p. 425. ISBN 0-300-09587-2.

[5] Besides Jewish Austrians, Austrians of all faiths but Judaism were categorised by Nazi terms as Jews (a definition applying all over Nazi-ruled areas) if they happened to have three or four grandparents being or having been members of Jewish congregations.

[6] Hartmut Ludwig, "Das ›Büro Pfarrer Grüber‹ 1938–1940", In: ›Büro Pfarrer Grüber‹ Evangelische Hilfsstelle für ehemals Rasseverfolgte. Geschichte und Wirken heute, Walter Sylten, Joachim-Dieter Schwäbl and Michael Kreutzer on behalf of the Evangelische Hilfsstelle für ehemals Rasseverfolgte (ed.; Evangelical Relief Centre for the formerly Racially Persecuted), Berlin: Evangelische Hilfsstelle für ehemals Rasseverfolgte, 1988, pp. 1–23, here p. 14. No ISBN.

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