Polish-Jewish Relations: 1,300 Keyword-Phrase-Indexed Book Reviews (by Jan Peczkis)

The Vanished World of Lithuanian Jews, edited by Alvydas Nikzentaitis, et al. 2004. Rodopi, Amsterdam, New York

Jewish Laborers Dispensable: Training Goys to Replace “Indispensable” Jews

We often hear the argument that the Holocaust was special because the Nazi Germans sought the death of every single Jew. Faced with the fact that hundreds of thousands of Jews survived Nazi German captivity, we are told that this was only because the survivors were indispensable Jewish workers for the German war effort. It sounds convincing (what good lie isn’t?) but it is untrue. To begin with, the “indispensable worker” label is amorphous. As I showed elsewhere, the Germans ironically sometimes killed “indispensable Jewish workers” while at the same time sparing “non-essential” Jewish workers. See:

https://www.jewsandpolesdatabase.org/2019/11/04/judenrat-collaboration-in-detail-silberklang/

See also:

https://www.jewsandpolesdatabase.org/2025/08/02/introducing-jewish-forced-laborers-a-stunning-holocaust-contradiction/

JEWISH LABORERS DISPENSABLE: TRAINING THEIR REPLACEMENTS

Far from being intimidated by the existence of skilled Jewish laborers, the Germans expended a major effort to train local Belarussians to replace these so-called “indispensable Jewish workers”, which could then be put to death. Belorussian Jewish scholar Yevgeni Rozenblat writes, “In order to overcome the possible economic consequences of the liquidation of the able Jewry, a special complex program was worked out, which included the following points: 1. Training of qualified specialists of the local non-Jewish origin for industrial needs and artisan’s production. A network of vocational schools was established. Thus, according to the data for September 1942, there were 8 vocational schools opened in Pinsk, which trained shoe-makers, upper-makers, tailors, dress-makers, cutters, metal workers, turners, smiths, carpenters, etc…2. A more rational use of the available labor reserve: Enlisting the able population from the rural areas…Use of the labor previously meant to be transported to the Reich…Enlisting the refugees for work (in 1943-1944).” (p. 271).

JEWISH LABORERS DISPENSABLE: CONCLUSION

It is obvious that the German killing and sparing of Jews, including that of “essential workers”, occurred on an ad hoc basis. The eventual German sparing of hundreds of thousands of Jews, in numerous camps, cannot summarily be excused as “essential Jewish workers”. The “Nazis were out to kill all Jews” is a falsehood that must be publicly denounced, and Jews should be forced to publicly admit their lie and to perform acts of reparation to all non-Jewish victims of Nazi Germany.

JEWISH LABORERS DISPENSABLE, AND NAZI GERMANS DID PAY JEWISH LABORERS

Some Jews have argued that, whereas Polish forced laborers were paid (if very little), Jewish forced laborers were not paid anything at all. Absolutely false. Rozenblat comments, “The wages of Jewish workers in steady jobs (e. g. in private businesses, enterprises, organizations, and establishments) were regulated by numerous directives of the Riechskomissariat and the local authorities.” (p. 267). Once again, there was no Nazi German policy that consistently treated Jews worse than non-Jews, and it is high time that the favorable treatment of the Holocaust, in public policies, be repudiated once and for all.