1942, the JHK formally absorbed social institutions operating in the ghetto, including
Centos and TOZ (The Society for the Protection of the Health of the Jewish Population
in Poland).
JUNAK (Polish, literally: brave youth), a Polish or Ukrainian worker of a Baudienst
(German: Building service).
KENNKARTE (German: identity card), identity document issued in the General
Government from the first half of 1942. It replaced the Polish identity card.
KIBBUTZ (Hebrew, literally: gathering; plural—kibbutzim), Jewish collective community,
usually grouping members of youth Zionist movements.
KOHNHELLERKA—popular name for a horse tram belonging to the Kohn and
Heller Transport Society Omnibus franchised by the Germans, which was running
in the ghetto from June 1941.
LABOUR COLUMN (Polish: kolumna robocza), an organised group of workers going
to a work detail outside the ghetto.
LANDSMANSHAFT (plural: landsmanshaftn), organisation associating people from
the same town or region of the country; in the ghettos it usually consisted of refugees
or displaced persons from the same city. In the Warsaw ghetto, landsmanshaftn were
represented by the Central Commission for Refugees.
MAIN SHELTER HOME (Polish: Główny Dom Schronienia), the largest child-care institution
in the Warsaw ghetto, with more than 500 live-in charges. It was located at
Dzielna Street 39.
MELDEKARTE (German: registration card), a document issued by the Labour
Office, which confirmed employment, thus providing exemption from forced
labour.
OFFICE TO COMBAT USURY AND SPECULATION—an institution with offices at Leszno
Street 13, commonly known as the “Thirteen”. A Gestapo agency in the Warsaw ghetto,
operating from the autumn of 1940 until July 1941, “Thirteen” was modelled after the
Jewish Order Service. Although its official duties included fighting against profiteering
in the Warsaw ghetto, in fact its members were mostly involved in extortion and smuggling.
A number of agencies operated under the “Thirteen”, whose tasks overlapped
with the institutions of the Jewish Council, including the Appointed Administration.
