any restrictions. On the contrary, that freedom of action was granted generously.
Das ist eine spezielle Art Besoldung,¹⁹³ he said, a special kind of recompense,
a bonus for honest service in the past and an advance payment as an
incentive for its performance in the future. This explains the impunity with
which Germans commit their actions against Jews. It is also the source of
the fear felt by influential Germans who in private express sympathy for the
victims of anti-Jewish attacks but are afraid to intervene with the governing
circles in Jewish matters. It can be confidently stated that, alongside the
political aim of destroying Jewry, the persecution of Jews is a form of privilege
granted by the Nazi system. The following case will serve as proof of the
foregoing proposition: [4] A certain Jewish kehillah official was responsible for
supplying Jewish workers to the various work sites and institutions. In the
course of his duties, he got to know a very likeable German head of department.
After seeing each other for some time, they got on so well that the Jew
got up the courage to ask that attempts be made to improve the way in which
Jews were supplied for the various tasks. The German applied himself to the
matter very energetically. He admitted that seizing people in the street had
a negative effect on the moral standing of the German people, because of
the constantly recurring street incidents. The Jewish official was triumphant.
Every day on his return from work, he told his colleagues and superiors that
a colossal change for the better was on the way and that a decree would soon be
issued forbidding the seizure of Jews. “And you know what a decree means for
a German,” he added. Indeed, shortly afterwards the Jewish official received
from the German an official document whose contents the Jewish kehillah
was to publish in the Lodzer Zeitung¹⁹⁴ at its own expense. It was the promised
decree. A few days later the text of the decree appeared in the newspaper.
I write ‘a few days later,’ because a permit had to be obtained for a Jew
to enter the editorial office of the Lodzer Zeitung. After all these difficulties
had been overcome and the fees paid, the official announcement still did
not appear because, as it turned out, the German official in question had no
right to issue such decrees. There followed more interventions, telephone calls,
arguments among various departments, until finally the long-awaited decree
appeared. But in such a different form! It was no longer a decree, but simply
193 (German) This is a special remuneration.
194 See Doc. 1.
