“To Prevent Something Worse”: Strategies, Constraints, and Choices Made by the Jewish Councils in Western Europe

doi:10.1017/9781108900447.008

5 - “To Prevent Something Worse”: Strategies, Constraints, and Choices Made by the Jewish Councils in Western Europe

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 May 2025

Beate Meyer and

William Templer

Edited by

Marion Kaplan and

Natalia Aleksiun

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Marion Kaplan: Affiliation:
New York University
Natalia Aleksiun: Affiliation:
University of Florida

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Summary

Using examples from Germany, Austria, France, the Netherlands, and Belgium, this chapter discusses how Jewish leaders were chosen, how these organizations changed over time, the dilemmas they faced, and how decisions were made regarding cooperation or negotiations with Nazis, often on the basis of “preventing something worse.”

Keywords

councils perceptions reactions Germany Austria the Netherlands Belgium France Leo Baeck deportation Westerbork Consistoire

Information

Type: Chapter
Information: The Cambridge History of the Holocaust , pp. 84 - 100

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108900447.008 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2025

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