The Search for Major Plagge: The Nazi Who Saved Jews, Expanded Edition

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This article does not contain any citations or references. Please improve this article by adding a reference. In response, Plagge set into action automotive workshops for the male Jewish inmates to work in and argued to his superiors that they would be more enthusiastic workers if they could stay with their families. His vision of the HKP was more than just a repair shop, for most people it was their permit for life. Witnesses said he reassigned anti-Semitic or violent subordinates so that they could not harm Jewish workers and turned a blind eye to the building of hideouts, and the food-smuggling operations that kept the workers alive.

Karl Plagge - The German Soldier Who Saved the Jews | Free Karl Plagge - The German Soldier Who Saved the Jews | Free

But the honour has only been bestowed after a long campaign by Mrs Good's son, Michael. Dr Good, a family physician who lives in Connecticut, began exploring the story of Plagge after visiting Subocz Street with his mother. A number of the workers' last memories of Plagge was shortly before the Red Army was to enter Vilnius, in July 1944. According to several survivors, Plagge performed one last heroic act. In the presence of SS officers, he gave the prisoners a veiled warning when he said they would be "escorted during this evacuation by the SS, which, as you know, is an organization devoted to the protection of refugees. Thus, there's nothing to worry about." With the Hamas massacre fresh in the minds of people around the world, the Hamas murderers pulled off another terrible crime against the Jewish But Plagge did not forgive himself. He was ashamed, felt he'd done far too little. Even during the trial, he'd called himself a "Nazi fellow-traveler." The Jewish Yad Vashem group, responsible for identifying righteous non-Jews, balked at first. Plagge's military record was too clean. He achieved so much by playing the loyal Nazi while he acted with singular courage. In 2005 the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial posthumously bestowed the title “ Righteous Among the Nations” on Plagge. [13]

testimony of Isaac Reches" . http://searchformajorplagge.com/searchformajorplagge.com/Plagge_Documents.html. According to historian Kim Priemel, the success of Plagge's rescue efforts was due to working within the system to save Jews, a position that required him to enter a "grey zone" of moral compromise. In 2000, the story of his rescues was uncovered by the son of a survivor of HKP 562. In 2005, after two unsuccessful petitions, the Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem recognized him as one of the " Righteous Among the Nations". Lessons Must Be Learned It will take a long time for us to understand what happened on Simchas Torah and how it took place —

Karl Plagge: The Nazi Who Saved His Jewish Workers

For more than fifty years Jewish survivors from Vilna had been searching for Major Plagge, to thank him and to try to understand how he came to stand as a light of moral courage in the midst of unfathomable evil. For many years the identity and motivations of this unusual officer remained obscured by the mists of time. Good, Michael (2005). The Search For Major Plagge: The Nazi Who Saved Jews. Fordham: Fordham University Press. ISBN 0-8232-2440-6. My previous Yated column was written, as planned, before Yom Tov and so did not react to the horrific pogrom against our people inSketch made by former HKP inmate Gary Gerstein, who was an 8-year-old child in July 1944. He later became an architect and drew this schematic of his hiding place with the help of his older cousin, Pearl Good, who also survived in this maline At the heart of Pearl’s riveting story, recounted in letters she penned to Yad Vashem, lies a tale of a mysterious rescuer, Major Plagge, the German commandant of the slave labor camp in Vilna where 14-year old Pearl was interned during the war. After the outbreak of World War Two in 1939, he was drafted to form part of the engineering facility which brought him to Vilnius, Lithuania. Main article The Holocaust Related articles by country Belarus Estonia Latvia Poland Russia Slovakia Ukraine

Karl Plagge - Holocaust Historical Society

The front line is moving west and HKP's assignment is to always be a certain number of miles behind the front line...As a result, you the Jews, and the workers will also be moved...since all of you are highly specialized and experienced workers in an area of great importance to the German army, you will be reassigned to an HKP unit...You will be escorted during this evacuation by the SS which, as you know, is an organization devoted to the protection of refugees. Thus, there is nothing to worry about... " In 1999, HKP 562 survivor Pearl Good traveled to Vilnius with her family. Good's son, Michael, decided to investigate the story of Plagge, but he had trouble locating him because survivors knew him only as "Major Plagge" and did not know his full name or place of birth. After fourteen months, Good was able to find Plagge's Wehrmacht personnel file. He eventually published the results of his research in 2005 as The Search for Major Plagge: The Nazi Who Saved Jews. [41] Good formed an organization of researchers and friends that he called the "Plagge Group" and, along with HKP survivors, petitioned Yad Vashem, Israel's official memorial to the Holocaust, to have Plagge recognized as " Righteous Among the Nations". [42] HKP survivor Pearl Good points to Plagge’s name on the Wall of the Righteous at Yad Vashem. Source by Michaeldg~commonswiki, CC BY-SA 3.0 In 1947, the former commander of a Nazi forced labour camp was tried for his part in the German occupation of Vilnius. The trial revealed that Plagge had orchestrated a daring covert operation to save the last Jews at the camp. But it was also noted that Plagge had acted out of humanitarian principles, not because he was inherently opposed to Nazism.

Keeping families together

Begell was born in eastern Poland in 1928. Late in WW-II, the Nazis caught him as a teenaged Jewish boy, and sent him to that camp. Then, a strange thing: The Komandant, Karl Plagge, let the prisoners know that the retreating SS was coming to kill them all. And he turned a blind eye as Bill and 50 others escaped through a second story window whose grating had been removed. Two hundred more managed to survive in hiding places within the camp. Major Karl Plagge was a hero, but he never saw himself as such, he was just trying to do what any decent man would do. But this was a time when decent men were hard to find. He was ashamed of his people, the Germans, and he decided to work against them. He was just one man but he did what he could. He not only saved Jews, he treated them with respect. He provided extra food, medical care, and wood for fire during the harsh winters. He also allowed the workers to build Malinas secret bunkers. The year is 1947, a Nazi is on trial for war crimes. He refuses to defend himself. In a surprising turn of fate he is acquitted. Why? Because his former Jewish workers have come forward to save him, they have testified on his behalf, he was a good man, a good Nazi, he saved their lives and the lives of many Jews. He tried to save many more, he was one man against many. His name was Karl Plagge. Establishment [ edit ] St. Peter and St. Paul's Church in Vilnius with a sign pointing to the HKP 562 forced labor camp