page_title: Jacob Gens
section_title: Relations with the Judenrat
hierarchical_section_title: Jacob Gens / Chief of the Vilnius Ghetto police / Relations with the Judenrat
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of Vilna Ghetto (png). Legend: Olive green area = small ghetto (liquidated in October 1941) Darker gray are = larger ghetto (liquidated in September 1943) Blue area = enlargement of the ghetto in September 1942 Yellow Star of David = Judenrat building Black # sign = ghetto gates Dot with a cross = Christian church House with a Star of David = Synagogue House symbol = Town Hall Points of interest inside the larger ghetto: Blue dot = Jewish hospital Purple dot = Ghetto theater Dark red dot = Ghetto library Pink dot = Ghetto prison Green dot = headquarters of FPO, Jewish resistance organization Orange dot = the larger of the two yeshivas in the ghetto and Torah center
context_page_description: Jacob Gens was the head of the Vilnius Ghetto government. Originally from a merchant family, he joined the Lithuanian Army shortly after the independence of Lithuania, rising to the rank of captain while also securing a college degree in law and economics. He married a non-Jew and worked at several jobs, including as a teacher, accountant, and an administrator.
  When Germany invaded Lithuania, Gens headed the Jewish hospital in Vilnius before the formation of the ghetto in September 1941. He was appointed chief of the ghetto police force and in July 1942 the Germans appointed him head of the ghetto Jewish government. He attempted to secure better conditions in the ghetto and believed that it was possible to save some Jews by working for the Germans. Gens and his policemen helped Germans in rounding up the Jews for deportation and execution in Ponary in October–December 1941 and in liquidating several smaller ghettos from late 1942 to early 1943. His policies, including the attempt to save some Jews by surrendering others for deportation or execution, continue to be a subject of debate and controversy.
context_section_description: After the Aktions in late 1941, no further large-scale deportations or other massacres took place in the Vilnius Ghetto. This period of calm lasted throughout 1942 and early 1943. During this period, Gens' department oversaw the three police precincts the ghetto had been divided into, as well as the ghetto's prison. The police force in early 1942 had about 200 policemen.
  During early 1942, Gens became involved in a power struggle with the head of the Judenrat, Anatol Friend. Friend had not been involved in Vilnius' Jewish organizations prior to the German invasion, and did not have much support from the ghetto's inhabitants. Gens was viewed favorably by the ghetto residents, partly because he lived in the ghetto when he could have escaped. Over time, Gens and the police force encroached on the functions of the Judenrat. The Germans backed Gens' efforts to secure more power, and implied that he was not responsible to the Judenrat, and that the Judenrat had no power over Gens or the Jewish policemen.
  In February, the Germans allowed the Judenrat to set up a judicial system. Before this, justice was administered solely by Gens and his policemen; after this, Gens' department still retained some judicial functions over injuries to policemen, escapes from the jail, or leaving the ghetto without leave. In June 1942, Gens took the responsibility for carrying out the death sentence imposed on five men from the ghetto who had been convicted of murder. A sixth man, convicted of committing a murder in another ghetto, was hanged at the same time. Some residents accused the Jewish police force of taking bribes at the gates leading into the ghetto. The police also organized parties which were occasionally attended by Gestapo.
  Gens had a dispute with a tailor named Weisskopf, who ran a tailoring workshop in the ghetto. Weisskopf tried to increase his own power base by negotiating directly with the German Army and not going through the ghetto's Labor Department. When Gens ordered all work contracts to go through the Labor Department, Weisskopf appealed to his German contacts, but the Gebeitskommissar of Vilnius, Hans Hingst, preferred that control of such contracts go through his own office which worked through the ghetto's administration. Hingst thus ruled in Gens' favor. The ghetto police then searched Weisskopf's house, found contraband, arrested him, and jailed him for four days, after which he lost his position running the workshop.
  Gens also came into conflict with the Judenrat and Friend over the Jewish policemen who guarded the gates into the ghetto. The Germans allowed the Jewish policemen to control access to the ghetto and conduct searches for contraband. Gens' policy was that when no Germans were present at the gates, the policemen would do minimal searches and would allow smuggling of food and other necessary items. If Germans were present at the gates, the policemen conducted thorough searches and often beat up attempted smugglers. In Gens' view, if the Germans thought the Jewish policemen were not vigilant enough, the policemen would be replaced by German guards and any opportunity for smuggling would cease. He also claimed that even when the Germans were present, any confiscated items were brought into the ghetto, which would not be the case if there were German guards at the gates.
caption: Map of the Vilna Ghetto (the small ghetto in olive green; Judenrat marked with yellow Star of David; Jewish hospital with blue dot)
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