Organising help for the Jews on the Aryan side

During the Nazi occupation of Poland thousands of Jews lived hidden on the ‘Aryan’ side. Someof them helped one another by maintaining contacts and establishing a network of mutual assistance.Such Jewish networks, called natural networks, were created by family members, friends and peoplefrom other cities who sought anonymity in occupied Warsaw. Other networks – associative – werecreated by Jews and Poles who shared a common world view or ideology (for instance, membershipin political parties) and who, somewhat on top of other forms of activity, offered help to thosein hiding. Based on personal contacts and trust, the networks would expand with time and growingneeds, encompassing a growing number of Jews. From the very beginning of the occupation theaid to Jews had an individual character (meaning that it was provided by family members, friends,or neighbors) or a communal one – a lot has been written about the aid provided by journalistsphysicians, members of housing cooperatives, students of Professor Baley, or socialists. In thistext I take a look at yet another type of aid – an institutionalized network, that is one organized deliberatelyby the underground exclusively for the purpose of aiding Jews in hiding, a network whichconstantly expanded, taking a form of organized, planned activities.In this article I concentrate on several aspects of an institutionalized network – the only one of thiskind in Warsaw. I am interested in the human dimension – I shall not write about the organizationalor political aspects of the functioning of the Council for Aid to Jews. I am interested in practicalissues, the possible maximum scope of the network, and particularly the helpers’ actions. I shall startwith a specific case study of the aid provided within the framework of the help network.