Leon Feiner
Encyclopedia
Leon Feiner (born 1885 in Krakow
, died February 22, 1945 in Lublin
) was a Polish-Jewish lawyer, an activist of the General Jewish Labour Bund in Poland
and between November 1944 and January 1945 the director (prezes) and vice-chairman of the Council to Aid Jews "Żegota
".
on September 17, as part of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
between Nazi Germany
and Soviet Union
. Feiner was caught in the Soviet part of occupied Poland, was arrested by the NKVD
and spent several months in a Soviet prison in Lida
, near Wilno. Despite the fact that before the war on several occasions he had defended Polish Communists in court as an attorney, and that he had belonged to a socialist organization (the General Jewish Labour Bund in Poland
), the Soviets authorities charged him with being a "fascist" and a "counter revolutionary" After the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union
Feiner managed to escape after the Soviets fled Lida in 1941, and made his way to Nazi occupied Warsaw
.
During the Nazi occupation of Poland Feiner, even though he lived in the "Aryan" side of Warsaw under the assumed name "Berezowski", was one of the central personalities of the Jewish underground in the city. He was the author of most of the communiques of the Bund from Poland to the Western allies, in which he described Nazi terror and brutality.
Feiner also served as a guide for the Polish courier Jan Karski
inside the Warsaw Ghetto
(they both crossed into the ghetto through the Warsaw sewers). Karski asked Feiner what prominent American and British Jews should do. "Tell the Jewish leaders," Feiner said, "that ... they must find the strength and courage to make sacrifices no other statesmen have ever had to make, sacrifices as painful as the fate of my dying people, and as unique." Karski also took Feiner's report to the Polish-Jewish political leaders Szmul Zygielbojm
and Ignacy Schwarzbart
, who were serving on the Polish National Council of the Polish Government-in-Exile in London. The report described the murder of Jews by the Germans across Poland, the extermination camp at Chełmno (including the mobile gas vans) and gave the estimated number of murdered Jews, as of May, 1942, at 700,000 (the actual number was already much higher).. Feiner's instructions to Zygielbojm were to cease mere protests and organize retaliatory bombing, leafleting and execution of Germans captured by the Allies, in response to the Nazi Holocaust.. The description of the condition of Jews in German occupied Poland and Feiner's instructions threw Zygielbojm into depression since he knew that the Allies would be unwilling to help (Zygielbojm eventually committed suicide as a protest against the indifference of the Allied governments in the face of the Holocaust).
After the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
and the liquidation of the Ghetto by the Germans, Feiner tried desperately to help those who were sent to slave labor camps.
Leon Feiner survived the Nazi occupation, the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and the Warsaw Uprising
, and was rescued in Lublin in January 1945. However, due to terminal illness (throat cancer) he died soon afterward, on February 22. Even while in the hospital he maintained relationships with his friends and fellow political activists and participated in discussions of the future of the Bund in Poland.
He is buried in the main row of the Okopowa Street Jewish Cemetery
in Warsaw
(quarter 12).
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
, died February 22, 1945 in Lublin
Lublin
Lublin is the ninth largest city in Poland. It is the capital of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 350,392 . Lublin is also the largest Polish city east of the Vistula river...
) was a Polish-Jewish lawyer, an activist of the General Jewish Labour Bund in Poland
General Jewish Labour Bund in Poland
The General Jewish Labour Bund in Poland was a Jewish socialist party in Poland which promoted the political, cultural and social autonomy of Jewish workers, sought to combat antisemitism and was generally opposed to Zionism.-Creation of the Polish Bund:...
and between November 1944 and January 1945 the director (prezes) and vice-chairman of the Council to Aid Jews "Żegota
Zegota
"Żegota" , also known as the "Konrad Żegota Committee", was a codename for the Polish Council to Aid Jews , an underground organization of Polish resistance in German-occupied Poland from 1942 to 1945....
".
Biography
After the outbreak of World War II with the Nazi invasion of Poland, the Soviet Union also invaded PolandSoviet invasion of Poland
Soviet invasion of Poland can refer to:* the second phase of the Polish-Soviet War of 1920 when Soviet armies marched on Warsaw, Poland* Soviet invasion of Poland of 1939 when Soviet Union allied with Nazi Germany attacked Second Polish Republic...
on September 17, as part of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, named after the Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov and the German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, was an agreement officially titled the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union and signed in Moscow in the late hours of 23 August 1939...
between Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
and Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. Feiner was caught in the Soviet part of occupied Poland, was arrested by the NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
and spent several months in a Soviet prison in Lida
Lida
Lida is a city in western Belarus in Hrodna Voblast, situated 160 km west of Minsk. It is the fourteenth largest city in Belarus.- Etymology :...
, near Wilno. Despite the fact that before the war on several occasions he had defended Polish Communists in court as an attorney, and that he had belonged to a socialist organization (the General Jewish Labour Bund in Poland
General Jewish Labour Bund in Poland
The General Jewish Labour Bund in Poland was a Jewish socialist party in Poland which promoted the political, cultural and social autonomy of Jewish workers, sought to combat antisemitism and was generally opposed to Zionism.-Creation of the Polish Bund:...
), the Soviets authorities charged him with being a "fascist" and a "counter revolutionary" After the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
Feiner managed to escape after the Soviets fled Lida in 1941, and made his way to Nazi occupied Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
.
During the Nazi occupation of Poland Feiner, even though he lived in the "Aryan" side of Warsaw under the assumed name "Berezowski", was one of the central personalities of the Jewish underground in the city. He was the author of most of the communiques of the Bund from Poland to the Western allies, in which he described Nazi terror and brutality.
Feiner also served as a guide for the Polish courier Jan Karski
Jan Karski
Jan Karski was a Polish World War II resistance movement fighter and later scholar at Georgetown University. In 1942 and 1943 Karski reported to the Polish government in exile and the Western Allies on the situation in German-occupied Poland, especially the destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto, and...
inside the Warsaw Ghetto
Warsaw Ghetto
The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest of all Jewish Ghettos in Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II. It was established in the Polish capital between October and November 15, 1940, in the territory of General Government of the German-occupied Poland, with over 400,000 Jews from the vicinity...
(they both crossed into the ghetto through the Warsaw sewers). Karski asked Feiner what prominent American and British Jews should do. "Tell the Jewish leaders," Feiner said, "that ... they must find the strength and courage to make sacrifices no other statesmen have ever had to make, sacrifices as painful as the fate of my dying people, and as unique." Karski also took Feiner's report to the Polish-Jewish political leaders Szmul Zygielbojm
Szmul Zygielbojm
Szmul Zygielbojm was a Jewish-Polish socialist politician, leader of the Bund, and a member of the National Council of the Polish government in exile...
and Ignacy Schwarzbart
Ignacy Schwarzbart
Ignacy Schwarzbart was a prominent Polish Zionist, and one of two Jewish representatives on the Polish National Council of the Polish Government-in-Exile during the Second World War, along with Szmul Zygielbojm....
, who were serving on the Polish National Council of the Polish Government-in-Exile in London. The report described the murder of Jews by the Germans across Poland, the extermination camp at Chełmno (including the mobile gas vans) and gave the estimated number of murdered Jews, as of May, 1942, at 700,000 (the actual number was already much higher).. Feiner's instructions to Zygielbojm were to cease mere protests and organize retaliatory bombing, leafleting and execution of Germans captured by the Allies, in response to the Nazi Holocaust.. The description of the condition of Jews in German occupied Poland and Feiner's instructions threw Zygielbojm into depression since he knew that the Allies would be unwilling to help (Zygielbojm eventually committed suicide as a protest against the indifference of the Allied governments in the face of the Holocaust).
After the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was the Jewish resistance that arose within the Warsaw Ghetto in German occupied Poland during World War II, and which opposed Nazi Germany's effort to transport the remaining ghetto population to Treblinka extermination camp....
and the liquidation of the Ghetto by the Germans, Feiner tried desperately to help those who were sent to slave labor camps.
Leon Feiner survived the Nazi occupation, the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and the Warsaw Uprising
Warsaw Uprising
The Warsaw Uprising was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance Home Army , to liberate Warsaw from Nazi Germany. The rebellion was timed to coincide with the Soviet Union's Red Army approaching the eastern suburbs of the city and the retreat of German forces...
, and was rescued in Lublin in January 1945. However, due to terminal illness (throat cancer) he died soon afterward, on February 22. Even while in the hospital he maintained relationships with his friends and fellow political activists and participated in discussions of the future of the Bund in Poland.
He is buried in the main row of the Okopowa Street Jewish Cemetery
Okopowa Street Jewish Cemetery
The Okopowa Street Jewish Cemetery is one of the largest Jewish cemeteries in Europe. Located on Warsaw's Okopowa street and abutting the Powązki Cemetery at , the Jewish Cemetery was established in 1806 and occupies 33 hectares of land. The cemetery contains over 200,000 marked graves, as well...
in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
(quarter 12).