Żegota (, full codename: the "Konrad Żegota Committee") was the Polish Council to Aid Jews with the Government Delegation for Poland (), an underground Polish resistance organization, and part of the Polish Underground State, active 1942–45 in German-occupied Poland. Żegota was the successor institution to the Provisional Committee to Aid Jews and was established specifically to save Jews. Poland was the only country in German-occupied Europe where such a government-established and -supported underground organization existed.

Estimates of the number of Jews that Żegota provided aid to, and eventually saved, range from several thousands to tens of thousands.

Operatives of Żegota worked in extreme circumstances – under threat of death by the Nazi forces. Woliński is also credited with developing the idea for this organization. Julian Grobelny, an activist in the prewar Polish Socialist Party, was elected as General Secretary, and Ferdynand Arczyński – a member of the Polish Democratic Party – as treasurer. Adolf Berman and Leon Feiner represented the Jewish National Committee (an umbrella group representing the Zionist parties) and the Marxist General Jewish Labour Bund. Both parties operated independently, channeling funds donated by Jewish organizations abroad to Żegota and other underground operations. Other members included the Polish Socialist Party, the Democratic Party () and the Catholic Front for the Rebirth of Poland () led by Kossak-Szczucka and Witold Bieńkowski, editors of its underground publications. The right-wing National Party () refused to take part in the organization.

Operations

Żegota had specialized departments for issues such as clothing, children's welfare, medical care, housing and other relevant issues. In forging documents, Żegota cooperated with the Home Army, which often provided facilities for forging German identification papers.

The organization headquarters was located in Warsaw at 24 .

Richard C. Lukas estimated that 60,000, or about half of the Jews who survived the Holocaust in occupied Poland (such estimates vary), were aided in some shape or form by Żegota. However, it was no less dangerous due to the risk posed by fellow Poles, some of whom did not see kindly lending help for Jews.

According to Richard C. Lukas, "The number of Poles who perished at the hands of the Germans for aiding Jews" is difficult to establish, with estimates ranging from several thousand to as high as fifty thousand. Paul R. Bartrop estimated that about 20,000 Żegota operatives were killed by the Nazis, and thousands of others were arrested and imprisoned.

Despite these difficulties, throughout the war, the Polish Government-in-Exile continually increased its funding for Żegota: the Polish Government's monthly support was increased from 30,000 zlotys to zl 338,000 in May 1944, and to zl 1,000,000 by war's end. The Polish Government's overall financial contribution to Żegota and Jewish organizations came to zl 37,400,000, US$1,000,000, and SFr 200,000 (see financial details below). According to Marcin Urynowicz, the percentage of the funds allocated by the Polish Government-in-Exile to help Jews, including through Żegota, was based on their percentage in Poland's prewar general population.

Antony Polonsky writes that "Zegota's successes—it was able to forge false documents for some 50,000 persons—suggest that, had it been given a higher priority by the Delegatura and the government in London, it could have done much more." Polonsky quotes Władysław Bartoszewski as saying that the organization was considered a "stepchild" of the underground; and Emanuel Ringelblum, who wrote that "a Council for Aid to the Jews was formed, consisting of people of good will, but its activity was limited by lack of funds and lack of help from the government." A similar description is given by historian Martin Winstone, who writes that Żegota fought an uphill battle for funding and received more support from Jewish organizations than from the Polish Government-in-Exile. He also notes that the Polish right-wing parties completely refused to support it. Shmuel Krakowski described the funding as "modest", and writes that the Polish government could have allocated more to funding the organization. He writes that "[the funding] was indeed very little considering not only the needs of the council and the immensity of the Jewish tragedy but also the resources at the Polish underground's disposal... they could have been much more generous in allocating resources needed to save human lives."

Joseph Kermish describes the relationship between Żegota and the Government Delegation for Poland as strained, with frequent disagreements about funding and the extent of the humanitarian crisis Żegota was trying to address.

It has been estimated that the cost of saving one Jewish life was around 6,000–15,000 Polish zloties.

|-

! Allocated to

!Date

!Sum

!Type

!Notes

|-

| rowspan="9" | Żegota

|May 1943 – Feb. 1944

|6,250,000 zł

|total

|

  • Janina Buchholtz-Bukolska
  • Maria Derwisz-Parnowska
  • Regina Fleszarowa
  • Maria Grzegorzewska
  • Irena Kurowska
  • Maria Laska
  • Stanisław and Maria Ossowscy
  • Zofia Rodziewicz
  • Ewa Rybicka
  • Irena Sawicka
  • Stefania Sempołowska
  • Irena Solska
  • Jan and Antonina Żabińscy

Postwar recognition

thumb|Żegota plaque, [[Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, Israel]]

In 1963 Żegota was commemorated in Israel with the planting of a tree in the Avenue of the Righteous at Yad Vashem, with Władysław Bartoszewski present. In 1995 a monument to the organization was unveiled in Warsaw. Another monument was unveiled in 2009 in the Survivors' Park in Łódź. Żegota is also commemorated in plaques at places of its regional offices in Warsaw and Kraków.

See also

  • List of Żegota members
  • Rescue of Jews by Poles during the Holocaust
  • Aleksander Ładoś
  • History of the Jews in Poland
  • Timeline of Jewish-Polish history
  • Polish resistance movement in World War II
  • Occupation of Poland (1939–45)

Notes and references

Specific

General

  • Excerpts from the book Żegota by Irena Tomaszewska & Tecia Werbowski
  • Zegota – book and documentary film
  • The Activities of the Council for Aid to Jews ("Żegota") In Occupied Poland