Collaboration

   During World War II, Nazi Germany received the support of people residing in countries under German occupation. Those who collaborated with the Nazis were sympathetic not only to Germany’s wartime objectives but also to its plan to annihilate the Jews of Europe. The following examples of political organizations that collaborated with the Germans is by no means a complete one but includes the General Commission on Jewish Affairs, established by the Vichy regime in March 1941. The organization played an important role in writing the anti-Jewish Statute on the Jews (Statut des Juifs). In Latvia, the “Thunder Cross,” a paramilitary unit headed by Major Victor Arajs (Kommando Arajs), joined with the Einsatzgruppen to spread terror against the Jews of Latvia. In the Netherlands, the collaborationist group was the Brandenbergs. In Hungary, the Hungarian Dejewification Unit aided Adolf Eichmann in the deportation of Hungarian Jewry to Auschwitz. In Poland, the “Blue Police” were active in monitoring daily police tasks in the ghettos, and in Ukraine, the “Expeditionary Forces” aided the Germans in the roundup and killing of Jews. In Norway, the name of Vidkun Quisling became synonymous with collaboration. Pro-Nazi collaborationist political groups were active in almost every country under German occupation.

   See also Romania.