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July
4, 1942
...Dr.
Charny drew the attention of the Jewish delegation to the
Order concerning births. The Order was first issued on March
5, 1942. The latest date for authorized births was August 5,
1942. He would extend the date to August 15, 1942. In the
event of a birth taking place in a Jewish family after this
date the whole Jewish family would be "removed"* and
the responsibility would rest with the Jewish delegates....
July
13, 1942
Re:
Security Police Order
In
accordance with the Order of the Security Police, births are
permitted in the ghetto only up to August 15, 1942. After this
date it is forbidden to give birth to Jewish children either
in the hospitals or in the homes of the pregnant women. It is
pointed out, at the same time, that it is permitted to
interrupt pregnancies by means of abortions. A great
responsibility rests on the pregnant women. If they do not
comply with this order, there is a danger that they will be
executed, together with their families. The delegates** are
making this matter widely known. In warning the women of the
possible consequences, they believe that the women concerned
will remember it well... and will take the necessary measures
during the registration of pregnant women which will take
place during the next few days, and subsequently.
The
Delegation
Protocol
of the meeting of the Shavli Judenrat on March 24, 1943
Those
present: M. Lejbowicz, B. Karton, A. Heller and A. Katz of the
Delegation; the doctors: Burstein, Blecher, Goldberg,
Dyrektorowicz, L. Pesachowicz and others. The Agenda: How
should births be prevented in the ghetto? M. Lejbowicz: We
will go back to the question of the births. The ban on giving
birth to children which has been imposed on the Jews applies
with the utmost severity to all the ghettos. There was a birth
recently in Kovno and all members of the family were shot and
killed. But no attention is being paid to this and people are
behaving most irresponsibly here. There are already several
cases of pregnancy and no measures have been taken against
them. Dr. Blecher asks: Can the pregnant women be forced to
have abortions performed? Are there statistics on the women
who are pregnant? Dr. L. reports: We have had three births
since August 15 of last year; he did not know how they took
place because he did not treat the cases. At the present time
there are about 20 pregnant women in the ghetto, most of them
in the first few months, but some who are already in the
fourth or fifth month and one even in the eighth month. Only
two of the pregnant women refuse to have an abortion; for one
of them this would be the third abortion and she is threatened
by the danger of subsequent childlessness, and the other is
the one who has reached the eighth month. Dr. P.: They must be
persuaded to agree to have an abortion. They must be told what
happened in Kovno and Riga. If necessary one must make use of
a white lie in this emergency and tell them that the Security
Police is already looking for these cases. Dr. Burstein
proposes that the whole medical team, including the midwives,
should be forbidden to attend to births. Dr. Bl. proposes that
all cases of pregnancy should be registered and the pregnant
women persuaded to have abortions. M.L.: We must not make
propaganda against births in public! The matter could reach
ears that should not hear it. We must discuss the matter only
with those concerned. He proposes that the pregnant women be
summoned to the clinic, that they be warned in the presence of
the doctor and a representative of the Delegation, and the
full danger that awaits them be explained. Dr. L.: How can one
perform an abortion on a woman who has already reached the
eighth month of her pregnancy? Surely we must understand the
feelings of the mother. It will surely be impossible to
convince her. And what will happen to the infant if we cause a
premature birth? We cannot carry out an operation like that in
a private home, and it is forbidden to leave the child at the
hospital. And what will happen if despite everything the child
is born alive? Shall we kill it? I cannot accept such a
responsibility on my conscience. Dr. Bl. adds that the
position is really very difficult in a case like this for no
doctor will take upon himself the responsibility of killing a
live child, for that would be murder. Dr. P. asks: Perhaps we
should let the child be born and give it to a Christian? M.L.:
We cannot allow the child to be born because we are required
to report every case of a birth. We have been asked three
times whether there were any births and each time we answered
in the negative. B.K.: What can we do when the ghetto is in
such danger? If the danger were only to the family of the
infant we could leave the matter to the responsibility of the
person concerned, but it endangers the whole ghetto. The
consequences are liable to be most terrible....
E.
Yerushalmi, Pinkas Shavli ("Records of
Shavli"), Jerusalem, 1958, pp. 88, 188-189.
*
The reference is to physical extermination.
**
The Shavli Judenrat. |
