The Fate of Pets in the Holocaust

While it may have been a tiny fraction of the suffering inflicted in the Second World War, the question of what fate befell Jewish owned pets in the holocaust is an interesting one.

Jewish girl with her dog,
prewar France -USHMM

There was no consistent Nazi policy for treatment of Jewish owned pets before the spring of 1942. The question arose quiet often when dealing with the segregation or deportation of Jews, since they owned pets just as commonly as any other group. Most often, Jews were banned from bringing their pets along and had to find foster families for their dogs, cats or birds within a very short time. This was the case, for example, in the uprooting of Jews from the shoreline of the Netherlands in 1941.

As long as the deportation had been announced a few days prior, finding a solution for domestic animals was the responsibility of the owners. But in an event of sudden mass-deportation or sealing of a Jewish neighborhood as a ghetto no time was given for such actions, and the problem thus became very much that of the authorities. In Eastern Europe, for example, Jews sometimes naively brought their pets along to the roundups prior to Einsatzgruppe executions, believing they were being resettled.

Jewish man with his dog, France -Yad Vashem

Sometimes pets were put in the care of willing locals, but when there was no immediate solution at hand, as was most often the case, owners were forced to leave their dogs and cats in their empty homes with the hope that someone would find them. During the round up of the Jews in Baden and Saarland, receipts were kept by the Germans for pets that were turned over to obliging neighbors, while in the notorious overnight roundup of Parisian Jews at the Vélodrome d'Hiver, French policemen were instructed to leave the pets they find with the concierge for lack of any clear German orders on this matter. The abandoning of hundreds of domestic animals at once could pose a serious sanitary problem.

Jewish couple with their dog, Lodz ghetto -Yad Vashem

In the process of sealing off Jewish neighborhoods as ghettos, a lot of pets were also confined within the walls - even though incoming transports carried no animals. The presence of dogs was particularly problematic, since they could attack the German soldiers during house raids. Dogs were therefore often shot. In the Lodz ghetto, however, a different solution was devised. All pet owners were forced to register their animals with the local authority under German orders. Records testify that several hundred dogs of various breeds were found in the ghetto in spite of the harsh conditions. Following the registration, all dog owners were informed that a compulsory rabies inspection by the German sanitary police was to be held on July 22, 1940 at number 8 Kośielny street. A fee of two Reichmarks was even charged per dog. All animals that were brought in for inspection that day were put to death due to an alleged "prevailing outbreak of rabies." Dogs were then strictly banned in the ghetto, and the inhabitants were ordered to bring in any strays to the Ordnungsdienst. Harboring a dog would result in collective punishment for all house tenants. In the great hunger that ensued the severe food rationing and overpopulation of the ghetto, stray animals were sometimes consumed by the starving inhabitants. At least on one occassion, the Germans intentionally fed Jewish workers cat meat, as recorded by diarist Tamara Lazerson on November 13, 1942 in Kaunas, Lithuania.

Lithuanian Jews, prewar
-Yad Vashem

Killing of pets as a mean of terror was also practiced by the Nazis. During the Kristallnacht several dogs and cats were killed by the rioters, sometimes cast out of windows in high story buildings. On January 14, 1942 all Jews in the city of Kaunas, Lithuania, were ordered to bring their pets to the small synagogue at Veliuonos Street. There the animals were shot by German soldiers and their carcasses left to rot for months by order of the Nazi authority, as Avraham Tory, a secretary of the Jewish Ältestenrat, reported in his diary.

It was only after the Final Solution was set into motion that the Nazis presented a clear policy for Jewish owned pets in Germany and the annexed countries. The decree banning Jewish ownership of pets was published on May 15, 1942. According to the new act, all citizens and foreigners obligated to wear the yellow badge, as well as their cohabitants, were to deliver their domestic animals by May 20 at special collection points for euthanizing. Alternatively, they could present a veterinary certificate confirming that their pets had been put to death. According to the announcement made in the Jewish newspapers, failure to comply would result in measures by the Gestapo. Handing over the animals to third parties or foster care was strictly forbidden.

Jewish baby with kitten,
prewar Poland - Yad Vashem

The euthanizing of the collected pets was carried out by veterinarians of the German Animal Protection Association (Tierschutzverein). A questionnaire addressing domestic animals in each household had already been filled in major cities prior to the implementation of the decree. In smaller towns, Jews were ordered to file a report with the local Jewish authority regarding the domestic animals in their possession.

Czech Jewish girl with her cat,
prewar -Yad Vashem

Unlike earlier decrees, this ordinance did not address only Jewish citizens by racial definition, but also their "Aryan" partners in intermarried households, regardless of the registered owner of the pet. In Berlin, the publishing of the decree lead to a stream of pleas from Jewish and non-Jewish pet owners alike. At the Jewish hospital on Iranischestrasse 4, where pets were collected for euthanizing, columns of intermarried Germans reportedly protested against the act. Some owners sent photographs of themselves with their cats and dogs, others spent days at various city and state offices in search of exemption, which only a few received. Diarist Victor Klemperer and his gentile wife Eva chose to euthanize Eva's beloved cat Muschel on May 19 rather than hand him over to an "even crueler fate at the hands of the Gestapo." In Prague, survivor Helen Lewis witnessed a collection point for pets, describing a heartbreaking scene where both owners and their caged dogs and cats were greatly distraught and crying. Her Jewish friend, of mixed marriage, was allowed to keep her husband’s poodle provided she wasn’t seen with it in public.

Young Jew playing with a dog,
prewar Germany -Yad Vashem

There were some who chose to ignore the order. In 1943 the widow of a German Jew from Berlin reported to Rabbi Martin Riesenburger during the funeral ceremony of her husband: “We had a parakeet. When we received the decree stating that Jews were forbidden to have house pets, my husband just couldn't part with the animal… Perhaps someone denounced him, for one day my husband received a subpoena to appear before the Gestapo… After many fearful weeks I received a postcard from the police, stating that upon payment of a fee of three Reichsmarks I could pick up the urn containing my husband.” Rabbi Riesenburger was himself forced to have his thirteen year old Spitz euthanized.

The pet decree was undoubtedly a strong hint of things to come. As was evident until its introduction, the question of Jewish owned pets could easily be solved by allowing the animals to be put into foster homes. The inclusion of intermarried households in the decree also strongly suggests that this was an intentional act of agonizing Jews and those associated with them. Many survivors, children most often, remembered this decree as one of the cruelest. Very few pets were recovered after the war. Cats in particular lingered around their former homes, even ruins, perhaps because of their less dependent nature. In Denmark, many neighbors tended Jewish pets after the mass escape to Sweden.

The Starless Woman in Riga

One day in late August, 1941, a woman left her apartment at Letgales iela 17-19 in Riga. Taking the first few steps on the pavement must have demanded a great deal of courage. She walked down the long streets leading to the central market, trying her best to look unsuspicious and blend in with pedestrians. Her two small daughters were at home. She had to do it for their sake. Her husband was gone. Finally she saw the enormous pavilions at the marketplace. She stepped into the crowd. And then she was caught.

 Wreckage of Soviet vehicles at the central market in Riga, July 1941.

-National Library of Latvia

Raya Ribnik

Raya Ribnik was born in Dvinsk on September 6th, 1899, to tannery worker Ruben Kurenitz and Hanna-Liebe née Gindin. She had a younger sister named Maria. Raya’s father moved his small family to Riga in search of work. There she met a young hairdresser, Abram-David Ribnik. They married in April 1929 and had two daughters. Ronia was born in 1930 and Lea in 1933. Latvia came under Soviet occupation in 1940, when Lea was barely seven. Raya’s husband was arrested and imprisoned at the Sarkankalna Hospital in Riga. They were not alone. Many Latvians suffered terribly under the soviet reign. But fate had worse in store.

Crowds cheering the Germans

The Wehrmacht captured Riga on July 1 from the retreating Soviet army. The city suffered heavy damage from the German artillery. The bell tower at St. Peter’s church went up in flames, and the city center, the house of Blackheads and the townhouse were reduced to burning rubble. On the next day, crowds cheered and saluted as the liberating army marched into the city in all its might. Women dressed in traditional Latvian costumes greeted the soldiers with flowers and food.

 

St Peter's church aflame after being hit by German artillery.

The "Bolsheviks and Yids" were blamed for the fire.

-National Library of Latvia

Burning synagogue in Riga,
filmed by the German army

Within a few days, the synagogues of Riga’s forty thousand Jewish inhabitants were set on fire. Rumors claimed that people were burned alive inside. The newspapers were filled with reports of “Jewish terrorism,” anti-Semitic caricatures and articles. A group of Jews was selected and forced to bury the corpses of victims of the Soviet regime. As orchestrated by the Germans, the Latvian Jews were singled out as Soviet sympathizers and national enemies. Many individuals were arrested in their homes, assaulted and subsequently killed. A curfew was imposed upon the Jewish community, as well as Russian and Polish citizens. Their telephones were disconnected, and they were banned from using the mail.

On July 29 the German Feldkommandant in Riga published the following order in the newspapers:

“All Jews are hereby and henceforth required to wear the mandatory distinguishing mark (yellow colored Star of David). Offenders will be punished mercilessly.” 

Further warnings were published the next couple of days. Following the introduction of the yellow star badge, Latvian Jews were officially banned from using public transportation, entering public grounds such as libraries, sports facilities, parks, taverns, entertainment venues, schools, universities, museums, cinemas, theaters, swimming pools, etc. All able-bodied Jewish men and women were assigned to forced labor.

Crowded Jewish store
in Riga, August 1941.

Abram-David was captured by the German Security Police on August 13 and was executed. Raya was now left alone to support their two daughters and her elderly mother. Food was scarce and money was short. Jews were only allowed to buy at a few stores with an ever dwindling supply and steeping prices. A ghetto was being put together by the Germans at the Moscow District in the city. The Latvian newspaper Tēvija praised this plan, that would once and for all separate the Jews of Riga from the Aryans. Harried and helpless, Raya decided to sneak into the central market. There she could get food and perhaps sell what few valuable things she still possessed. She removed the yellow star badge from her cloths before leaving. 

A small notice in the German newspaper Deutsche Zeitung im Ostland dated August 28 states that a Jewess without a Star of David had been caught at the central market in Riga. What fate befell Raya remains unknown. It was merely noted that a “better use" had been found for the starless woman. Did she ever see her daughters again?

Frume Masarsky

A month later, on September 28, a man named Mordecai Weinberg was caught committing the same offense. He had removed his star badge and walked on the sidewalk. A week later, on October 4, the starless Frume Masarsky née Ginsburg, mother of seven, was also caught while walking on the sidewalk without a badge. Starless Hirsch Kurland was arrested the following week, and “a procedure was initiated against him”. Finally, on October 25, the Germans locked all the Jews of Riga up in a small ghetto. By that time, several thousands had already been executed by the Germans and their Latvian collaborators. The vast majority of the inhabitants of the ghetto were killed in shooting pits in the nearby forest a month later. Raya’s mother and daughters were probably among them.