The major insisted that each laborer be permitted to bring his wife and two of his children with him, arguing that this system would raise worker morale and boost productivity. Among this fortunate group were Perela Esterowicz (later Pearl Good) and her parents, Ida and Samuel Esterowicz. Only about 60 per cent of the Jews worked at the vehicle repair depot or a shop for repairing Wehrmacht uniforms. Plagge established various industries for the rest of his workers, including a rabbit farm, a nursery, and a carpenter’s shop, declaring all of his workers essential to the war effort. He strongly resisted the SS’ efforts to remove these “nonessential” workers.

Honour for German major who saved 250 Jews - The Guardian

Yated Neeman was founded in 1987 as an independent Orthodox Jewish weekly newspaper. Ever since, people have been turning to the Yated for responsible, accurate and intelligent news coverage. More than an interesting and enlightening read, the Yated is part of the daily life of the community.For further information, please see enclosed denazification files of Karl Plagge, which contain many more testimonies to his rescuing help and protection of Jews, at the risk of his life. Though the camp’s official role was fixing military vehicles, Major Plagge found jobs for all. Dr. Good in a speech about the book “In Search of Major Plagge,” said his grandfather, Samuel Esterowicz, “couldn’t change a light bulb,” but was deemed “essential” by Major Plagge. Photo of Karl Plagge taken in December of 1943 while he was home on leave from his post in Vilna Poland. Wikipedia/Public Domain Witnesses said he reassigned anti-Semitic or violent subordinates so that they could not harm Jewish workers and turned a blind eye to the building of hideouts, and the food-smuggling operations that kept the workers alive. On certain occasions, Plagge’s general policy of non-confrontation with the SS put him “in a gray zone, and in a catch-22 situation with serious moral implications,” according to historian Kim Priemel.

Karl Plagge - death camps Karl Plagge - death camps

Plagge once took an ailing Jewish prisoner to a hospital reserved for non-Jews, where she stayed until the end of the war. He also saved two people from execution by the SS by faking their beating. Pfungstadt:AuchBundeswehrehrtKarlPlagge" [The Bundeswehr also honors Karl Plagge]. FrankfurterAllgemeineZeitung (in German). FAZ. 8 February 2006 . Retrieved 23 October 2018. Jews in the area, so it was going on all around him," said Dr Good. "He felt he had helped create this monster and that it was his duty to try to help these imperilled Jews." In 1942, 200 Jews working for Plagge were rounded up for deportation. Plagge argued with SS-Obersturmführer Rolf Neugebauer in an attempt to secure their release, but was unable to save them.During the Second World War, he used his position as a staff officer in the German Army to employ and protect Jews in the Vilna Ghetto. At first, Plagge employed Jews who lived inside the ghetto, but when it was due to be liquidated in September 1943, he set up the HKP 562, forced labour camp, where he saved many male Jews, by issuing them official work permits, on the false premise, that their holders skills were vital for the German war effort, and also their wives and children, by claiming they would work better, if their families were alive.