Jewish Affairs
IV
B4a division of the "I Bureau", is not an identifiable
institution to most people. But during WWII, the I Bureau cataloged, researched and kept
an enormous amount of information in Archives which would benefit the
Third Reich. Careful and voluminous data was kept on any group of interest
or thought to be a threat to the Nazi regime. While there were several
persons of significance who ran the institution/archive, the most notable
of these was Eichmann. Eichmann began his career in the Nazi organization
as a researcher at this institution. His first assignment, oddly, was not
in cataloging Jewish information but was in collecting data on
freemasonry. A virtual museum of freemasonry was housed in the Division.
Later, he was 'promoted' to create a division and collect information on
the Jews. Eichmann became a virtual 'expert' on the Jews: he knew their
culture, their religious practices, their family life and literature. He
eventually even learned Hebrew and travelled to Israel. The Methodical
keeping of information in this fourth division of the "I" Bureau, was not
informational only: it was used to systematically destroy Jewish Life and
Culture on all levels. The information at the bureau was available to any
of the upper echelon of the Reich in their attempts to destroy the Jewish
peoples of Europe.
Among the other groups that I Bureau4 kept information on were: Jehovah's Witnesses, "Political" Catholicism, Masonic Lodges, and other 'religious' or 'subversive' groups. This information-gathering and archiving proved a central and valuable resource in German intelligence and 'aktions'. The Jewish community became somewhat aware of this sinister operation and several Rabbis refused Eichmann's offer to pay them for Hebrew lessons. They knew that the information, resources and education in Jewish life would ultimately be used against them.
Reich Security Office & the IVB4
IVB4 a division of the Reich Security Office came to be known as the Bureau of Jewish Affairs. One of the most prominent operations of this Division was in "Procurement" and Administration of 'resources'. This meant that any materials or Services necessary throughout the Reich had to first be administered by or through this division, and more often than not, the orders of procurement had to be signed by Eichmann. This became very important during the trials of Eichmann because the question of his role and culpability in the war crimes and genocide. Anything, Anything that was required in the Concentration Camps or Killing Centers was at some point cataloged or requisitioned through IVB4 Eichmann described his role as basically that of a bureaucrat, he claimed he had little to do with the European Genocide, yet all orders for requisitions of Trains and supplies to the Trains and trucks that carried Jewish persons and others to their deaths, went through IVB4.
© 2003 Elizabeth Kirkley Best, PhD, Shoah Education Project- Web