Morris Kohn

The Second World War - Criminals - Jewish getto - Poland - Warsaw
Group 13 - Jewish collaborators

Kohn was in the top management of Group 13. After a split in the organization, in mid-1941, together with Zelig Heller broke the partnership with Abraham Gancwajch after the struggle for influence and financial control. Together with Heller, he surpassed their "teacher" Gancwajch in ostentatious waste. This company owned horse trams (the so-called "kohn-hellers"), which transported people and property in the ghetto, which was associated with corruption and a specific system of racketeering.

This is what Mary BergMary Berg (born Miriam Wattenberg; 1924 – 2013) was a survivor of the Warsaw Ghetto and author of a Holocaust diary, which contains her personal journal entries written during the occupation of Poland in World War II. wrote about Heller and Kohn:

There are fantastic stories about the luxurious life that the Kohns and the Hellers lead. They throw parties every day while people starve to death outside their doors. (…) These two gentlemen have other sources of income besides their trams. They play important roles in the so-called Transferstelle. This institution, supported by the Germans, deals with the exchange of various commercial goods between the ghetto and the “Aryan” part of Warsaw. Everything that legally enters the ghetto is controlled by this office, brings a significant commission on each transaction. Kohn and Heller together have great influence in Transferstelle and are often bribed by traders on both sides of the wall. In this way, they play the role of intermediaries between the Germans and the owners of the transports of food and industrial goods that are delivered from the ghetto and into the ghetto. The starving population of the ghetto must pay higher prices for bread and potatoes, to fill the pockets of Mr. Kohn and Mr. Heller..

About Kohn himself and his splendor, she mentioned:

(…) everyone is talking about the baby that Ms. Kohn gave birth to a week ago. Mr. Kohn informed the public about the event by means of giant posters hung not only on the trams but also on the main streets. These posters announced that the circumcision ritual would be completed in the large hall, that modest parties and dinner would be given to the honorable guests, and that this occasion would be used to organize a charity fundraising. I read this ad with a feeling of disgust, and saw many people spit in disgust as they read the tactless declaration of a lavish party for an apparently charitable purpose while there was hunger all around.

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Jüdischer Ordnungsdienst - Jewish Order Service in Warsaw, commonly known as the Jewish police

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