Szmalcownik

The term comes from the German word Schmalz (Polish phonetic spelling: szmalc, literally meaning "lard") and indicated the blackmailer's financial motive, i.e. the bribe to be paid by the victim. It originated in criminal jargon. Literally, therefore, szmalcownik can be translated as a greasy-palmer. In English, the term is often used as a synonym of blackmailer, but in Polish works, based on the wartime parlance, a distinction is sometimes made between szmalcowniks, who acted more like one-time muggers, accosting their victims on the street and demanding a bribe, and the more dangerous blackmailers, who tracked their victims to their hiding places and demanded everything they had. ==Demographics==

Szmalcowniks came from diverse backgrounds. About three-quarters were ethnic Poles, but members of the German, Ukrainian and Lithuanian minorities – and in some cases even Jews – were also engaged in blackmailing. in addition to blackmailing. Recent research suggests that contrary to popular belief, szmalcowniks were not necessarily habitual criminals before the war; out of 200 individuals tried by German courts in Warsaw between 1940 and 1943, only 11 involved pre-war criminals. According to Jan Grabowski, "there are mentions of szmalcowniki in all of the accounts by Jews hiding on the 'Aryan side' of Warsaw. The sheer number of mentions is a direct (though difficult to quantify) evidence of the prevalence of this practice." Gunnar S. Paulsson estimates the total number of szmalcowniks in Warsaw at "as high as 3–4 thousand", targeting the Jewish community (in hiding on the "Aryan" side, outside the Warsaw Ghetto) of about 28,000 and their gentile helpers, who numbered about 70,000–90,000, with the remaining few hundred thousand of the city's inhabitants remaining passive in this struggle. ==Effects==

From 1941 onwards, Jews who were found without a valid pass outside ghettos and camps were subject to the death penalty, as were any individuals aiding them. Many hiding Jews were easy to recognize by distinctive physical features, accents and vocabulary, culinary preferences, lack of knowledge about Polish Christian customs, and even excessive purchase of food supplies. At the beginning of the German occupation, szmalcowniks were satisfied with a few hundred zlotys, but after the death penalty for hiding Jews was introduced, the sums rose to several hundred thousand zlotys. The activities of szmalcowniks intensified during the era of the liquidation of the ghettos (1942–1944). By stripping Jews of assets they needed to survive, harassing rescuers, raising the overall level of insecurity and forcing hidden Jews to seek safer accommodations, blackmailers added substantially to the danger that Jews and their Polish rescuers faced, and increased their risk of capture and death. ==Countermeasures==

The Polish Underground State considered collaboration a treasonous act punishable by death, and attempted to counteract the activities of szmalcowniks and informers from the beginning of the German occupation. One way in which it tried to hinder such activities was by publishing public condemnations in posters, leaflets and the underground press, though these rarely addressed crimes against Jews specifically. After the founding of Żegota (Council to Aid Jews with the Government Delegation for Poland) later that month, its representatives repeatedly appealed to the Underground State to act against blackmailers, but for the most part were told that "nothing could be done" because such acts would require a judicial process, which was said to be impossible to conduct during the occupation. Żegota's request for an explicit condemnation of anti-Jewish activities was answered seven months later, on 18 March 1943. Except for gang leaders, identifying individual blackmailers was difficult, as they were often anonymous; In early 1944, after Żegota lobbied to speed up the process, the Directorate authorized executions at the discretion of local resistance authorities, The extent and effectiveness of the countermeasures is subject to debate. Approximately 30% of the Underground courts' executions in Warsaw were of szmalcowniks, but the exact number is unknown; Dariusz Libionka estimated the number of szmalcowniks executed in Warsaw at under twenty. Overall, Jan Grabowski concludes, "engaging in blackmailing did not entail a significant risk... [it] was not a priority [to the underground], and the few sentences handed down by the underground courts usually involved not only Jews, but also Poles." According to Joseph Kermish, the underground's proclamations were left mostly "on paper", and the number of executions remained low; Joanna Drzewieniecki notes that "new research seems to indicate that Underground trials and executions did not take place as often and nor were they as much of a deterrent as historians once thought". Marrus argues that while the executions did not eliminate the problem of blackmailers, they "reduced it so much" that it was no longer an issue of "primary importance" to Żegota. == Aftermath ==

Some szmalcowniks were tried in Poland after the war. In 1956 the crime of szmalcownictwo was subject to an amnesty, which however excluded individuals who were proven to have taken part in a murder. ==See also==