Editing Chaim Rumkowski (section)

=== Ghetto history prior to the "Final Solution" ===
The ghettoization of Łódź was decided on September 8, 1939, by an order of {{lang|de|[[SS-Oberführer]]}} [[Friedrich Uebelhoer]]. His top secret document stated that the ghetto was only a temporary solution to "the Jewish question" in the city of Łódź. Uebelhoer never implied the long-term survival of its inhabitants.<ref>Documents, p.&nbsp;194</ref> The ghetto was sealed on April 30, 1940, with 164,000&nbsp;people inside.<ref>Unger 2004, ''Reassessment'', p. 22.</ref> On October 16, 1939, Rumkowski selected 31 public figures to form the council. However, less than three weeks later, on November 11, twenty of them were executed and the rest disappeared, because he denounced them to the German authorities "for refusing to rubber-stamp his policies". Although a new {{lang|de|Judenrat}} was officially appointed a few weeks later, the men were not as distinguished, and remained far less effective than its original leaders. This change conceded more power to Rumkowski, and left no one to contest or restrain his decisions. Rumkowski had the [[Jewish Ghetto Police]] under his control also.<ref>Unger 2004, ''Reassessment'', p.&nbsp;19.</ref>

The Germans authorized Rumkowski as the "sole figure of authority in managing and organizing internal life in the [[ghetto]]".<ref name="Reassessment, p. 22">Unger 2004, ''Reassessment'', p.&nbsp;22.</ref> Rumkowski gained power by his domineering personality as much as by his words and deeds.<ref name="Reassessment, p. 22" /> Biebow from the first gave Rumkowski full power in organizing the ghetto, as long as it did not interfere with his main objectives: absolute order, confiscation of Jewish property and assets, coerced labor, and Biebow's own personal gain.<ref name="Reassessment, p. 23">Unger 2004, ''Reassessment'', p.&nbsp;23.</ref> Their relationship seemed to work effectively. Rumkowski had leeway to organize the ghetto according to his own lights, while Biebow sat back and reaped the rewards.<ref name="Reassessment, p. 23" /> In trying to keep Biebow happy, Rumkowski obeyed every order with little question, and provided him with gifts and personal favors. Rumkowski is said to have boasted of his willingness to cooperate with the German authorities: "My motto is to be always at least ten minutes ahead of every German demand."<ref name="momentmag">{{cite news |author=Hilma Wolitzer |url=http://momentmag.com/moment/issues/2011/10/book_lies.html |title=The Final Fantasy |work=[[Moment (magazine)|Moment]] |date=September–October 2011 |access-date=October 3, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011080629/http://momentmag.com/moment/issues/2011/10/book_lies.html |archive-date=October 11, 2011 }}</ref> He believed that by staying ahead of the Germans' thinking, he could keep them satisfied and preserve the Jews. Łódź was the last ghetto in Central Europe to be liquidated.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Trunk |first1=Isaiah |title=Judenrat: the Jewish councils in Eastern Europe under Nazi occupation |date=1972 |publisher=Macmillan |location=New York |isbn=978-0-8032-9428-8 |page=413 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D7bobfzrcCoC }}</ref> However, only 877 inhabitants survived in the city until liberation, by [[rescue of Jews by Poles during the Holocaust|hiding with Polish rescuers]], and it is claimed that Rumkowski had nothing to do with it.{{citation needed|date=May 2018}}