Jacob Gens
| Jacob Gens | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1 April 1903 Ilgviečiai |
| Died | 14 September 1943 (aged 40) Vilnius |
| Nationality | Lithuanian |
| Known for | Head of the Jewish police of the Vilnius Ghetto Head of the Vilnius Ghetto |
Jacob Gens (1 April 1903 – 14 September 1943) was a Lithuanian Jewish head of the Vilnius Ghetto. Originally from a merchant family, he joined the Lithuanian Army shortly after the independence of Lithuania, rising to the rank of captain while also securing a college degree in law and economics. He married a non-Jew and worked at several jobs, including as a teacher, accountant, and an administrator.
When Nazi Germany invaded Lithuania, Gens headed the Jewish hospital in Vilnius before the formation of the ghetto in September 1941. He was appointed chief of the ghetto police force and in July 1942 the Germans appointed him head of the ghetto Jewish government. He attempted to secure better conditions in the ghetto and believed that it was possible to save some Jews by working for the Germans. Gens and his policemen helped Germans in rounding up the Jews for deportation and execution in Ponary in October–December 1941 and in liquidating several smaller ghettos from late 1942 to early 1943. His policies, including the attempt to save some Jews by surrendering others for deportation or execution, continue to be a subject of debate and controversy.
Gens was shot by the Gestapo on 14 September 1943, shortly before the ghetto was liquidated and most of the residents sent either to labor camps or to execution at an extermination camp. His Lithuanian wife and daughter escaped the Gestapo and survived the war.
Gens was born on 1 April 1903 in Ilgviečiai near Šiauliai in what was then the Russian Empire and is now Lithuania. His father was a merchant and Gens was the oldest of four sons. Gens attended a Russian-language primary school and then a secondary school in Šiauliai. He was fluent in Lithuanian, Russian, German, and Yiddish, and knew some Hebrew, Polish, and English. In 1919, Gens enlisted in the newly formed Lithuanian Army. He was sent to officers' school and completed the training as a junior lieutenant. N. Karni, who was a cadet with Gens, said that he "had great personal charm. I do not remember him ever being in a bad mood." Karni also felt Gens had "leadership qualities, he had personality, he was a man of principles". Gens' participation in the Polish–Lithuanian War and the completion of his secondary schooling earned Gens a promotion to senior lieutenant.
...
Wikipedia