I couldn’t spend the night at Nalchik; I had to go back up to Pyatigorsk to file a report. The next day, I was summoned by von Gilsa. “Hauptsturmführer, we have a little problem in Nalchik that also concerns the Sicherheitspolizei.” The Sonderkommando, he explained, had already begun to shoot some Jews, near the racecourse: Russian Jews, most of them Party members or officials, but also some local Jews, who seemed to be those famous “Mountain Jews,” or Jews of the Caucasus. One of their elders had gone to find Selim Shadov, the Kabard lawyer chosen by the military administration to be the leader of the future autonomous district; he in turn had met in Kislovodsk with Generaloberst von Kleist, to whom he had explained that the Gorski Yevrei were not racially Jewish, but a mountain people converted to Judaism just as the Kabards had been converted to Islam. “According to him, these Bergjuden eat like the other mountain people, dress like them, get married like them, and speak neither Hebrew nor Yiddish. They’ve been living for more than one hundred and fifty years in Nalchik and they all speak both Kabard and Balkar Turkish, along with their own language. Herr Shadov told the Generaloberst that the Kabards would not accept having their mountain brothers killed, and that they should be spared and even excused from wearing the yellow star.”—“And what does the Generaloberst say about this?”—“As you know, the Wehrmacht is carrying out a policy here that aims to create good relations with the anti-Bolshevist minorities. These good relations should not be thoughtlessly imperiled. Of course, the security of the troops is also a vital consideration. But if these people are not racially Jewish, it may be that they present no danger. The question is a delicate one and should be studied carefully. So the Wehrmacht is going to form a commission of specialists and conduct an assessment. In the meantime, the Generaloberst is asking the Sicherheitspolizei not to take any measures against this Group. Of course, the Sicherheitspolizei is entirely free to submit its own opinion on the question, which the Army Group will take into consideration. I think the OKHG will delegate the affair to General Köstring. After all, it concerns a zone that is intended for self-government.”—“Very good, Herr Oberst. I have made a note of it and will send a report.”—“Thank you. I would also be grateful to you if you would ask Oberführer Bierkamp to confirm to us in writing that the Sicherheitspolizei will not undertake any action without a decision from the Wehrmacht.”—“Zu Befehl, Herr Oberst.”

I called Obersturmbannführer Hermann, the replacement for Dr. Müller, who had left the week before, and explained the matter to him: Bierkamp was arriving within the hour, he told me, and invited me to come down to the Kommando. Bierkamp already knew: “That’s absolutely inadmissible!” he shouted. “The Wehrmacht is really going too far. Protecting Jews is a direct violation of the will of the Führer.”—“If you will allow me, Oberführer, I thought I understood that the Wehrmacht was not convinced that these people should be considered Jews. If it is demonstrated that they are, the OKHG should not have any objections to the SP proceeding with the necessary measures.” Bierkamp shrugged his shoulders: “You are naïve, Hauptsturmführer. The Wehrmacht will demonstrate what it wants to demonstrate. This is nothing but one more pretext to oppose the work of the Sicherheitspolizei.”—“Excuse me,” interrupted Hermann, a man with delicate features and a severe but rather dreamy aspect, “have we already had similar cases?”—“To my knowledge,” I replied, “only individual cases. We’ll have to check.”—“That’s not all,” Bierkamp added. “The OKHG wrote to me that according to Shadov we have liquidated an entire village of these Bergjuden near Mozdok. They’re asking me to send them a report justifying it.” Hermann seemed to be having trouble following. “Is it true?” I asked.—“Listen, if you think I know the list of our actions by heart…I’ll ask Sturmbannführer Persterer, that must be his sector.”—“Anyway,” Hermann said, “if they were Jews, he can’t be reproached for anything.”—“You don’t know the Wehrmacht here yet, Obersturmbannführer. They’ll take any chance they can get to pick a quarrel with us.”—“What does Brigadeführer Korsemann think?” I hazarded. Bierkamp shrugged his shoulders again. “The Brigadeführer says we shouldn’t stir up useless friction with the Wehrmacht. That’s his obsession, now.”—“We could launch a counterassessment,” Hermann suggested.—“That’s a good idea,” Bierkamp said. “Hauptsturmführer, what do you think?”—“The SS has ample documentation on the subject,” I replied. “And of course, if we have to, we can have our own experts come.” Bierkamp shook his head. “If I am not mistaken, Hauptsturmführer, you carried out some research on the Caucasus for my predecessor?” “That is correct, Oberführer. But it didn’t exactly concern these Bergjuden.”—“Yes, but at least you already know the documentation. And it’s obvious from your reports that you understand these nationality questions. Could you take charge of this question for us? Centralize all the information and prepare our replies to the Wehrmacht. I’ll write you a mission order to show them. Of course, you will consult with me, or with Dr. Leetsch, at every stage.”—“Zu Befehl, Oberführer. I’ll do my best.”—“Fine. And, Hauptsturmführer?”—“Yes, Oberführer?”—“In your research, not too much theory, all right? Try not to lose sight of the interests of the SP.”—“Zu Befehl, Oberführer.”

The Gruppenstab kept all our research materials in Voroshilovsk. I compiled a brief report for Bierkamp and Leetsch with what I found: the results were meager. According to a 1941 pamphlet from the Institute for the Study of Foreign Countries, entitled List of Nationalities Living in the USSR, the Bergjuden were in fact Jews. A more recent SS brochure gave a few additional precisions: Mixed Oriental peoples, of Indian or other descent, but of Jewish origin, arrived in the Caucasus in the eighth century. Finally, I found a more detailed evaluation, ordered by the SS from the Wannsee Institute: The Jews of the Caucasus are not assimilated, the text asserted, referring to the Russian Jews as well as to the Bergjuden. According to the author, the Mountain Jews or Daghestani Jews (Dagh Chufuti), like the Jews of Georgia (Kartveli Ebraelebi), arrived, around the time of the birth of Jesus, from Palestine, Babylon, and the lands of the Medes. Without citing any sources, it concluded: Regardless of the accuracy of one opinion or another, the Jews as a whole, newcomers as well as Bergjuden, are Fremdkörper, foreign bodies in the region of the Caucasus. A cover note from Amt IV specified that this evaluation was enough to give the Einsatzgruppe the necessary clarity to identify the Weltanschauungsgegner, the “ideological enemies,” in its theater of operations. The next day, when Bierkamp returned, I presented my report to him, which he quickly skimmed through. “Very good, very good. Here is your mission order for the Wehrmacht.”—“What does Sturmbannführer Persterer say about the village mentioned by Shadov?”—“He says they did liquidate a Jewish kolkhoz in that region, on September twentieth. But he doesn’t know if they were Bergjuden or not. In the meantime, one of the elders of those Jews came to the Kommando, to Nalchik. I had an account of the discussion drawn up for you.” I examined the document he held out to me: the elder, a certain Markel Shabaev, had presented himself wearing a cherkesska and a tall astrakhan hat; speaking Russian, he had explained that there lived in Nalchik several thousand Tats, an Iranian people whom the Russians mistakenly called Gorski Evrei. “According to Persterer,” Bierkamp added, visibly annoyed, “it’s this same Shabaev who asked Shadov to intercede. You’ll have to see him, I guess.”