ISRAEL JEW AGAINST JEW IN THE FOUR-MONTH TRIAL OF ADOLF EICHMANN, ONE 
DARK CHAPTER OF THE NAZI HOLOCAUST WAS NEVER FULLY BROUGHT OUT 
: THE RULE OF NAZI-ORGANIZED COUNCILS OF JEWISH ELDERS IN EUROPEAN 
GHETTOS . BACKED BY THEIR OWN HIGH-BOOTED JEWISH POLICE, THE COUNCILS 
COMPILED DEATH LISTS OF JEWS AND ROUNDED UP THEIR OWN PEOPLE 
FOR DEPORTATION TO NAZI EXTERMINATION CAMPS . REFUSAL TO HELP EICHMANN'S 
" TRANSPORTATION " EXPERTS WOULD HAVE MEANT IMMEDIATE DEATH, BUT ALWAYS 
THERE WAS THE AGONIZING MORAL DILEMMA : EVEN UNDER DURESS, WAS 
COOPERATION NOT BETRAYAL ? LAST WEEK ISRAELI PROSECUTOR DAVID LIBAI GAVE 
THE STATE'S ANSWER IN THE FIRST TRIAL OF A JEWISH POLICEMAN 
WHO SERVED THE NAZIS . ITS ANSWER WAS YES . IN 
THE DOCK OF A TINY, DRAB TEL AVIV COURTROOM, HEAD BURIED 
IN HIS HANDS, SAT THE ASSISTANT CONDUCTOR OF THE ISRAEL NATIONAL 
OPERA, HIRSCH BARENBLAT, 48, FORMER COMMANDER OF THE JEWISH POLICE IN 
BEDZIN, POLAND . FOR TWO YEARS AFTER HE MANAGED TO GET 
TO ISRAEL IN 1958, BARENBLAT ATTRACTED NO PARTICULAR ATTENTION . THEN, 
DURING INTRODUCTIONS AT A CONCERT IN A KIBBUTZ, A MEMBER OF 
THE AUDIENCE SUDDENLY LEAPED UP AND SHOUTED : " BARENBLAT, I 
REMEMBER YOU ! YOU MURDERED JEWS ! " THE CONCERT BROKE 
UP AMIDST ANGRY CONFUSION . IN 1961, AFTER A POLICE INVESTIGATION, 
BARENBLAT WAS ARRESTED AND CHARGED UNDER THE ISRAELI LAW PUNISHING NAZIS 
AND THEIR COLLABORATORS WHO WERE MEMBERS OF " HOSTILE ORGANIZATIONS " 
THE SAME LAW UNDER WHICH EICHMANN WAS TRIED AS A GESTAPO 
MEMBER, AND WHICH THE GOVERNMENT NOW WANTS EXTENDED TO INCLUDE THE 
JEWISH POLICE . IN BARENBLAT'S CASE, THE MAXIMUM PENALTY WOULD BE 
SEVEN TO TEN YEARS IN PRISON ON EACH OF TWELVE SPECIFIC 
ACCUSATIONS OF PERSECUTION . ON THE OPENING DAY OF WHAT LOOKED 
TO BE A DRAWN-OUT TRIAL, A TEL AVIV CARPENTER TEARFULLY RECALLED 
THAT BARENBLAT'S JEWISH POLICE ONCE TROOPED BACK FROM A ROUND-UP IN 
BEDZIN " LOUDLY SINGING, AS IF FROM A VICTORIOUS ENGAGEMENT, " 
DESCRIBED HOW THEY HERDED JEWISH MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN INTO TRUCKS 
HEADED FOR AUSCHWITZ . " EVEN THE STREETS WEPT, " THE 
WITNESS SAID . PROSECUTOR LIBAI CONCEDED THAT BARENBLAT SAVED " MAYBE 
TEN OR 20 JEWS, " BUT ADDED : " THIS COURT 
WILL HAVE TO DECIDE WHETHER TO SAVE HIS OWN SOUL HE 
WAS ENTITLED TO CARRY OUT THE TASKS OF THE JEWISH POLICE 
. " DEFENSE ATTORNEY ARIEH ROSENBLUM, SUPPORTING BARENBLAT'S PLEA OF INNOCENCE, 
SAID THAT HIS CONDUCT WAS JUSTIFIABLE, AND ARGUED THAT HE WAS 
ACQUITTED OF COLLABORATIONIST CHARGES AFTER THE WAR BY A POLISH COURT 
. " THE JEWISH POLICE, " ROSENBLUM SAID, " CANNOT BE 
REGARDED AS HOSTILE TO THE JEWISH PEOPLE . THEIR INTENTION WAS 
NOT HOSTILITY . THEY DID NOT SEEK TO EXTERMINATE JEWS ; 
THEY SERVED WHAT THEY DEEMED THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE JEWISH 
COMMUNITY UNDER THE WORST POSSIBLE CIRCUMSTANCES . " 