The term useful Jew was used in various historical contexts, typically describing a Jewish person useful in implementing an official policy, sometimes by oppressing other Jews.

• In 1744, Frederick II of Prussia introduced the practice of limiting Jewish population to a small number of the most wealthy families, known as protected. The first-born son in such families inherited this privilege, other children were considered useless by the authorities and had an alternative to "either abstain from marriage or leave" (quoting Simon Dubnow).

• In the Imperial Russia, only useful Jews (Russian: полезные евреи), such as wealthy guild-members (купцы первой гильдии), persons who received higher education, cantonists after serving in the army for more than twenty five years, or prostitutes were allowed to live outside the Pale of Settlement.

• In the Soviet Union, the Yevsektsiya functionaries worked to suppress Judaism and Zionism in the 1920s. Decades later, Jewish members of the Anti-Zionist committee of the Soviet public were colloquially known as useful, or pocket Jews, implying their corruption by high positions in the state hierarchy.

• In the Nazi-occupied Europe, the Jews who helped implementing the Final Solution, such as members of Judenrat, were considered useful (German: Wertvolle Juden) and temporarily absolved from the "extermination".