Chaim Michael Dov Weissmandl
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Rabbi Chaim Michael Dov Weissmandl (1903-1957) became famous for his tireless efforts to the save the Jews of Slovakia from extermination at Nazi hands during the European Holocaust.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
Weissmandl was born in Debreczen, Hungary but soon moved to the region which today is Slovakia. In 1931 he moved to Nitra to study under Rabbi Samuel David Ungar, whose daughter he married. He was thus an "oberlander" (from the central highlands of Europe), a non-Hasidic, religiously-oriented Jew.
[edit] World War II and the Holocaust
| "Blood for goods" proposal |
| Background |
|---|
| Auschwitz The Holocaust Hungary: WWII Jews in Hungary |
| People and events |
| Kurt Becher Joel Brand  Adolf Eichmann Heinrich Himmler Rudolf Kastner Kastner train Vaada Chaim D. Weissmandl |
| Others |
| Malchiel Gruenwald Joel Teitelbaum Rudolf Vrba Vrba-Wetzler report Alfréd Wetzler |
| Sources |
| Yehuda Bauer John Conway Ben Hecht Raul Hilberg Miroslav Karny Ruth Linn |
During the period of WWII, Weissmandl was an unofficial leader of the Working Group of Bratislava (see the next section). In 1944, Weissmandl and his family were put on a train headed for Auschwitz, but he managed to escape from the train and hid in a secret bunker in suburban Bratislava. In the final days of the war he was evacuated by a transport organized by Rudolf Kastner with German permission. Later he moved to the United States, where together with those students of the original Nitra Yeshiva who were fortunate enough to survive the Holocaust, he established the Yeshiva Farm Settlement at Mount Kisco, New York. The Yeshiva was modeled on Talmudic accounts of agricultural settlements where a man was expected to study the Torah continuously up until the age suitable for marriage, and then after being wed and starting a family he would assist in supporting his community by farming the land during the day and confining his studies to the evenings.
[edit] The Working Group
When the Nazis, aided by members of the puppet Slovak government, began its moves against the Slovakian Jews in 1942, members of the Slovak Judenrat formed an underground organization called the Working Group. Their main activity was to pay large bribes to German and Slovak officials. The transportation of Jews was in fact halted for a long time after they began to bribe the Nazi official Dieter Wisliceny. However, most academic historians, notably Yehuda Bauer, believe that the transportation was delayed for other reasons and that the bribes had little actual effect. The Working Group was also responsible for the ambitious but ill-fated Europa Plan which would have seen large numbers of European Jews "bought" from their Nazi captors.
[edit] Controversies
Since the business of the Working Group required a continuous supply of large sums of money, they turned to the international Jewish organizations for help, via their representatives in Switzerland. Here lies the root of a bitter and continuing debate. Weissmandl claimed that too little money was provided too late and that this was due to the indifference of those he asked. Specifically, he accused the Zionist organizations of refusing to assist in saving Jews unless they were to go to Palestine (a condition the Nazis were unwilling to accept). Weissmandl supported his allegations by quoting letters from memory, but the original letters have never been found and some historians such as Bauer doubt the accuracy of his memory.
[edit] Books
Two of Weissmandl's books were published posthumously.
- Toras Chemed (Mt. Kisco, 1958) is a book of religious writings that includes many commentaries and homilies, as well as hermeneutic material of a kabbalistic nature. Included in this book are the observations that led to the so-called Torah Codes.
- Min HaMetzar (Jerusalem, 1960) is a book that describes Rabbi Weissmandl's war-time experiences. The title consists of the first two words of Psalm 118:5, meaning "from the depths of despair", literally "From the Straits". This is the main publication in which Rabbi Weissmandl's accusations against the Zionist organizations appear.
[edit] References
- A. Fuchs, The Unheeded Cry (Messorah Publications, 1984).
- Y. Bauer, Jews for Sale? Nazi-Jewish Negotiations, 1933-1945 (Yale University Press, 1994).
- Among Blind Fools, a documentary film by VERAFilm (some extracts can be viewed here)
- G. Fatran, The "Working Group", Holocaust and Genocide Studies, 8:2 (1994:Fall) 164-201; also see correspondence in issue 9:2 (1995:Fall) 269-276.
