B"H
The former great Satmarer Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum on 21 Kislev 1976. This day has a special meaning in Satmar, as it is the day when Rebbe Teitelbaum was saved from the Nazis via Kasztner Train.
Nevertheless, the Kastner Train, Rudolf Kasztner himself as well as the entire rescueing of the Satmarer Rebbe are not free from disputes. Why did the Satmarer or Belzer Rebbe not warn Hungarian Jewry ? Why did only the Rebbes escape ?
The 21 Kislev 2009
Showing posts with label Kasztner Transport. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kasztner Transport. Show all posts
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
The Anti - Zionist / Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum View on Kastner and his Train
B"H
Until today, many years after the Holocaust and the murder of Rudolph Kastner, rumours and justifications are still spreading. Israel's secular left as well as left - wing university professors (e.g. the left - wing Hebrew University / Jerusalem) keep on stating that Kastner was a good person and did not work together with the Nazis in a evil way.
I am not a "Kastner specialist" but I do support certain ideas of Rabbi Weissmandel and cannot believe that any person, also not Rudolf Kastner, would be able of making a "clean" deal with the Nazis. Not when everything is just about money and survival !
On the other hand, the Satmarer Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum was saved by taking the Kastner train and ending up in free Switzerland.
Now, an anti - Zionist website published a new facts on the issue:
Sunday, October 18, 2009
"Killing Kasztner"
B"H
Although I have not yet written too much about the "Kasztner Train" and the escape of the Satmarer Rebbe, I do have an opinion after reading through some material. Of course, I started reading "Perfidy" by Ben Hecht and you may claim that, due to that, I am prejudiced. However, when you look at all the circumstances in those days, the conclusion is not too far that Kasztner was working together with the Nazis and anything but the great hero many people claim. And in my eyes he was a traitor but this doesn't justify his murder.
KILLING KASZTNER: The Jew Who Dealt With Nazis Official Movie Trailer - After receiving critical acclaim at the Toronto International Film Festival and an unprecedented theatrical release in Israel, American director Gaylen Ross "Killing Kasztner: The Jew Who Dealt With Nazis" now poses the question to U.S. audiences: Was Rezso Kasztner a heroic rescuer of Jews or a villain colluding with the Nazis? Through accounts of the inflammatory political trial, startling revelations after 50 years by Kasztners' assassin, Zeev Eckstein, and a chilling meeting between the killer and Kasztners daughter, Zsuzsi, audiences finally can decide the legacy of this forgotten man.
Soure: We Jew
Links:
Hungarian Jews and the "Kasztner Train"
Rebbe Teitelbaum and the "Kasztner Transport"
Although I have not yet written too much about the "Kasztner Train" and the escape of the Satmarer Rebbe, I do have an opinion after reading through some material. Of course, I started reading "Perfidy" by Ben Hecht and you may claim that, due to that, I am prejudiced. However, when you look at all the circumstances in those days, the conclusion is not too far that Kasztner was working together with the Nazis and anything but the great hero many people claim. And in my eyes he was a traitor but this doesn't justify his murder.
KILLING KASZTNER: The Jew Who Dealt With Nazis Official Movie Trailer - After receiving critical acclaim at the Toronto International Film Festival and an unprecedented theatrical release in Israel, American director Gaylen Ross "Killing Kasztner: The Jew Who Dealt With Nazis" now poses the question to U.S. audiences: Was Rezso Kasztner a heroic rescuer of Jews or a villain colluding with the Nazis? Through accounts of the inflammatory political trial, startling revelations after 50 years by Kasztners' assassin, Zeev Eckstein, and a chilling meeting between the killer and Kasztners daughter, Zsuzsi, audiences finally can decide the legacy of this forgotten man.
Soure: We Jew
Links:
Hungarian Jews and the "Kasztner Train"
Rebbe Teitelbaum and the "Kasztner Transport"
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
"Dependencies of Chassidic Groups", Part 1 - Satmar
B"H
The Satmarer Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum survived the Holocaust due to the fact that his name was on the list of the Kasztner Train. Together with 1368 people, he was rescued and sent to Switzerland.
The chassidic majority of Eastern and Central Europe vanished during the Holocaust. In March 1944, the Germans invaded Hungary and at the time, over 450.000 Jews were living in the country. Seventy per cent of Hungarian Jewry were deported and murdered by the Germans.
Three million (90 % of Polish Jewry) were killed in the Holocaust. Fewer than 300.000 Polish Jews survived.
Rebbe Teitelbaum reached New York in 1947. He then was 61 years old and anxious building up a new community in New York.
Those Chassidim getting to New York after the war saw their common goal in recreating a chassidic world as it had been before the Holocaust. Was there any time at all to mourn for friends and family members ?
Slowly slowly, new communities were built, including Mikwaot, Synagogues, Yeshivot and even the dress codes changed. Eastern European Chassidim brought with them their own fashion. Long beards and kaftans, even a Shatnez institution was established.
But the New World in America brought further new challenges. The first change was that in New York, no one can isolate himself but is forced, in one way or the other, to deal with society. With Gentiles, secular Jews, unemployment and other social issues, housing and health.
Thus, a new level of leadership was required and Rebbe Teitelbaum with his Torah knowledge and piety wasn't able to face all the modern challenges in a different world. Therefore, the Rebbe appointed Rabbi Lipa Friedman, a former bank director from Czechoslovakia, as a community president. From 1948 - 1972, Rabbi Friedman was running the Satmar court.
How could Chassidim find a job in New York ? In a modern society with radios and TV sets. With cinemas, a world where the English language dominates. Chassidim who hardly new the language and lacked secular education and knowledge. Most Chassidim worked as teachers, Kashrut supervisors, tailors or electricians. In 1966, a young Satmarer Chassid, Irving Goldstein, started his career with his first camera store, grew bigger and bigger and thus, provided jobs.
Rebbe Teitelbaum, and not only him but any other Rebbe around as well, was into study and prayer and, in their earlier life, had never been confronted with job training, arranging loans, fundraising, negotiating with politicians, etc. Of course, then the Satmarer Rebbe appointed Rabbi Friedman as a middleman but the funds had to come from somewhere. Re - establishing a chassidic community costs large sums of money and hardly any Chassid brought money with him. Chassidic groups suddenly depended on rich donors; American Jews who tried to help setting up new communities.
And with these kinds of donations, another problem came up. How far can a wealthy donor influence the group ? Let's assume that there is a rich charismatic donor who doesn't just want to hand over a check but demands a position within the group. Even an invisible position but where he still decides certain issues usually the Rebbe is taking care of.
Who then started really ruling the groups ? Still the Rebbe (and I am not talking only about Satmar but about any other chassidic group settling in New York) or the donor who is not a part of the group at all; let alone a Rabbi but a businessman.
Was a chassidic Rebbe able of holding his position or did he become a donor puppet ? And how about today, as donations have to keep on floating; otherwise most chassidic groups would be bankrupt.
Before the Holocaust, a Rebbe was everything but after the war, everything changed and more and more other people came to power. Important Rabbis within the group, donors from the outside, maybe even the American government or senators.
How depended is a chassidic Rebbe today ?
I once had a discussion with someone on FACEBOOK about the topic and found it quite interesting. I had never thought about it and maybe you haven't either. However, I think it is important to mention it and I wonder if the group members themselves are aware of it as well.
______________
Source:
"Hasidic People" by Jerome R. Mintz
The Satmarer Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum survived the Holocaust due to the fact that his name was on the list of the Kasztner Train. Together with 1368 people, he was rescued and sent to Switzerland.
The chassidic majority of Eastern and Central Europe vanished during the Holocaust. In March 1944, the Germans invaded Hungary and at the time, over 450.000 Jews were living in the country. Seventy per cent of Hungarian Jewry were deported and murdered by the Germans.
Three million (90 % of Polish Jewry) were killed in the Holocaust. Fewer than 300.000 Polish Jews survived.
Rebbe Teitelbaum reached New York in 1947. He then was 61 years old and anxious building up a new community in New York.
Those Chassidim getting to New York after the war saw their common goal in recreating a chassidic world as it had been before the Holocaust. Was there any time at all to mourn for friends and family members ?
Slowly slowly, new communities were built, including Mikwaot, Synagogues, Yeshivot and even the dress codes changed. Eastern European Chassidim brought with them their own fashion. Long beards and kaftans, even a Shatnez institution was established.
But the New World in America brought further new challenges. The first change was that in New York, no one can isolate himself but is forced, in one way or the other, to deal with society. With Gentiles, secular Jews, unemployment and other social issues, housing and health.
Thus, a new level of leadership was required and Rebbe Teitelbaum with his Torah knowledge and piety wasn't able to face all the modern challenges in a different world. Therefore, the Rebbe appointed Rabbi Lipa Friedman, a former bank director from Czechoslovakia, as a community president. From 1948 - 1972, Rabbi Friedman was running the Satmar court.
How could Chassidim find a job in New York ? In a modern society with radios and TV sets. With cinemas, a world where the English language dominates. Chassidim who hardly new the language and lacked secular education and knowledge. Most Chassidim worked as teachers, Kashrut supervisors, tailors or electricians. In 1966, a young Satmarer Chassid, Irving Goldstein, started his career with his first camera store, grew bigger and bigger and thus, provided jobs.
Rebbe Teitelbaum, and not only him but any other Rebbe around as well, was into study and prayer and, in their earlier life, had never been confronted with job training, arranging loans, fundraising, negotiating with politicians, etc. Of course, then the Satmarer Rebbe appointed Rabbi Friedman as a middleman but the funds had to come from somewhere. Re - establishing a chassidic community costs large sums of money and hardly any Chassid brought money with him. Chassidic groups suddenly depended on rich donors; American Jews who tried to help setting up new communities.
And with these kinds of donations, another problem came up. How far can a wealthy donor influence the group ? Let's assume that there is a rich charismatic donor who doesn't just want to hand over a check but demands a position within the group. Even an invisible position but where he still decides certain issues usually the Rebbe is taking care of.
Who then started really ruling the groups ? Still the Rebbe (and I am not talking only about Satmar but about any other chassidic group settling in New York) or the donor who is not a part of the group at all; let alone a Rabbi but a businessman.
Was a chassidic Rebbe able of holding his position or did he become a donor puppet ? And how about today, as donations have to keep on floating; otherwise most chassidic groups would be bankrupt.
Before the Holocaust, a Rebbe was everything but after the war, everything changed and more and more other people came to power. Important Rabbis within the group, donors from the outside, maybe even the American government or senators.
How depended is a chassidic Rebbe today ?
I once had a discussion with someone on FACEBOOK about the topic and found it quite interesting. I had never thought about it and maybe you haven't either. However, I think it is important to mention it and I wonder if the group members themselves are aware of it as well.
______________
Source:
"Hasidic People" by Jerome R. Mintz
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Hungarian Jews and the "Kastner Train"
B"H
Despite of being born in Germany, I have never felt a real interest in investigating the fate of the German Jews during the Holocaust. Of course, I learned more than enough about the whole subject at school and in my private time. However, any Holocaust interest seemed to disappear as soon as I entered Yeshiva. Then I was busy with studying the Jewish religion and I had more than enough to do with that.
But even religion is no escape from the Holocaust. On the contrary, as countless Jews ask the famous questions if there is a G - d and how could He let a Holocaust happen. Most people completely forget that the Holocaust was only an tiny little part within Jewish history and that there had been former pogromes. Let alone the Crusades and the mass killings during the Middle Ages ?
Jewish religion deals a lot with the Holocaust and, as you can imagine, there are plenty of opinions. Kabbalah claims certain Gilgulim (reincarnations) and Chassidut emphazises the "Meshiach Concept". Does collective suffering stand for a Tikun (soul rectification) ? Can a soul have a Tikun by undergoing all this suffering and thus, lead us into the Messianic era ?
The concept includes various opinons and is extremely complicated.
For some years already, I have been intensely dealing with chassidic subjects and my blogs are full of Rebbes, history, customs, etc. Nevertheless, my importance have always been the Jews of Eastern Europe and not those in Germany. How did Chassidut deal with the Holocaust and how is the issue regarded today ?
Hundred of thousands of Chassidim were brutally murdered; a subject not too much noticed in today's worldwide press.
Dealing with chassidic history automatically means dealing with the Holocaust. During the past months, quite a lot of e - mails have reached me demanding to write about the "Kastner (Kasztner) Train". Before, I had never really dealt with Kastner and his train. I only got to the subject when I started investigating the history of Chassidut Satmar. Usually we only hear about Oscar Schindler or Raoul Wallenberg but who knows about Kastner or Hannah Senes if not rather professional historians or history freaks ?
Rudolf (Kasztner) Kastner is still of importance in Israel and not at all forgotten. His positive or negative (whatever you like to call it) myth is still very much alive. He was plead guilty for Nazi collaboration and in 1957, shot as an act of revenge. Kastner, himself a Hungarian Jew, was accused of "having made a pact with the devil" by dealing with Adolf Eichman. Due to immense amounts of money and diamonds, Eichman agreed that approx. 1700 Jews would be allowed to leave Hungary for Switzerland. All the other hundreds of thousands of Jews ended up in the gas chambers of Auschwitz. It looks like no one has been warned before the Germans started their invasion. Why not and what had happened if they had been warned ? Why did the rich pay so much money in order to save their lives and why were others left behind ?
Was Kastner a hero or someone who acted in a selfish manner or to become rich ? Rich and mighty ?
What was the role of the religious Zionists and the Chassidim ? Did the Zionists only think about rescuing themselves ? What was the role of the Rebbes and did they tell their Chassidim the truth ?
The "Kastner Case" is highly complicated; also because different Israeli parties liked to use Kastner for their own purposes and intrigues.
The Holocaust Museum "Yad Vashem" still deals with documents and facts.
I am still collecting material and any kind of information, and I even founded a group on FACEBOOK:
"Hungarian Jewry and the Kastner Train".
Whoever has helpful reliable information is welcomed to send them to me. Especially about Rabbi Chaim Michael Dov Weissmandl or Rabbi Yissachar Teichtal.
Nevertheless, one point has to be made very clear:
Neither Rudolf Kastner nor the Jews caused a Holocaust !
Never forget that it were the Germans (including their beloved allies as well as Austria) starting a Holocaust and a war . Only Germany and its Allies are responsible for the mass murder of six million Jews and there will never be any verdict of not being guilty.
_____________________
Links:
"Rebbe Teitelbaum and the Kastner Transport"
Do we have the right to question the Holocaust ?
Rabbi Yissachar Shlomo Teichtal changed his mind
The Chassidim and the Holocaust
For those readers who are not too interested in the Holocaust: At least this gives you an opportunity looking into the history of Hungarian Jewry.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Rebbe Teitelbaum and the Kastner Transport
B"H
The following details about the Satmarer Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum are taken from Esther Farbstein's book "Hidden in Thunder".
When the Nazis occupied Hungary, also the Satmarer Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum (1886 – 1979) was in life danger. Until 1944, the Rebbe helped newcomers settling in Budapest. Furthermore, he worked in cooperation with Rabbi Michael Ber Weissmandel as well as with his father – in – law, Rabbi Shmuel David Ungar of Nitra.
His Chassidim tried to smuggle the Satmarer Rebbe into Romania but his car was caught by the Hungarian police. The Rebbe then was taken to the Klausenburg (Cluj) Ghetto. At that time, the Kastner (Kasztner) – Eichmann negotiations were already in progress and later on, Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum left with the train.
Many people claim until today that the anti – Zionist Rebbe Teitelbaum was actually rescued by the Zionists, as it was them organizing the train. Nevertheless, the train was financed by various groups and the passengers came from all kinds of different community backgrounds.
From Cluj (Klausenburg), the Kastner train ended first in Bergen Belsen and on December 7, 1944 (21 Kislev), Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum finally reached Switzerland. There was lots of grief when the Rebbe left Klausenburg, but, on the other hand, there was also plenty of relief, when the Rebbe was finally saved. The Satmarer thought that now, maybe the Rebbe can help them and these thoughts gave them strength.
_________________________
The Kastner train was loaded with almost 1,700 Jews who, in the second half of 1944, escaped from Nazi occupied Hungary to Switzerland. 450,000 members of the Hungarian Jewish community were deported to the gas chambers in Auschwitz. Rudolf Kastner had made an agreement with the SS Officer Adolf Eichmann to let a number of Jews escape when they pay a certain amount of money and diamonds.
I am planning to write a separate article on the "Kastner Transport" as well as why 450.000 Jews were sent to Auschwitz and didn't escape before the Germans occupied Hungary.
The following details about the Satmarer Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum are taken from Esther Farbstein's book "Hidden in Thunder".
When the Nazis occupied Hungary, also the Satmarer Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum (1886 – 1979) was in life danger. Until 1944, the Rebbe helped newcomers settling in Budapest. Furthermore, he worked in cooperation with Rabbi Michael Ber Weissmandel as well as with his father – in – law, Rabbi Shmuel David Ungar of Nitra.
His Chassidim tried to smuggle the Satmarer Rebbe into Romania but his car was caught by the Hungarian police. The Rebbe then was taken to the Klausenburg (Cluj) Ghetto. At that time, the Kastner (Kasztner) – Eichmann negotiations were already in progress and later on, Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum left with the train.
Many people claim until today that the anti – Zionist Rebbe Teitelbaum was actually rescued by the Zionists, as it was them organizing the train. Nevertheless, the train was financed by various groups and the passengers came from all kinds of different community backgrounds.
From Cluj (Klausenburg), the Kastner train ended first in Bergen Belsen and on December 7, 1944 (21 Kislev), Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum finally reached Switzerland. There was lots of grief when the Rebbe left Klausenburg, but, on the other hand, there was also plenty of relief, when the Rebbe was finally saved. The Satmarer thought that now, maybe the Rebbe can help them and these thoughts gave them strength.
_________________________
The Kastner train was loaded with almost 1,700 Jews who, in the second half of 1944, escaped from Nazi occupied Hungary to Switzerland. 450,000 members of the Hungarian Jewish community were deported to the gas chambers in Auschwitz. Rudolf Kastner had made an agreement with the SS Officer Adolf Eichmann to let a number of Jews escape when they pay a certain amount of money and diamonds.
I am planning to write a separate article on the "Kastner Transport" as well as why 450.000 Jews were sent to Auschwitz and didn't escape before the Germans occupied Hungary.
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