Rescuing the Rebbe of Belz

Book excerpt: Recounts the Holocaust experiences of the Belzer Rebbe, Aharon Rokach (born in 1880), and his brother Mordechai, the Bilgorai Rebbe, who shared his fate. They fled from Belz (in Ukraine) to nearby Sokal and then to Peremyshliany, where several family members were killed. They found temporary refuge in Poland, in Wisnicz and then in Bochnia and Kraków, in both of which the rebbes were interned in the ghettos. In Bochnia the Belzer Rebbe survived in the guise of a "master tailor", while preserving, as he did throughout the Holocaust, his devotion to a life of Torah. After an escape to Slovakia failed, one to Hungary succeeded. In Budapest, the Rebbe was able to publicly lead his followers and other ultra-Orthodox Jews. At times he was sought by the Gestapo, but he was also respected by some Nazis as a "wonder rabbi". Efforts to rescue him centered in Eretz Israel, but also involved Belzer hasidim around the world. In Hungary, the Rebbe attempted to encourage rescue efforts for the remnants of Polish Jewry. In Palestine, Berish Ortner convinced Jewish religious and political figures to grant an immigration certificate to the Rebbe, who then made his way to Palestine. There he and his brother made strenuous efforts to inform the Jewish community about the dire situation in Europe and how they might still save part of Hungarian Jewry. Includes many examples of total religious dedication on the part of the Rebbe and those inspired by him to the point of martyrdom. The last chapter recounts the rescue activities in the Bochnia ghetto-labor camp of Eliezer Landau, who used bribes and cleverness to save the lives of thousands of his fellow Jews.