New York – Their ordeal is well known and well-documented. Students from the Mir Yeshiva escaped the clutches of the Nazis by a hairsbreadth – and went to Kobe, Japan and then spent the war years in Shanghai, China. But how did these Yeshiva boys arrive in the United States? An 18 year old Sally Cohen (now Mrs. Hirsch) travelled with the Mir Yeshiva from Shanghai to the United States. The ship they travelled on was the SS General M.C. Meigs, a US Navy ship. It departed on January 1st, 1949 and arrived on January 24th, 1949. The Mir students and Miss Cohen travelled third class. She shared her experience with the Five Towns Jewish Times.
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YH: Mrs. Hirsch, how did you come in contact with the Mir Yeshiva?
SH: While we were in Shanghai – the Mir students gave classes and taught the local Sefardic Jewish community all sorts of Torah classes. They would teach us in the main Sefardic shul in Shanghai. They were single bochurim and they made us all frummer. One of their names was Rabbi Schechter, another Rabbi Borgen.. I don’t remember all their names anymore but many of them became important Rabbis later on in America.
YH: Are you still in touch with any of them?
SH: I did run into them throughout the years, but there is hardly anyone left anymore.
YH: Where did the Mir boys stay?
SH: In Shanghai they lived in a ghetto called Honque. They would come to the Sefardic community often and they had their own minyan for Maariv later in the Sefardic shul.. They also had all their weddings there during the night.
YH: The Japanese had occupied China at the time?
SH: Yes. All the American Mir bochurim had to wear a big A on their clothing.. The British had to wear a B. They called us Naquni – which meant All foreigners in Japanese.. But the Mir boys were all in the Honque.
YH: Why did you decide to go to America?
SH: I wanted to continue in a Bais Yaakov environment. Rebbitzen Kaplan had a Bais Yaakov on South Ninth Street in Williamsburg and the plan was for me to go there.
YH: How many girls from Shanghai came over with you?
SH: There were a little less than ten.. But the Yeshiva boys were a lot.
YH: How did you feel travelling without family?
SH: I was frightened and I was plenty scared.. Because we were Shomer Shabbos my father asked the Rabbi what to do about travelling.. He was told that we had to come on the boat early a couple days before Shabbos and then it would be muttar.
YH: What did the ticket for the ship cost?
SH: Not a penny. The American Navy ship brought us all here for free – there was no ticket cost.
YH: What was the ship ride like?
SH: Most of us were sick the whole time. The ship was light boat and there were no individual rooms. The beds were in one big room – bed after bed after bed. The girls and women were in a different room but the same way. First we stopped in Guam and the ship refilled with food supplies. We did not get off the ship in Guam though. Then we stopped in Honolulu. They took us to the Jewish community there. There was one house in which we all gathered. The Jewish people there were very nice. They loaded us up with sardines and canned goods.
YH: Did the Mir boys have minyanim and a Sefer Torah?
SH: I can hardly remember. Remember, I was a very young girl then..
YH: What were the meals like?
SH: Well, almost all of us were very sick and we barely ate anything. The cooks used to try to get us to eat. They said that all the food in the pot this time or that time was kosher – there was no pork in it. But we were all pretty frum and we did not eat of course. We had some of our own kosher food.
YH: How many suitcases did you land with?
SH: I don’t remember but my niece told me that I came with four suitcases. She was able to look it up.
YH: What happened when you landed?
SH: We landed in San Francisco Harbor. They took us to a hotel for three days there. HIAS, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society paid for it, but it was arranged through one of the Torah organizations. And then they put us on a train for New York.
YH: What did you do when you arrived in New York?
SH: The Mir boys went to the Yeshiva in Brooklyn and were taken in the dormitories. They made room for them. I was accepted in the Bais Yaakov in New York but there were no dorm places anymore. I stayed with a wonderful family in Boro Park. Rebbitzen Kaplan a”h played ball with us in the park in Williamsburg. There is a park there right next to the Bais Yaakov. This wouldn’t happen nowadays – but she was very close to all the girls.
YH: Thank you so much! ♦
I heard they ship landed in Seattle, the frum community asked them to stay and they decline. Has anyone else heard that story?
At least these important historical individual accounts are being told and recorded now. Better late than never.
This shows how important it is to interview a our family members to learn about the lives of the earlier generations. Also the importance of interviewing a number of times as something new is brought to light at each interview.
Not many of that generation left, we have savor every moment with these folks…
Another historical event: Rebbetzin Kaplan played with the girls in the park. You’d be hard-pressed to find a principal in this day and age to play with the kids in the park.
Along with Mir Yeshiva ,was of course Lubavitcher Yeshiva Many Bochrim Came out of war torn europe, andwhere close with The mir yeshiva Dr. Seligson a;h was a Lubavitcher Doctor who took care of the d’mir bochrim as well This is all well documented;
just for the record they where not the only yeshiva in shanghi at that time period! slonim, lubavitch, aminsnov and others! other 50,000 yidden in the second world war where stuck there
The Mir Rabbeim and boys spent the worst war-years in a Yeshivah building; being relatively well taken caren of. Their brethren were not as fortunate. Why are we assigning hero-like status to them?
As long as the mir bochourim got money from vaad lihatzoloh and didn’t give a paenny to any chassidim.
There were 29 Lubavitcher Bochrim on the ship as detailed by R’ Shimon Goldman (one of the bochrim) in his book “From Shedlitz to Safety” (http://alljewishlinks.com/books/holocaust-children-in-the-holocaust/from-shedlitz-to-safety).
There he writes (different than this woman) that the boat contained cabins in which were army bunk beds.
Worth noting is that the Amshinover Rebbe was also on the boat.
R’ Goldman also describes the boatride very uncomfortable causing many to feel nauseous. One Lubavitcher bochur, R’ Yisrael Dovid Rosenberg, experienced a long spel of seasickness and spent many days in bed. A true musical artist, he used the time to compose many new niggunim one of which was later printed in Hakriah V’Hakedusha, a periodical published by the Frierdike Lubavitcher Rebbe.
As to Comment #1 about Seattle, I think your confusing the fact that after the Lubavitcher bochrim arrived at the port of S. Francisco, they divided into three groups visiting the Jewish Communities of Seattle, Los Angeles and 10 remained in S. Francisco
.
Don’t think that we should mar this woman’s recollections by injecting politics in it.
Mrs. Hirsch was not on the ship with the Lubavitcher Bochrim since they came in July 1946 & Mrs. Hirsch came to America in January 1949.
What you are saying is very disturbing. I never heard something like that do you have facts about that? I would like to hear more. If it is true which I am not mekabel. The frummer helped all jews.
My grandfather was in Mir and my great uncle was in lubavitch both in Shanghai they met there and befriended each other and married sisters in America. Unfortunately the stories are true and money or food never made it to the chabad bochurim. The legendary Rabbi Raichik first chabad emmisary to california in the 40s kept the bochurim alive by shlepping food and medicine from every corner. It was a dark chapter in our history that bochurim can turn an eye on other yeshiva bochurim. I doubt that would happen today.
reply to 14
sorry that you quote only half the story. Rabbi Goldman does explain why they were not given money and it had nothing to do with not wanting to help fellow yidden. there were money issues in NY by lubavitch that were going on that hampered the help to shanghai and they were told that funds of the vaad would not go to chabad as long as they chose to go on their own. half a story always breeds sinas chinom.
One Lubavitcher bochur passed away in Shanghai.His name was Chanowitz, he had always been sickly .and suffered back home in Vilna.This had nothing to do with being “starved to death”.A couple of boys from the Mir also succumbed to illness and passed away in Shanghai, including a bochur called Arbuz, and a famous kobetz divrei torah was published in his honour in Shanghai.
Shanghai was full of refugees, was very hot and poor a breeding place for deseases which were difficult to treat with poor medicine and before the availability of penicillin for civilian use.
The hlubab have used this blood libel very often, but have always been disproved with facts,when asked about what they did during the war one is met with a groiseh kadoches
The following sentence in the introduction to the interview is very strange:
“The Mir students and Miss Cohen travelled third class.”
As far as I know Navy ships never had “classes”. The conditions may not have been good, but this sentence is simply a cheap shot by the author – it is meant to be a tear-jerker.
thats the sad part they would not share food to keep jews alive bc they didnt follow protocol !!! and had their own yeshiva!!! please dont justify not saving yidden. Even if they would be yidden reshaim you have an obligation to save a life after all isnt that saving a world! Politics and rabbi kotlar stopped them from helping.
My grandfather was one of the older mir bocurim and secretly married my grandmother from Lithuania on the ship while traveling to Japan. They had a daughter who died due to lack of food. I don’t think that the Mir students has lots of food! My grandmother stood on lines just to get a bit of bread. My mother still suffers till this day (she was born in Shanghai) due to lack of nutrition as a child. Dr Selligson told them to eat the red bit of peanuts bec. they were getting holes in their tongues! I don’t think one should judge anyone from that time… although, to think they said ‘help all except Chabad’ is disturbing…..
To number 21 – Perhaps it was a converted ship? Why must people always attack? The interview seems to be a regular normal interview – the author obviously didn’t make things up. Why are people so negative and down on people?
there seems to be some inconsistencies Lets start with the trip to America.The bochurim came on several different ships at different times Ibelieve that my father OB’M did land in Seattle in 1946 He traveled on a freighter with 8 other people. there were 3larger groups By far the largest the mirrer group this included talmidei kletzk [rav mendel kravitz]kamenitz[rebboruch sorotzkin] amongst others. then was a group chahmei lublin rabbionim Lubart,A.D. Gelbfish etc.most who never saw Lublin .they also put out a torah journal called TAIL TALPIOT .the Lubavitch group was in touch with the mirrer group thruout and after the war also so idont exaactly no what the discussion is about. its rumored that the joint money was used to print seforim and not to purchase food. the lubliner group printed plenty of “chassidic sforim yet they only bash the mir.mal nutrition was rampant the shanghaier allremember beri beri [a disease caused by vitamin deficiency were peoples tongues split.]i’d like to share2 stories about the positive events in When the mirrer yeshiva came 2shanghai they learnt and ate in the beth aron shul on museaum rd.the mashgiach reb chatzkel ZT’L counted the seats in shl
and it was the amount exactly as bochurim[heard from HARAV MORDECHAI SHWAB.] another story the yeshiva was ordered to another location on erev yom kippur the next day during neilah there was a direct hit on the B.M. on the old building.
there is a famous story that a japanease officer who asked the amshinover rebbe why the germans hate jews so much .the rebbe answered b/c they view jews like asians [sub human]this was said on the spot. this story is TRUE!as heard from hisgrandaughter rebbetzin C.N.Milikowsky.amush