New York – Min Hameitzar, Rav Michoel Ber Weissmandel’s heartbreaking memoir of his desperate attempts to save European Jewry during the Holocaust, and the callous, stingy and apathetic response of the Jewish establishment and international world, is now in print. The second edition was published almost 50 years after the first, and it contains many new letters and pictures.
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Rav Weissmandel was the greatest hero of the Holocaust. If the international and secular Jewish world would have carried out his rescue plans — which involved generous bribes to Nazi leaders and bombing the tracks to Auschwitz — millions of Jews whose lives were snuffed out in gas chambers would have lived.
Very few today know of his brilliant and comprehensive efforts and rescue plans because Rav Weissmandel is intentionally ignored by Holocaust professionals the worldwide who prefer to commemorate those who talked a lot but did little.
A carefully prepared documentary called “Among Blind Fools” (www.verafilm.cz) produced by two Czech film students a decade ago catalogued Rav Weissmandel’s efforts together with that of the Slovakian Working Group that he assembled. This painful, informative film was rejected by Holocaust museums and film festivals all over the world. The film includes scenes of pre-war Jewish Europe, the Slovakian partisan uprisings, all the activists who worked with Rav Weissmandel and numerous interviews with survivors and activists.
The book is especially noteworthy for being perhaps the first book to reveal the crimes of the Zionist leadership who preferred building their personal fiefdom in Israel to saving Jewish lives. This edition contains the Kol Koreh written by Rav Weissmandel in 1948, in which he spelled out the crimes of the new State’s leaders. Despite the exposure given to these crimes at the Kastner trial, these crimes are today known by very few.
The information in Min Hameitzar formed the basis for a shorter book written by Rabbi Moshe Sheinfeld which was translated into English “The Crematorium Victims Accuse”
The relevancy of Rav Weissmandel’s sefer is in learning of the disaster that a non-Torah leadership brings upon the Jewish people — lessons that we tragically are still forced to learn in these difficult days. Jewish soldiers are in these very days dying and being wounded fighting terrorists whom State leaders had bequeathed free terrorist bases to 3 years ago at the same time that these leaders continue to fund, assist, and encourage the terrorists with hundreds of millions of shekels in “humanitarian aid”.
Z”ye!
What a holy man who did so much to save other jews. and if not of the zionists wanting to use jewish blood to justify having a own land (medinah) he could have saved much more lives.
And what was the response of the frum and chassidic community – not much better. Check the record
The relevancy of Rav Weissmandel’s sefer is in learning of the disaster that a non-Torah leadership brings upon the Jewish people — lessons that we tragically are still forced to learn in these difficult days. Jewish soldiers are in these very days dying and being wounded fighting terrorists whom State leaders had bequeathed free terrorist bases to 3 years ago at the same time that these leaders continue to fund, assist, and encourage the terrorists with hundreds of millions of shekels in “humanitarian aid”.
I think this is an outrageous comparison to say the leadership of Eretz Yisroel should be compared to the elitist jewish leadership in the 1930s who simply tried to ignore the holocaust even when it could no longer be denied. People forget how many IDF died over many years simply trying to protect those settlments in Gaza which were simply no longer defensible and did not really add to security since the rockets were launched from the refugee camps and other areas outside the settlements. But to compare the leadership of the medina to those who looked the other way during the holocaust is a shander and disgrace.
I am amazed that vosizneias would post this, especially now, considering that R. Weismandl z”l despised the Zionists and vosizneias likes them!!
wow. this is very one sided and not representative of all the many attempts and success at saving ydden. especially since it was a different america then for jews very much not like it is now.
Though I have great respect and admiration for this tzadik who wrote this book/sefer and those “in the know” know it is 100% accurate and painfully truthful, I am not sure it was good to reprint.
I wish it were not in print.
So many good people are now affliated with Zionism, and totally unaware of its horrendous history, that these people will either deny what the book said, which means denying the truth, and possibly deciding to hate those who believe it, for it is too painful to believe, or they will realize it is truth, and nothing but the truch, and become disillusioned and depressed.
So, what can the book accomplish today?
Sure the purists say, “It is truth and we must tell the truth, we must never hide the truth.” I understand that, and this book does tell the truth, I have a copy of the original, and have verified it all from people, mostly now deceased, who lived through it, and normally I am one of them who always wants the truth to be revealed. But sometimes, maybe it is better for us to not know.
But, while I am not happy to see the book/sefer re-printed. I do vouch for its truth and accuracy, no matter how much it hurts.
I question the wisdom of releasing this during the current matzav. We need more achdus right now, and whether the entire work is emes le’amito shel torah or not, this will not do anything to promote achdus right now. The record of many groups regarding efforts to save the yiddin is Europe during the war years is not one to be proud of, r”l.
knla”d.
I believe there’s a documentary on Kastner running in Israel right now. I forget the name of it.
Does anyone know where I can get this book Min Hamitzer? Also, which language is it written in?
An old man whom I knew, a friend of my father’s, who is now gone, worked with Rav Michoel Ber Weissmandel.
40 years ago, I gave him my copy and asked him how true it was.
His response shocked me. He said, v Michoel Ber TONED IT DOWN TO PREVENT HATRED BETWEEN FELLOW JEWS. He wrote only the minimum which he felt MUST be told.
When I read the sefer the first time I cried and was sick to my stomach. When it was verified, I was sick for weeks, with nightmares.
I guess the booked needed to be reprinted so it is not forgotten. But, the timing is very poor. We have learned from this, and today is different, I hope.
Tell me that he doesn’t look like Woody Allen with a beard
Doesn’t seem Rav Elchonon Wasserman did much either. In fact he said it was better to die in Europe than come to the United States. Wasn’t just the evil Zionists, the charedim have some blame as well.
Many chassidic leaders told their chasidim not to leave Europe , the frum community in the US avoided most demonstrations. There is a lot of guilt to go around
What have we learned from this? The Zionists just agreed to a three-hour a day cease fire for “humanitarian” reasons, so the enemy can restock, refuel, and continue its barrage of rockets on Jewish metropolitan areas.
#13
U R wrong!
The frum community in the US did as much as they could proportinate to their influence and their knowledge of the facts at that time.
As for the Rebbes telling Chassidim not to leave Europe. We are all well aware of the refrain “Di shteiner in America zennen treif” Indeed the statistics show that nearly all of the orthodox jewish migrants to the USA prior to 1940 are fully assimilated at the 3rd generation.
I jhave long been fascinated by this piece of history.
However, are we any better?
Do you know how few people showed up at the pro Israel rallys in NYC while our brotehrs and sisters blood is being shed in Israel?
Are we being asked for money? Are we being asked to face German officails to bribe them with money and put our lives in danger?
For crying out loud .. were being asked to give a few hours of our time to join a rally in support of Israel, and we cant find the time to come.
So then I ask you…How are we better????
The US Jews believed the “Jewish Committee” and the Zionists were handling things, and doing all they can do. In this sefer we discovered otherwise.
The Rabbis were also lied to by Roosvelt. He convinced them that he was doing all he can “quietly” and that their “noise” would harm the negotiations. This was, of course, a big lie.
The Southern Jews wanted to speak up, and do something, but the northern Jews told them to trust the Prez.
As much as the material in this sefer hurts, as it is VERY painful to read about the treachery perpretrated by fellow Jews, maybe it does need to be re-printed.
This material is EMBARRASSING BUT TRUE.
There was a man in my shul, a Holocaust survivor. He was one of the first to get away, as a young teen, and went to Palestine, where he worked with the Zionists. He told me that the attitude of his fellow Zionists was, “Better those old religious Jews die in Europe than save them to go to any other place than to Palestine to fight the Zionist cause.
He said his associates clearly said the money needs to be spent on Zionism. And if they could “redeem” a Jew from a camp and have him sent to Palestine, then they would pay up. If it meant his going to the US or Canada – LET HIM DIE.
At that time he was so into the Zionism that he went along with it. Later, when he found out HIS family died in the ovens, he changed his mind, and escaped to the US. He grew to hate the Zionists more than the Nazis. He refused to
put on tefillin until he was 75, the year he told me this story.
R’ Michoel Ber Weissmandl was a tzaddik. He wrote the book, because he wanted people to do teshuva. When he came to America, he was devastated that frum yidden had continued living their lives almost normally while Jews were being slaughtered. He couldn’t understand how they didn’t FEEL what was going on.
He moved away, because it took him some time to find an ayin tova again. He never intended for the book to be used to malign yidden. Only to teach them how to prevent a recurrence. His message was very simple.
Do not bury your head in the sand.
It’s not a mitzvah.
kechu imachem devarim, v’shuvu el hashem
If hey have any honesty they would include Rav Weissmandl’s fued with R’ Aharon Kotler whom Wiessmandl accused of not helping in the saving of Hungarian Jews.
What about all the Rebbe’s who forbade their chassedim in the 1930’s to leave Europe for the US?
While some of my jewish brethern are pointing fingers at one another, I prefer to point it in one direction.
At FDR.
Yimach Shmo.
Why he did not bomb those railroad tracks to Auschwitz is mind boggling.
Rav Michoel Ber Z”TL drew detailed maps for the allies.
The bombing of the tracks would have minimized the Nazis YS”V ability to transport our Yiddeshe brothers and sisters to their untimely deaths.
I am sick of the FDR appoligist that say that bombing the tracks would be useless because the Nazis Ymach Shemom Vzichrum would have had the tracks rebuilt.
This argument is without merit.
The Nazis did not have much time in 1945 to begin rebuilding tracks. And if they did, it would still take time. Bombing the tracks would have spared possibly 100,000 from their deaths R’L
President Bush at his recent visit to Yad Vshem ask Condi Rice:
Why the allies did not bomb the tracks.
President Bush’s question was never answered properly.
FDR blew it big time.
There is no doubt that Rav Weissmandel was a great man, a great talmid chancham, and a great tzaddik. His memoirs reflect his personal experience and are very valuable.
However, great care must be given before accepting his ANALYSIS of the larger picture. See, for instance, the works of Prof. Yehuda Bauer, also a holocaust survivor, who painstakingly shows that Rav Weissmandel was very sincere and well-meaning, but completely misunderstood the larger picture and completely misread the intentions os those he was dealing with. Additionally, he shows that Rav Weissmandel’s view of things is not historically accurate, as may be demonstrated
through historic documents and testimony.
In short, just because Rav Weismandel was a great man and a great hero, that does not make his perspective on the zionists, Kastner, or the Nazis he negotiated with anything more than an OPINION, not HISTORY.
Those who think that Rav Weissmandel’s views are historically accurate can read, for instance, the new edition of his kinah for Tisha B’Av. There, in the footnotes, they quote Rav Weismandel as writing that “it is a fact” that the holocaust was brought by Hashem as punishment for Zionism. He says there that “All” the Rabbis “know” that this is “true” and that “all” have said so.
Rav Weismandel is certainly entitled to his perspective, but I would tend to think that even the readers of Vos iz Neias appreciate the difference between opinion and fact. However one feels about zionism, it is not a “fact’ that Hashem brought the holcaust to punish the Jewish People fo it and it is not a “fact” that “all” Rabbis agree with this view of history or this interpretation of Hashem’s will.
During the Late 30’s the Jews in Europe didn’t believe it could get much worse.
The Rebbe’s and Roshei Yeshivos were oblivious to the apparent danger approaching, therefore, they were more concerened with the spiritual state of their Chassidim/Talmidim. By the time they realized what was really happening, it was too late for most of them.
As for Jews in the US who tried to help and rescue Jews from Europe – there definitely were quite a few Tzadikim, but, on the whole there was not an uproar!!! At first there was little information and then it was hard to believe it.
To No 31: History is just that: A true story based upon an opinion!!! ( Of course, it depends where you grew up and what school you went to in order to know what history lesson you got).
There is no doubt about it, the zionist leadership has a lot to answer for, but then again, so do the Frum leadership.
It would take hundreds of pages to accurately discuss and debate the opinions expressed in the articles and the comments, most of which do not provide citations to sources with first hand knowledge. Similarly the issue of how feasible and effective it would have been to bomb the rail tracks, bribe more Nazis, etc. is open to much legitimate debate. However, it does not take hundreds of pages to state the obvious that seems to be getting lost — the Nazi’s and their accomplices killed the jews, not Zionists or Chassidim or Haredis. We have a common enemy. Let’s stop spewing all this hatred. Further, if some Chassidim/Haredis made mistakes in the years leading up to WWII and if some Zionists made mistakes, please remember that was over 65 years ago and people were dealing with a world gone mad. That is not a reason to draw broad generalizations or to express hatred toward current members of various groups/sects. In this week when there are daily reports of new and ominous anti-semitic attacks, let,s try to show some unity toward all yiden, religious or secular, zionist or anti-zionist.
Kasters Train was full of zionists and included only one Orthodox Jew in a position of leadership over thousands of other followers.
Thank Gd, Israel was available as a safe haven to help many of the holocaaust survivors.
Kastner, with his famous Kastner Train got his train full of Zionists out by doing two things.
1) He made a deal with the Nazis to pay them off in money
2) He made a deal to keep the killings a secret form the Yidden so that it will be easier to kill them with no revolt of local Jews and no world protest.
The Nazis need the money and needed the secret and could not succeed if the secret made headline news in all world wide papers.
The Plan was sealed by top brass Nazis and everything went according to plan that Kastener would save only Zionists and let all Frum Jews die.
The Only exception was the Satmar Rebbe who made it out only with the help of the Zionists of Kastners Train.
The Satmar Rebbe knew why he was escaping but his Chassidim were left behind and not told in accordance with Kastners promised made to the Nazis to help the Natzis succeed in their secret plan.
for all of this comments, Remember one thing! RAV WEISSMANDL ZT”L was a very very smart man a really genius, and he was the one who wrote A KOL KOIRE by the founding of the MEMSHELES HAKOFRIM in isreal – that the war came because of this, ant the Zionist silly self haters made a boucut on Hitler Ym”s and made sure he should kill the Yidden, and that what Rav Weissmandl want “we should hate this POSHIM the Tzionim, and with no Difference from 50 years ago and today,he want we should what this Reshoim did with us, and of course by this war in Gaze he would tell his DAAS TORAH that the zionist leader they bring on us this whole trouble, and for you comment 31 who is calling “Not so Poshut” i want to tell you its “Not so Poshut” when you are trying to bring from silly theories what Prof. Bauer a heater from ERLICHE YIDEN trying to minimize Rav Weissmandl’s work with no really showings. and Prof. Avruhom Fox and the well known David Kranzler had shoud already this l this lying from this Prof. Bauer, so aren’t you ashamed to write from him. anyway wer dont have the time to deal with this all painful comments, Yes! i understand it! but you who are talking from Money Collection in shabbes in USA ,yes its right! But its painful to write what happend with the money!… what one of the collectors R’ Usher Forst z”l told, that the collected with the leter from Rav Weissmndl, but he also claimed what they did with the money, and i will not write it over here, because its a Chilel Hashem, but don’t blaim Rav Weissmandl zt”l – and thanks for reprint this great Seifer – hope you shold reprint whit new offset and Perish like is saw the KINNAS MIN HAMEITZAR
Does the blood of the boys fighting in Gaza mean so little to you that you’d rather keep up the machlokes and sinas chinam to prove a point in an arguement no one will win anyway, rather than be a mentch and keep your opinions to yourself?
To 70. That is not my understanding. Do you have a source for this?
With all due respect to R’ Weissmandel, there are other books and documents that contradict what he said. Not that he was Chas v’sholem misleading deliberately , but he didn’t have all the facts in front of him.
I doubt whether anybody here has ever even read other versions about the Slovakian situation. Re-publishing this book will only bring more sinas chinom because unfortunately , except for a precious few , most orthodox have closed and narrow minds. R’ Weissmandel’s book is not the last word on Zionists or other rescue efforts. It is OPINION , my friends , OPINION , not necessarily the full facts. Maybe the true facts will never be known , but at least read another book before cursing the Zionists.
By the way , what did the majority of orthodox leaders at that time do to help?? Hmmmm … food for thought.
You gotta understand that those like your grandparents, and mine, were a small minority. Most of what they saw was assimilation.
Remember, they walked the streets and did not see black hats.
They walked the streets and did not see tzniusdik dresses and skirts.
They walked into shul, and saw people putting on those shiny cheap tefillin which all know are possul. (no, the people wearing them did not know)
They walked into Temple Emanuel, and saw tiny talleisim, and women sitting with the men.
They walked down Lee Ave, and 13th Ave and saw Jewish owned stores open on Shabbos.
They found Jewish Neighborhoods with NO MIKVAH.
They walked in to an Orthodox shul on purim, and saw maybe 2 or 3 megillas in the entire shul.
Sure, there were good pockets, like the Lower East Side, but even there, half the stores were open on Shabbos.
They passed by Jewish butchers with signs which read “Bosor Bosor” instead of “Bosor Kosher” They went inside, found no hechsher, treif meat, and the store full on Jewish customer thinking it was kosher. The Bosor Bosor was writtten in a way that at first glance it appeared to say Bosor Kosher.
Remember, at that time, they did not KNOW the Holocaust would happen. They only knew it was getting bad. Here in the US it appeard that it already got bad.
They did not understand that those clean shaven men were shomer shabbos. Where they came from shaving off your beard meant you were porek ol. After all, it is a B’Farhesya statement that one will not obey the halacha. They did not know that anyone actually followed those heterim which were used here. They thought only Yekis had that mesorah and heter, so if they saw a non Yeki clean shaven, it looked bad. Really bad.
They looked in the stores on Peisach and saw only machine matzos! Pure chometz in their eyes. They checked out the matzah bakeries and found there were nothing like the ones the Chasam Sofer had issued a heter on. So to them this was chumetz gomur.
It is easy in retrospect to say they made a bad decision. Maybe they did. But, can’t we all understand where their fears came from?
With all due respect to Rav Weissmandl, a possible reason the ransom plan could have been received coolly by world leaders, is that it involved trusting Nazis that they would keep their word. In return for money they would spare Jews’ lives.
However, countless times the Nazis would promise XYZ and after the Jews delivered, they would double cross them. They would tell Jews to gather in town square for a census, and leave their houses unlocked, and anybody not complying will be shot. Then when they gathered, they would deport them, or begin an action. The Jews would have been better off staying home. (It just made the Nazis life easier.) Other times they would tell Jews if they worked, they would be treated better, and kept alive. The Jews obeyed, and after getting free labor, they would be shot anyway. Other times they were told if they became Kapos, and ratted out their fellow Jews, then they would be safe. But in the endm they were killed, anyway. At the gas chambers, they were told to leave their clothes and valuables, just for a shower, but then after being gassed, this only made it easier for the Nazis to take their property.
I therefore submit, that after paying ransom, as Rav Weiismandl proposed, the Nazis would, as always, simply take the money, use it to replenish their ammo, and kill even more Jews than before. I do not see how one could make any deal with the Nazis. One can’t cast aspersions on any segment of Jewry for rejecting a plan such as this, and refusing to support it with Jewish money, when there is every chance it would backfire and lead to an even greater loss of lives, and would be throwing out sorely needed funds down the drain.
To #93
90, 59, 68, 71, 43, and 37, they are of the small minority that came to the US and remained frum. I would however challenge you to prove that 90% of your 3rd and 4th cousins are frum as well. If yes you must be of the same family.
46
Its better to die as a Jew than live as a Goy
#93
Poland was in trouble before the war, there was a lot of assimilation. Zionism was all the rage as well.
However, in comparison with America, Poland was by far safer.