Cleveland, OH – Jewish Woman Talks About Kasztner Who Saved Her Life

    84

    Nearly 1,700 Hungarian Jews rode Kasztner’s train to safety in Switzerland, where a group of them posed for this photo. PHOTO/COURTESY IRENE GROSSMANCleavland, OH – Among those survivors who credit Rezso Kasztner with saving her life is Cleveland Heights resident Anna Halberstam Rubin.

    Join our WhatsApp group

    Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email


    Born and raised in Slovakia, not Hungary, the site of Kasztner’s most famous rescue, Rubin counts herself lucky to have found passage aboard a truck to Switzerland. Kasztner arranged that transport, and for parts of the journey, he accompanied his fellow Jews.

    At the time of World War II, Slovakia separated itself from the Czechoslovak Republic and created its own fascist state, says Rubin. “Slovaks did the dirty work for the Nazis. Jews were stripped of property, their livelihood, their homes and their lives.”

    In March 1942, to avoid the round-up of Jewish teens for deportation, Rubin’s parents sent her to a different community where they had relatives. Not registered in this other town, Rubin was thought to be safe from deportation.

    After a short time, Rubin tried to return home but ended up in another community where her grandparents lived. There, she learned her parents had already been deported. So Rubin and her grandparents crossed the border illegally into Hungary, living in hiding between 1942 and 1944.
    When the German army invaded Budapest, Rubin returned to Slovakia with a group of other people, thinking deportations had by then ended. For a while she was hidden by a Christian seamstress in Bratislava (now the capital of the Slovak Republic).

    In April 1945, her grandfather (her grandmother had already been caught during a raid on the synagogue during Yom Kippur services) got word to her to join him in an orchard in Bratislava, where he was hiding.

    The Christian farmer who owned the property protected the Jews, allowing them to stay in a little structure with a room and kitchen. At night they went into an underground bunker, dug beneath the small house. Dogs outside would alert them to any danger.

    “Jews were reading the Megillah (Book of Esther) in that bunker,” Rubin recalls. “I had thought I was the only Jew left in the world.”

    Read more at Cleavland Jewish News


    Listen to the VINnews podcast on:

    iTunes | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Podbean | Amazon

    Follow VINnews for Breaking News Updates


    Connect with VINnews

    Join our WhatsApp group


    84 Comments
    Most Voted
    Newest Oldest
    Inline Feedbacks
    View all comments
    Robert
    Robert
    13 years ago

    no matter what you say, at the end of the day kasztner was responsible for saving the lives of almost 2000 jews from near certain death. (including the late rabbi yoel aka the satre-mare rabbi).
    the talmud tells us that whoever saves one life is as if he saved an entire world.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    Baruch Hashem!

    Come on
    Come on
    13 years ago

    Rudolf Kastner was a Nazi collaborator. He knowingly sold the lives of HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of Hungarian Yidden for a few hundred on a train. Read Perfidy by Ben Hecht. The book is based upon actual Jerusalem Municipal Court proceedings that found Kastner’s libel suit against an old Jew, false. Meaning, that Kastner was, in fact, a Nazi collaborator. May his name forever be cursed, and may we never forget! Regardless of this “story.”

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    he was also convicted in a israeli court of colaberating with nazis as wel as testifying on behalf of a nazi war criminal in nuremberg. he himself said that it was his testimony that exonarated the nazi colonel who was later proven to have been responsible for killing the jews of hungry. instrumental in saving a couple thousand jews? no doubt. instrumental in in the deaths of 900 000 others? absolutely. proven in two diff courts of law. two thousand rights does not justify a million wrongs. yemach shemo vzichro. read Perfidy for details

    Lawrence M. Reisman
    Lawrence M. Reisman
    13 years ago

    Robert: The number was somewhere between 10,000 and 15,000. Kasztner talked Eichman into sending at least 15,000 to labor camps instead of Auschwitz. In Auschwitz, 90% of them would have died within one hour of arrival, and most of rest within months. 75% of the “Jews on Ice” survived the labor camps and the war.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    Kastner was a Zionist. On the day the Satmar Rebbe was saved they make a Yom Tov. Yet when the Zionists saved Jews in Entebbe they objected.

    It depends whom you know.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    Perfidy , by Ben Hecht is fiction , not factual .

    anonymous
    anonymous
    13 years ago

    There is a hero who nobody knowsexcept like myself know and few others.. His name is Aron Menczer A’H son of Chasidim exactly Visznicer chasidim in Vienna. He belonged to the Gordonia. He was the last head of the Sochnuth and dealt with Eichmann, yes with Eichmann. Accompanied a Youth Aliyah transport of children to Palestine and Eichmann issued him a Sichtvermerk which was a return Visa to the Ostmark. He accompanied a second transport of children from in May 1939 met his father and brother in Trieste and again returned to Vienna. He was deported to Theresienstadt/Terezin. A transport from Baranowicz of children arrived in Theresienstadt. He continued his work children and eventually volunteered to accompany the children to Auschwitz were he was gassed

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    He took MONEY from my grandfather ( A tzaddik ) in Cluj, and surrounded himself and family with Rebbes to protect them from a riot. My grandparents both died in Auschwitz, along with their two sons.

    Are we to judge who is worth saving, but he is still a lowlife collaborator

    Ephraim
    Ephraim
    13 years ago

    “He knowingly sold the lives of HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of Hungarian Yidden for a few hundred on a train.”

    You’ve got some of the details wrong. The general facts you have, but you have incorrectly identified the era and the individual involved. It wasn’t the Holocaust, it was the Churban. It wasn’t Kastner, it was Yochanan Ben Zakkai. In your words, “He knowingly sold the lives of HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of Yidden for a few scholars in Yavne.” Did he collaborate with the Romans? He wasn’t sure himself….

    Oh, by the way, Rav Michel Ber Weissmandl was a supporter of Kastner.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    Kastner the kapo testified on behalf of kurt becher who murdered many of my family. You be the judge. Because of kastner this ss officer walked free…

    MEYERKE'
    MEYERKE'
    13 years ago

    In 1978 (pre ArtScroll) Perfidy had been out of print for many years. But I was able to buy 2 copies. Where ?? In a seforim store in Williamsburg. It seems Ben Hecht’s tirade against the Zionist establishment overrode the fact he was also a Tzioni.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    Kasztner was a Nazi collaborator whom the Zionists killed just before he was going go sing about their collaboration as well.

    Dont be so quick to judge
    Dont be so quick to judge
    13 years ago

    Its very hard to judge anybody for their actions during the holocaust. We sit in our comfortable chairs and point fingers at jews who may have made terrible decisions. It is not a historic debate that Kastner could have saved more jews because of his relationship to nazi leaders. It isn’t a debate that he did save the satmar rav. It isn’t a debate that he focused on saving his family and friends. However we can’t judge him because we were not in his shoes. I’m sure a lot of posters on this website would have used their connections to get out of nazi occupied countries and not even look to help others. There are stories my bubby told me about inmates stealing bread from eachother to survive? Suffacating babies so their hiding spot won’t be discovered by soldiers. Can we judge these people? Can we even relate to these issues? Zichur nisht. Al tadin es chavero ad shetagia limikomo!

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    Before I read the comments on VIN I never knew the truth: The Nazis wouldn’t have killed the Hungarian Jews if not for Kastner. He gave them the ‘OK’ to kill 800,000 Jews. Until he gave his haskamah the Nazis didn’t dare touch even one hair on the head of a single Jew.

    anonymous
    anonymous
    13 years ago

    As a fortunate person who survived 7 years under Hitler I am astounded at the lies, gibberish and ignorant statements. The fact is nobody saved Jews or stam Yidden. The Agudah saved agudisten, the Mizrachi saved Mizrachisten and the Hashomeir saved Shomrakes and stam Yidden went to gas chambers. Just look at the Auschwitz album and you see little boys and girls waiting for the gala entry to the gas chambers , they waited until the prior transport was gassed. Yes Rebbes were saved because of rich chasidim and those could pay the price to Kastner were saved the rest went to chimney. As we were told on our arrival to Buchenwald Rein kommt ihr durch den Tor and raus geht ihr durch den Kamin. Maybe your lingusitic mavenim will give a translation. Milhouse this is one time I agree with you believe or not.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    The Brooklyn Public Library has copies of Perfidy if you want to read it. Also see the documentary “Killing Kasztner” Two opposite points of view

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    I’m flabbergasted that so people her blame Kastner, when it was Eichman with the help of the Hungarian gendarmerie who deported the Jews. This was done even while Kastner , Brand and Eichman were having conversations at the Majestic Hotel in Budapest. Tell me somebody, how was Kastnerto save 800, 000 Jews?

    shani109@aol.com
    13 years ago

    To comment #30 , where do you get your information from? That is the most ridiculous thing that was ever stated.

    shani109@aol.com
    13 years ago

    To comment #47 , he told his chassidim not to leave hungary, that no harm will befall them.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    No. 45 . If you wish to become more fluent in Hungarian, i can direct you to a few shtiblech in BP .Guaranteed .

    ST
    ST
    13 years ago

    What about Brands testimonal in court?!

    How can you say that Hecht distorted the facts, if the Judge, I think that it was Judge Halevei, said that Kastner sold his sould to the satan?!

    And if the facts in hechts book were distorded, then why was an appeal necessary?

    Kastner, sdly addmited to have DIRECTLY worked together with Eichman and his gang. It is ALL documented, and NOT out of context.

    He might get credit for the people he DID save. But if it is true, (to what he admitted to) that he had a direct hand in the Murder of the remaining Hungarian Jews,(the border was three miles away, there weren’t enough forces to take the by force) then he is a grueling bad unhuman being.

    What about the wittness that Kastner read the letters of Jews already Murdered, saying that they were relocated to a beautiful place.. Out of context?!

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    Can someone confirm that Mrs. Harberstam rubin is the granddaughter of Reb Mendele Stopkover?

    Lawrence M. Reisman
    Lawrence M. Reisman
    13 years ago

    To anonymous poster no. 37: You write that ” in the footnotes , she says that she has a notarized letter from the daughter of a Jew who wanted to warn other Jews about the death camps. The Satmar Rebbe threatened to put him in cheirim if he opened his mouth.” I read Porter’s book and have no recollection of such a footnote. In fact, I believe the Satmar Rebbe is mentioned twice. Once, he is identified as having been on the train, and once, that he refused to go to the trial to testify for Kasztner. For what its worth, my read on the Satmar rebbe and the train is that Pinchos Freudiger, the head of the Orthodox Kehillah in Budapest, put up $200,000 of the $1 million Himmler wanted for the train, and he picked 200 Jews to go on it. The Satmar rebbe was one of them. And quite frankly, I think that Freudiger was one of the few Jews that could have convinced the Satmar Rebbe to go on the train. Freudiger was a adom godol. He could have gone on the train, but chose to remain in Budapest the help the cause of hatzoloh. Only when he heard that the Arrow Cross was coming for him did he flee to Romania.

    shani109@aol.com
    13 years ago

    TO answer the question why the Satmar Rebbi left Hungary, when mounting evidence became available he left and saved himself instead of going to the gas chambers with his townspeople.

    Robert
    Robert
    13 years ago

    Sadly what i glean from many of these posts is that some of us forget that it was the evil nazi movement and their nationalist cronies ( in hungary, croatia, ukraine, lithuania etc…) who murdered the jews..

    these were unprecidented times and the mitzvah to survive is a torah commandment.. the jewish leaders were generally helpless (and often clueless) as they and the masses refused to believe the horrible truth..
    As i wrote at the beginning i for one refuse to judge any of the jews caught up in this machinery of murder.. God will do/judge and we all need to go on..

    survival is a mitzvah as i understand it,, as i understand it kastzner did not send or authorize the death of one jew despite what is suggested here..sadly the hungarians and nazis did well without him.. he saved himself and his family and others.. well i believe at least he did something..

    looking for jewish scapegoats to explain auschwitz is an ill-advised adventure.
    it takes away from the holiness of the victims and denigrates those that did survive.. I thank God i have never (and i hope never will) wastested in the ways these jews secular and religious were tested.

    AZE613
    AZE613
    13 years ago

    for all those interested in finding out more about the role of Kasztner, and many others involved with the Kasztner train, you can now find a wealth of documented information in a 700-plus page book entitled “Beyond Redemption?” and subtitled “The Nazi Colonel who saved Jews and plundered their wealth” by Harold Serebro, first published in 2007 in South Africa, and now available in the US, in selected Jewish bookstores such as Eichlers in Brooklyn.
    also included, as one of the appendix at the back of this book, is the only recorded list of all the passengers on the train according to their country of origin.