Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Today in Jewish History


Today in Jewish History
Satmar Rebbe Rescued (1944)

The Satmar Rebbe, Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum (1887-1979), was rescued from the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, along with 1,368 other Jews, through the efforts of Rudulf Kastner, head of the Zionist rescue operation in Hungary (an earlier transport of 1,686 Jews had been rescued on Av 29). The Satmar community celebrates the 21st of Kislev as a day of thanksgiving.

From Chabad.Org

The Lubavitcher Rebbe saw fit to mention this fact (the Kastner train) when in 1967 Satmar condemned the Rebbe for saying that the victory of the Six-Day-War was a Neis Min Hashomayim. The Loshen was something to the effect of "He was rescued by Kastner and they make a Seudah till today in Williamsburg!"

Satmar has completely removed Kastner's name from the rescue efforts, effectively telling the new generations that the Rebbe was rescued by a mysterious train, but not saying much more. Recently a new book claimed that Kastner rescued the Satmar Rebbe because his mother came to him in a dream and told him to include the Rebbe on the train, so he effectively had no choice. I'm just not quite sure how that changes the end result...

So we have Yud Tes - Chof in Lubavitch, Chof in Chaim Berlin is RYH's Yohrtzeit, and Chof Alef is the Satmar Chag HaGeulah. The Leytzim say that Chassidus has 2 days to celebrate, Yud Tes and Chof, because on Chof Alef Iz Sheyn Nishtakchoh Teyras HaBesh"t.....

More on the "Kastner train"

7 comments:

  1. What Kastner is remembered for by the rest of us (from the same article):

    Kastner trial
    The transport played a major role in the Kastner trial in Israel in 1954, in which the government of Israel sued Malchiel Gruenwald, a hotelier, an amateur journalist and stamp collector, for libel after he self-published a pamphlet charging Kastner, by then an Israeli government minister, with collaboration. A major detail of Greenwald's allegations was that Kastner had agreed to the rescue in return for agreeing to keep silent on the fate of the mass of Hungarian Jews [over 600,000 Kedoshim! -CR] who were being transported to Auschwitz. This accusation was accepted by the court, leading Judge Halevy to declare that Kastner had "sold his soul to the devil." In 1958, most of the ruling was overturned by the Supreme Court of Israel, but not before Kastner had been assassinated. The issue remains the subject of heated debate.

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  2. Oy, Hirshel, we dont talk much about those involved in saving the Rebbe either...

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  3. to Camp
    Tom Segev in his book the 7th Million designated a good few chapter on the Kastner subject, but as expected he is from the isreali left that would do anything sensational, against the established versions of history.

    to Vos Redsti
    Please air it out, if you have anything legit. You are not getting it, Reb Yoel built a theology of hate based on miracles of reshoim that happened to Klal Yisroel, when he celebraed his own miracle that isn't much different.

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  4. and that, Tzig, is hilarious!

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  5. what's up with you people, why the shorthand and code talk here?

    HMMM: what's hilarious?

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  6. I think the Rebbe's remarks about Kasztner having a hand in saving the Satmar Ruv were made after Entebbe.

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  7. Qhy does Lubavitch hate Satmar so much?

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