Boy Rescued Torah from Nazis

By COLlive reporter
Photos by Mendy Moscowitz

On the night of November 9, 1938, amid the deafening sounds of gunshots, the smashing of glass, and the cries of a mob rioting and looting the Jewish Quarter, one Jewish boy took a stand.

During this series of coordinated deadly attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and Austria, known as Kristallnacht, 14-year-old Isaac Schwartz risked his life to douse a bonfire full of Torah scrolls, shawls, prayer books, and other Jewish artifacts.

From the fire which Nazi soldiers had set aflame in a city square in Hamburg, Schwartz managed to rescue a single Torah scroll.

78 years later, that scroll was rededicated in a special celebration at the National Jewish Retreat which took place this past summer. It was generously donated by Mr. Leonard Wein, in memory of his family who perished in the Holocaust.

Rabbis and members of the Jewish community from across North America participated in the ceremony, celebrating the self-sacrifice it represents, and the revival of Jewish life and Torah study from the ashes of the Holocaust.

The historic scroll is now being made available to Chabad centers in celebration of the revival Jewish life and Torah study across the globe.

The initiative, first report on COLlive.com during the Kinus Hashluchim, is being held in accordance of the Hakhel year of Jewish unity.

To bring this historic Torah to your Chabad House for an inspirational Shabbos or for a weekday Torah workshop, contact [email protected].

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