“Our God is able to deliver us from the firey furnace, but even if He does not….we will not serve your gods.”BY PAT MERCER HUTCHENS—
When Lili Jacobs accidently discovered the Auschwitz Album at the close of WWII, the very first person she saw when she looked inside was Rabbi Naftali Zvi Weiss, the chief rabbi of Bilke, her Rabbi from her home town. He is the man on the left in this painting. The man on the right is not yet identified but obviously is a fellow orthodox Jew. These spiritual leaders of Zion would quickly have their beards and payot chopped off by the Nazis and their hats removed – just for sport – to bring more humiliation and shame a few minutes before they were murdered. I was struck by the Yellow Star on the Rabbi’s jacket; it actually appears to be cringing.
Here is a summary of segments from James Michner’s book, Poland, which describes the “processing” of Jews at these killing camps.
Prisoners who could not negotiate marching were shot. Others who talked in ranks were clubbed with rifle butts….than all Jews were separated and herded to a low stone building marked “Bath House.” They were ordered to undress and enter. Nineteen minutes after a batch of Jews were gassed in the so-called bathhouse. Flatbed trucks with shallow sides edged forward on the other side, where Gestapo men in gas masks tossed dead naked bodies through small doors and still other men took them head and feet, tossing them into waiting trucks which drove to another solidly built structure, the crematorium. One by one the dead bodies were carried inside and crammed into ovens with gaping mouths awaiting them. The entrance door was then locked shut with heavy metal clamps, elegantly designed, and the fierce heat was allowed to do its job. When only ashes and bones remained the doors were opened and the ashes were removed by prisoners using long handled shovels. Less than an hour after a Jew arrived at the Camp, he could be fertilizer headed to a collection dump outside the electrified wire walls.
Click Here to make a donation and request your copy of this print, Rabbi Naftali Zvi Weiss, Chief Rabbi of Bilke.
Find out more about The Auschwitz Album Revisited and see many of Pat’s prints we have available.