Originally a 1999 "Jewish Observer" essay, reprinted in "A Path Through the Ashes" published by Artscroll. See a different, abridged version by Mrs. Shira Schmidt at:
http://www.cross-currents.com/archives/2007/09/10/sounding-the-shofar-in-auschwitz/
the chazzan for kol nidrei that year in Auschwitz (just became bar mitzvah) was the shamas (was more than just a plain caretaker) at Talmud torah of Flatbush on coney island avenue for many years, into the 1990s.
ReplyDeleteקודש קדשים.
ReplyDeleteThese were holy boys whose story should never be forgotten.
Thank you Rav Bechhofer for translating and sharing this trenchant account from the deepest pit of גהינום, and yet, at the same time, from the Kodesh haKodoshim.
Shmuel Burstein