Born
1924 in Satoraljaujhely, Hungary. Details about town: Torah scholars, congregations,
charitable institutions, schools. Parents' home. Attitude of Hungarians to Jews.
Youth movements. Germans enter Hungary, March 19, 1944. Ghetto established. Deported
to Auschwitz. Chopping down trees in Kittlitzstreben camp. Russians approach weak
people remain in camp, stronger ones taken on march. Liberated by Russians. In
Heinau. Russians' attitude to liberated people. Lignitz camp for Slovaks. 28 Hungarian
SS men seized in Lignitz. Vicissitudes on way to Hungary. In Satoraljaujhely and
Budapest. First Zionist training camp in Hungary. Persuading Jews to go to Eretz
Yisrael. Set out for Eretz Yisrael via Austria. In infirmary in Gnadenwald and
Italy. From Venice by ship to Eretz Yisrael. Deported to Cyprus detention camp.
Liberated. To Eretz Yisrael on s.s. Galila. Conversation
with the Almighty The Lageraeltester at Kittlitzstreben was a convicted
German criminal. You can well imagine how a person serving time for murdering
his wife and two little children treated Jews. When he got into one of his sadistic
moods, he would grab the first Jew unlucky enough to happen his way and beat him
unconscious with his club. He would then pour water on him, reviving him, and
then again beat him unconscious, again pour water on him, and again beat him.
More than once I saw Jews die from the man's beatings. When he caught a Jew praying
he would lay into him with his club. "You got nobody to believe in!"
he would scream. "You got nobody to depend on! We're the lords and masters
here!" At Kittlitzstreben I worked at chopping down trees in the forest.
We walked about an hour to the forest and about an hour back to camp. I used the
time to say the prayers I knew by heart: the Kriat Shma, Shmoneh Essray. Then
I usually carried on a conversation with the Blessed Holy One. I asked the
Blessed Holy One: "Tell me, what did we do to deserve this? What is our sin?
How are we worse than any other nation? Is it because we wouldn't go to Eretz
Yisrael?" And I told the Blessed Holy One the story about the Rebbe of Koznitz,
who said: Because we don't know how to pray right. The Rebbe related:The
Russian Tsar was waging a war against an enemy, and the Crown Prince was participating
in that war. A soldier saw an enemy coming with his sword drawn to kill the Crown
Prince, and he jumped in front of the horse and chased him away. The enemy's sword
missed the mark and the Crown Prince was saved. The Tsar summoned the soldier
and said to him: "Listen, soldier, you saved the Crown Prince's life. Ask
for whatever you want and I'll give it to you." The soldier said: "I'm
in Battalion X. The battalion commander is a bad man. Couldn't you please transfer
him to another battalion?" The Tsar said: "You fool! Why don't you ask
me to transfer you to another place and make you commander?" It's the same
with us Jews. We are always praying to God to move us from one king to another:
if there is a country that has a good king, move us to that country. We don't
know how to pray right that is our problem: we don't pray for the Redemption.
Is that why we've got all this coming to us? Do you mean to say, Master of the
Universe, that ours is the worst generation ever? Do we really deserve such treatment,
Master of the Universe? What is it You want? Do You want to exterminate the Jewish
People? Now I'm talking about myself. I'm not asking You, Master of the Universe,
to satiate me with food. All I ask is that You bring us the Redemption. I'm not
asking You to give me easier work. Just give me the strength to bear it!! That's
all I ask." That was my daily prayer: "May our eyes behold Your
merciful return to Zion;" and: "Return us to You and we will return;
renew our days as of old;" and: " Guardian of Israel, save the remnant
of Israel." Prayer from the heart. Saying those prayers today isn't as meaningful
as it was then. Only Jews in such a dire predicament can fully appreciate their
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