A Journey of Survival: The Rescue of the Belz Rebbe

Rabbi Aharon Rokeach, of blessed memory, the fourth Rebbe of the Belz Hasidic dynasty, was among the most significant and renowned spiritual leaders in Poland between the world wars.

About two weeks after the outbreak of World War II, the town of Belz in Poland was occupied by Nazi Germany. Following the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, signed between the German and Russian foreign ministers, Poland was divided between these two powers for ten years, with the town of Belz coming under Russian atheist control.

Due to the Russian domination, the Belz community feared the communist regime would threaten the Rebbe's life. The Rebbe fled with his brother, Rabbi Mordechai Rokeach of Bilgoray, to nearby towns under German control.

(Belz. Photo: Shutterstock)

To escape the Russians and Nazis, the Rebbe traveled through many towns around Belz: Sokal, Przemysl. With his photo published in the German newspaper 'Der Stuermer', the Nazis began searching for him to assassinate him.

After Operation Barbarossa, during which the Nazis took eastern Poland from the Russians, they burned the synagogue in Przemysl, where the Rebbe was hiding. Tragically, his son and much of his family perished in the fire.

The Rebbe managed to escape the Nazis with his brother to the Krakow area, where they lived for about seven months under assumed identities in the Wisnitsa ghetto. When the Jews of Wisnitsa were being sent to extermination camps, the Rebbe and his brother moved to the Krakow ghetto, where they hid for about five months. Despite supposedly being in hiding, many of his followers continued to seek him out.

Rebbe

In a special operation, the Nazis infamously liquidated the Krakow ghetto, forcing the Rebbe and his brother to flee to the Bochnia ghetto, where the Rebbe concealed his identity as "Aharon Singer". In the Bochnia labor camp, the Rebbe and his brother worked as tailors. Fearing the Nazis would kill the Rebbe, he and his brother escaped to Budapest, the Hungarian capital, in a complex operation facilitated by a Polish officer and Hungarian security official.

Upon reaching Hungary, the Rebbe was placed under house arrest, and his brother was temporarily imprisoned at the Jewish hospital. Hungary served as a safe haven for Europe's Jews, and there, the Rebbe actively worked to save Polish Jews. For about half a year, he reached out worldwide to seek assistance in escaping Europe for the Holy Land.

The Rebbe and his brother finally fled Hungary to Israel, in a long journey spanning Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, and Lebanon. On the ninth of Shevat, 1944, they arrived in Israel, continuing the legacy of the Belz community in the Holy Land.

Just two months after the Rebbe escaped Hungary, the Nazis invaded and began deporting Hungarian Jews to the Auschwitz concentration camp. During this horrific period, about 5,000 Jews were sent daily to Auschwitz, and by the end of the Holocaust, roughly half a million Hungarian Jews were murdered.

Today, Belz is considered one of the world's five largest Hasidic communities, with thousands of followers worldwide.

(Belz Hasidic community today. Photo: Flash 90)