From Bergen-Belsen to Outer Space: The Incredible Journey of Ilan Ramon’s Tiny Torah Scroll

In the documentary “Scrolls of Hope”, directed by Jewish filmmaker Daniel Cohen, the remarkable story of the tiny Torah scroll carried by Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon aboard the Columbia space shuttle is brought to life — a story that connects the horrors of the Holocaust with the heights of space exploration.

It all began when Ramon visited the home of Professor Joachim Joseph, one of the world’s leading climatologists and the scientist who initiated the Israeli experiment that NASA selected for the mission. During one of their meetings, Ramon noticed a small wooden box on the professor’s bookshelf and asked about it. The question led Joseph to share the extraordinary and emotional story behind it.

As a child during the Holocaust, Joachim Joseph was separated from his parents when the Nazis invaded Holland and was deported to Bergen-Belsen. There, he met Rabbi Simon Dasberg, the Chief Rabbi of the Netherlands, who fearlessly prayed even in the crematoria for the souls of murdered Jews. When the rabbi learned that the boy’s bar mitzvah was approaching, he decided to hold a secret bar mitzvah ceremony inside the concentration camp.

Each morning, at 4:00 a.m., the rabbi would wake the boy so they could prepare together. When the day finally came, the prisoners covered the windows with blankets to hide the light. Just as young Joachim was about to read from the Torah, there was a sudden knock on the door — it was his mother, miraculously smuggled in from a nearby death camp. Amid tears and awe, the boy read his haftarah, delivered a short sermon, and received a small piece of chocolate from one of the inmates. Then Rabbi Dasberg presented him with an even greater gift: “I want to give you this Torah scroll,” the rabbi said. “I don’t think I’ll survive this place. Keep it safe, and one day, tell the world what happened here.”

Looking into the rabbi’s eyes, the boy replied simply: “I promise.”
Rabbi Dasberg was murdered in February 1945, just two days after his wife.

Decades later, that tiny Torah scroll remained with Professor Joseph throughout his life. When Ilan Ramon visited his home and heard the story, he was deeply moved and asked permission to take the Torah with him into space.

During his mission, Ramon proudly told the world about the scroll, calling it a symbol of the Jewish people’s eternal faith and survival. He showed it to his fellow astronauts and even displayed it during a live press conference from orbit, in which he spoke with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Through this act, Professor Joseph finally fulfilled the promise he had made to his rabbi in Bergen-Belsen — to ensure that the story of faith, courage, and continuity would be told for generations.

From the ashes of the Holocaust to the stars above — the Torah of Bergen-Belsen became a scroll of hope.