A postcard with a previously unknown photo of the Belzer Rebbe parting from his chassidim at a train station in Marienbad during the Holocaust was recently discovered.
The postcard, which has a Nazi postmark comprised of two swastikas and a German Reich stamp, was sent to a Nazi soldier serving in the Air Force in 1939, with a messaged typed on the back: “Allow me to send you warm greetings from Marienbad.” The signature is handwritten.
Marienbad, a spa town currently part of the Czech Republic, had a small Jewish community of 450 Jews in the 1930s and was a popular health spa destination for Jewish visitors. In 1937, the third Kennesia HaGedolah of the Agudas Yisroel was held in the town.
A local German photographer, Hans Lampalzer, who regularly photographed the rabbis who lived in or visited the town, snapped the photo of the fourth Belzer Rebbe, Rav Aharon Rokeach (1880 – 1957).
A photo of the Belzer Rebbe was sent as a postcard to a Nazi soldier https://t.co/KcCrOOv9dt pic.twitter.com/arLkd711lx
— JTA | Jewish news (@JTAnews) November 13, 2019
Although the image of the Belzer Rebbe at the train station is known through other postcards bearing photos by Lampalzer, this particular image was unknown and is a rare discovery.
Some of Lampalzer’s photos were published in Der Stürmer, a virulently anti-Semitic tabloid-style newspaper published by Julius Streicher, a member of the Nazi party and one of Hitler’s earliest followers. Der Stürmer played a central role in the Nazi propaganda war against the Jews.
When Marienbad – as part of the Sudeten Region – was annexed to Nazi Germany during the Sudeten Crisis in 1938, most of the town’s Jews left and those who didn’t were ultimately arrested by the Nazis. The local shul was burned down and the area was converted into a park.
The Belzer Rebbe was smuggled out of Europe during the Holocaust with the help of his chassidim, ultimately arriving in Eretz Yisrael. Unfortunately, he was left bereft of his entire family – his wife, children and grandchildren were killed by the Nazis.
The postcard will be auctioned by the Kedem Auction House in Jerusalem.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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7 Responses
I would think this photo was taken in 1937, before the war actually broke out in September of 1939.
Can Anybody name any of the other people in the picture?
A postcard with a previously unknown photo of the Belzer Rebbe parting from his chassidim at a train station in Marienbad during the Holocaust was recently discovered.
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Anyone who knows anything about the holocaust would realize that this picture could not have been taken during the holocaust.
it had to be couple of years before world war two
This is not an unknown picture. It’s been published many times in Belzer publications in this exact version.
The Belzer Rebbes son R’ Moishele HyD can be seen in the window to the left of the rebbe. The Gabboim R’ Aaron Yeshia Landau and R Yossele Yarotchover HyD are also seen in the windows along with Mr Leitner – the owner of the hotel where the Rebbe stayed. He would accompany the Rebbe for a few stops before heading back.
I guess I don’t know enough about the Holocaust. Can you explain why this picture must have been taken a few years prior?
So Chugibugi, Kristalnacht which took place in Novemeber 1938 and the Nuremburg laws of 1935 were not part of the Holocaust?
1. It was a picture postcard. In the late 19th and most of the 20th century they were routinely produced especially in tourist areas for individuals to write a short note and send to friends and families to show where they were. It was not a photograph, but rather a mass-produced postcard with a photograph printed on one side. Apparently the Rebbe was perceived as a tourist attraction at the time.
2. Without more knowledge of their identities, it would be wrong to call the sender or receivers “Nazis”. The fact that that he picked a “nice” photo of Jews suggests the sender and recipient were not especially anti-Jewish, and sending the card might a few years later had gotten them in serious difficulties. There were anti-semitic postcards available.