Children and Youth School Project Grant |
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We are happy to share the exciting news that BJPC has received a grant from the Community Organization in Bardejov, Slovakia which will be used for a School Project aiming to engage young people in conversations about common misperceptions, and to highlight how these misperceptions often lead to prejudice and discrimination.
The program introduces high school students in Slovakia to the foundational tenets of Judaism as well as a history of the Jewish community in the region. In so doing, the program will expose misperceptions about the Jewish community and point toward meaningful ways to learn about groups that are different from oneself.
This year, on the 27th of January, we pay tribute to the memory of the victims of the Holocaust and reaffirm our organization’s commitment to educate young generations about the dangers of antisemitism, racism, and other forms of intolerance that may lead to group-targeted violence. The date marks the 76th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau by Soviet troops on January 27th, 1945. Our mission, translated to the new project created for high school students, should help us carry on the legacy of the members of Bardejov’s Jewish community and tell the stories of those who were targeted by the Nazi regime.
More information about this exciting new opportunity will be shared soon.
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Name Tablets inside the Bardejov Holocaust Memorial show a reflection of the Jewish Suburbia, 2020 |
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Bardejov Means the World:
"The Typhoid Rescue Plan"
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In times of injustice, it takes a special kind of human being to have the courage to stand up for others around them being mistreated. In the history of Jewish Bardejov, there are many stories of survival that were possible only by the kindness and determination of others to do good. One of those stories is perhaps one of the most unique in the history of Slovakia and Europe, it was “The Typhoid Rescue Plan” orchestrated by Rudolf Löwy and Drs. Mikulas Atlas and Jakub Grosswirth.
Rudolph Löwy, president of Bardejov’s Jewish community, was instrumental in aiding this plot to stall the transportation of young women from Bardejov. Löwy constantly fought against violence towards Jews, helped obtain exemptions, looked for suitable Aryanizators and administrators, collected funds to help persecuted people and led the religious life of the community. In May 1941, the district office marked him as a rebel who would use any suitable opportunity against the Slovak government.
Mr. Löwy was among the first to learn of the plan to deport young girls on the first trains. Distressed, he initially proposed that Jews gather gasoline and diesel fuel and burn the entire city, as if to meet the inimitable final words of the Biblical Samson quoted in the Book of Judges: “Let my soul die with the Philistines!” However, Mr. Löwy knew that violence and destruction was not the answer. Instead, he developed a unique rescue plan, untried elsewhere in Slovakia or in Europe.
Taking advantage of the Germans’ fear of contagious diseases, he secretly met with doctors Mikulas Atlas and Jakub Grosswirth and together they decided they would inoculate some Jewish girls from Bardejov with a double dose of anti-typhoid serum which Löwy secured from Kosice. These brave girls risked their health and the rescuers their lives. The plan worked. The girls started showing signs of the disease and it looked like an epidemic had broken out in town. Predictably, the authorities quarantined Bardejov and imposed a compulsory revaccination of the population, therefore cancelling the deportation (German soldiers were warned to stay out of areas that had disease, especially typhus). More importantly, the “infected” girls who were saved from deportation were released from the Jewish school where they were held, the girls were able to get safely away before the deportations began in April, and some fled to Hungary or to the surrounding woods. Pictured here is the original letter of the Bardejov District indefinitely postponing deportation due to a typhoid outbreak, (1942).
It is stories like this that will inspire current and future generations to stand up in the face of adversity and fight for what is right. It will remind us that there is always kindness and good in the world if we choose to see it.
"In the long run, the sharpest weapon of all is a kind and gentle spirit" – Anne Frank
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Sketches of Jewish Heritage:
"The Kindness of Others"
by Rabbi Ira Grussgott
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Samuel Grussgott was the officially appointed head teacher of Jewish Studies for the Public Schools in Bardejov. He was born in Chynadiyavo, Ukraine and emigrated to Bardejov, the hometown of his wife, Rifka (Rebeka) nee Friedman. There they had 5 children – Nusan Nute (Nátan), Avrum Leizer (Abrahám), Yitta (Ida), Sura (Serena) and Chaya (Helena) – all born & raised in Bardejov. When the war started, they were issued an exemption and were not deported.
Around May 1944, Samuel moved to Zlaté Moravce in the Western sector of Slovakia with his sons Avrum Leizer (pictured here) and Nusan Nute. When the Soviet Army was nearing the Eastern sector, Avrum Leizer decided to return to Bardejov using forged papers he received from Zalman Leib Unger. His father and brother decided to stay longer and then proceed south into Hungary. This decision, in retrospect, was like moving out of the frying pan, into the fire-in.
Back in Bardejov, Avrum Leizer went into hiding and stayed there until September 1944. This is when the last remaining Jews were deported and went to Hrabske where Dr. Weiss and her husband were hiding. However, in mid-November, some of the local villagers informed the police of their whereabouts and they were caught and taken to jail in Bardejov, and from there to Presov. On the fourth day of their imprisonment, they were able to escape with the help of police officer Adam Bomba and the postman Josef Kisely, both Righteous Gentiles in Bardejov (whose children were honored in Bardejov in 2012). Avrum Leizer was able to return to Bardejov and go into hiding once more.
Meanwhile, Samuel, Rifka, Yitta, Sura, and Chaya were eventually deported. They had been using forged papers that Samuel had hoped would keep them safe, but on December 20, 1944 (November, according to Gregorian reckoning), Samuel was caught and imprisoned in Bystrica. He perished days later, but not before writing out a will that a guard smuggled out and gave to his son Nusan Nute. Rifka died neglected and infirm in a hospital in Budapest. Their three little daughters – Yitta, Sura, and Chaya – were deported to Auschwitz and also perished there. Miraculously, Avrum Leizer and Nusan Nute both survived.
After the war Nusan Nute emigrated to Israel where he was incredibly and tragically run over by a bus. He died in that fatal accident in Tel Aviv in 1947 and was buried in Ramat Gan’s famous cemetery, subsequently occupied by IDF Soldiers killed in Israel’s War of Independence. Found in the pocket of his jacket was the will his father had written before he perished. This will was published in several books – not least of which was our own Bardejov Memorial Book.
Avrum Leizer was one of only seven Jews to emerge from the cellars in Bardejov on the eve of liberation, January 19-20, 1945. The others were Mr. and Mrs. Abraham Kurtz, Zalman Leib Unger, Eta Abrahamowitz, Leibish Friedman, and Moishe Neuman. From a town that in its heyday housed five thousand plus Jews, seven emerged crawling out, barely alive from a cellar.
Avrum Leizer spent time after the war collecting documents, photos, and other materials that were compiled into a tribute book for Jewish Bardejov’s lost community – “Bardejov Remembered:” A Memorial to the Jewish Community of Bardejov, Czechoslovakia 1734-1945, self-published in 1988. In the 2nd edition from 1998 were dozens of photos of anonymous faces who were subsequently identified. His father’s will is a part of this tribute book as well. Avrum Leizer emigrated to the United States in 1946 to link up with his Uncle Moshe – his sole surviving family member. Moshe had married Yitta Neugroshl Friedman, another Bardejov born survivor. There he met Yitta’s sixteen-year-old daughter, Nelly, born to Yitta and Yitzchok – her previous husband killed in the War. Two years later they were married in New York City where Avrum Leizer & Nelly raised their four children, Rebecca (Rifka Miriam), Ira (Yitzchok Shmuel), Martin (Mordkha Nuta), Dina (Dina Sura), all named after families living in Bardejov and perishing there.
Avrum Leizer passed away in 2003.
This story highlights the bravery that was displayed in helping the Grussgotts and other families escape from imprisonment and death. At a time when the majority of the Slovak population—through fear, ignorance, apathy, or collaboration—stood silent, allowing the tragedies of the Holocaust to occur, a few citizens, such as Adam Bomba and Josef Kisely in acts of self-sacrifice and bravery, provided assistance for the survival and protection of Jews and Jewish places. Messrs. Bomba and Kisely are one of 7 “Righteous of Bardejov” who have been recognized for their valiant actions during the war. These seven enabled those other seven to survive. And more. Without their “magnificent” help, many more souls would undoubtedly have been lost.
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Do you have a story about Bardejov’s Heritage that you’d like to sketch for us?
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The Rudolf Löwy and Róza Dershowitz Family |
Rudolf, also well known as Refuel, was an operator and head of the Jewish Community of Bardejov. He was born in Slovenské Raslavice and his wife was born in Tylicz, Poland. Their son Benjamín was born in Budapest, Hungary. The family, including son Nátan, lived on Hlinkovo Square. The family was issued an exemption and they were not deported, with the exception of Refuel who was considered to be a troublemaker and was deported on April 27, 1942, to Žilina. A letter from the Hlinkova Garda stated that “the removal of Löwy is as precious as the removal of a thousand Jews.” Refuel was instrumental in aiding in a plot to stall the transportation of young women from Bardejov known as "The Typhoid Rescue Plan". Two days after he was taken, on April 29, 1942, Refuel was sent to Auschwitz where he was held as a political prisoner. He perished on June 3, 1942, after weeks of torture. In 1944 Róza, Nátan, and Benjamín left Bardejov for Nové Mesto nad Váhom. Róza and Nátan perished and Benjamín survived. |
On right: Rosa Lowy nee Dereshowitz, wife of Rudolf (Refuel) Lowy, mother of Benjamin. |
You may read more about Bardejov's Jewish families in our Memorial Book of Jewish Bardejov |
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Don't forget to send us your photos and documents for inclusion in our new publication! We are slowly narrowing down our selections for the book and would love to receive any more submissions before making our final decisions.
If you have any photos or documents relevant to our work that you’d like to share, please reply to this email or call us at 626-773-8808.
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Our mission is to preserve Bardejov’s Jewish Heritage, memorialize and honor Bardejov Holocaust victims, and conduct educational outreach to school and community groups to teach tolerance and diversity. The Bardejov Jewish Preservation Committee relies on on the support of generous individuals like you. Please consider a donation today.
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If you have any friends, or know of someone who may be interested in our organization, please invite them to fill out our mailing list request form so that they can receive updates and information from us.
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