Bryan Mark Rigg - The Rabbi Saved by Hitlers Soldiers: Rebbe Joseph Isaac Schneersohn and His Astonishing Rescue

Advance praise for
The Rabbi Saved by Hitlers Soldiers

Riggs meticulously researched account of the wartime rescue of a Hasidic rabbi by German officers, working secretly with US intelligence, is a revealing look at the intricacies of diplomatic maneuverings and the complex, sometimes contradictory motivations of human actors.

Sue Fishkoff, author of The Rebbes Army: Inside the World of Chabad-Lubavitch

Rigg details one of the most interesting rescue operations of World War II. It is a complex tale with a fascinating cast of... characters, told against the tragic backdrop of World War II and the Holocaust. Rigg demonstrates not only a mastery of the politics and military operations involved but also a deep understanding of Jewish history and theology. This book is a must-read for students of Jewish history as well as the history of the Nazi regime.

Richard L. DiNardo, author of Germany and the Axis Powers: From Coalition to Collapse

With all the death, pain, indifference, misery, suffering, and anguish associated with the great crime of the Holocaust, it is refreshing to see that there were people (from both sides) who were still able to exhibit humanity and work successfully to save human beings. This story adds names to similar heroic legacies such as Schindler, Sugihara, Winton, Fry, and Wallenberg.

Dr. Rick Halperin, director, Embrey Human Rights Program, Southern Methodist University

Rigg has written a profoundly challenging book that exposes the ethical malaise that underlies modern society and its institutions. It deserves to be read as a warning of the danger humanity faces when the sanctity of the individual is sacrificed to either religious fanaticism or blind obedience to secular institutions.

Alexander B. Rossino, research historian at the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Rigg has written another compelling book on the Holocaustpart action thriller and part indictment. Rigg not only narrates the incredible story of the rescue of the Lubavitcher Rebbe from almost certain death in wartime Poland, but also probes the Rebbes much more problematic post-rescue role. Certain to generate controversy, his work demands to be read.

Robert M. Citino, author of The Wehrmacht Retreats: Fighting a Lost War, 1943

In itself a remarkable story of rescueafter all, Nazis aiding the escape of Jews from German-occupied Poland in cooperation with American authorities during a time of deep isolationism [reveals] complex motivations, on all sides, behind this mission. Thoroughly researched, detailed yet accessible, Riggs book shows that, under certain circumstances and with much persistence, rescue efforts could be successfula fascinating read and a timely reminder of the importance of choice and human agency in history.

Stephen G. Fritz, author of Ostkrieg: Hitlers War of Extermination in the East

A fascinating study that expertly explores the roles of religious belief, political intrigue, racial prejudice, and the complexity of individual motivation in the incredible rescue of a Jewish mystic by German military intelligence officers from occupied Poland in 1940. A work that, more importantly, places this improbable rescue in the broader context of Jewish experience, the Holocaust, and US government policy during World War II.

Edward B. Westermann, author of Hitlers Police Battalions: Enforcing Racial War in the East

A fascinating and superbly written book. Riggs excellent research and brilliant storytelling make this work a great read.

General Anthony C. Zinni, USMC

The Rabbi Saved
by Hitlers Soldiers

modern war studies

Theodore A. Wilson

General Editor

Raymond Callahan

Jacob W. Kipp

Allan R. Millett

Carol Reardon

Dennis Showalter

David R. Stone

James H. Willbanks

Series Editors

The Rabbi Saved
by Hitlers Soldiers

Rebbe Joseph Isaac Schneersohn and
His Astonishing Rescue

Bryan Mark Rigg

university press of kansas

2016 by the University Press of Kansas
All rights reserved

Published by the University Press of Kansas (Lawrence, Kansas 66045), which was organized by the Kansas Board of Regents and is operated and funded by Emporia State University, Fort Hays State University, Kansas State University, Pittsburg State University, the University of Kansas, and Wichita State University.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Rigg, Bryan Mark, 1971 author.
Title: The Rabbi saved by Hitlers soldiers : Rebbe Joseph Isaac Schneersohn and his astonishing rescue / Bryan Mark Rigg.
Description: Lawrence : University Press of Kansas, [2016] | Series: Modern war studies | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016020351
ISBN 9780700622610 (hardback)
ISBN 9780700622627 (paperback)
ISBN 9780700622634 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Schneersohn, Joseph Isaac, 18801950. | RabbisPolandBiography. | HasidimPolandBiography. | HabadPolandHistory20th century. | Holocaust, Jewish (19391945)Poland. | World War, 19391945JewsRescuePolandWarsaw. | BISAC: HISTORY / Military / World War II. | SOCIAL SCIENCE / Jewish Studies.
Classification: LCC BM755.S285 R53 2016 | DDC 940.53/18092 [B] dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016020351

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data is available.

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

The paper used in this publication is recycled and contains 30 percent postconsumer waste. It is acid free and meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials z39.48-1992.

Dedicated to my children: Sophia, Justin, and Ian.
They are my life.

Also dedicated to the late Christopher Hitchens ( 1949 2011 ),
a fighter for human rights.

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
Edmund Burke

[The Lord] said to Cain, Where is Abel your brother? And he said, I do not know. Am I my brothers keeper? Then He said, What have you done? The sound of your brothers bloods, they cry out to Me from the ground! (Genesis :). Many rabbinical scholars claim that this Bible story is used to declare a major tenet of Judaism: if you save a life, you save a world, but if you kill a life, you kill a world. When God claimed to Cain that the bloods cry out from the ground from his murdered brother Abel, He is stating that not only did Cain kill his brother, but he also killed his children, his grandchildren, his great-grandchildren, etc. In other words, he killed a world. Perhaps we should contemplate how many worlds will die today across this globe because we chose not to do enough.

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

A personal word: About twenty years ago I was invited to speak on the Holocaust at Yale Universitys Slifka Center. After the speech a well-groomed and incredibly polite student came up to me and asked if I would read his senior thesis. I agreed, and he sent me the work on Wehrmacht soldiers who were of partially Jewish origin. As defined by the Nuremberg laws of 1935 , they were Mischlinge, mixed breeds or mongrels, who faced persecution because they were of Jewish and Aryan ancestry; their Jewish parents and Jewish grandparents were often subjected not only to persecution but also to deportation and even annihilation because they were considered Jews by the state. Yet these men continued to serve in the German army, loyally, bravely, even heroically. Their superiors, some of whom were deeply anti-Semitic, often protected them. The material in the thesis was fascinating; the young student was indefatigable. I found him to be an archives rat, which I meant as a compliment: he could ferret out valuable information from archive after archive. If it was there, he would find it.