Holocaust Hero (Softcover)

One of the most remarkable, but unheralded heroes of the Holocaust was Solomon Schonfeld, a young British rabbi who personally rescued thousands of Jews during the tragic decade of 1938-1948. Rabbi of a small Orthodox congregation and pioneer of the day school movement in London, Schonfeld was inspired by his former teacher, Rabbi Michael Ber Weissmandl, to get into rescue work. Under the auspices of the Religious Emergency Council, an organization he created with the approval of Chief Rabbi Joseph P. Hertz, his future father-in-law, this dynamic and charismatic personality, single-handedly brought to England, several thousand orthodox children, rabbis, teachers ritual slaughterers, and other religious functionaries. Schonfeld provided his "charges" with kosher homes, a Jewish education and jobs. He also created unique mobile synagogues to be the first to serve the spiritual and physical needs of the survivors in the liberated areas. He repeatedly urged the British government to bomb Auschwitz. This fascinating work consists of a biography with a focus on his rescue efforts, including his struggles with assimilationist Anglo-Jewish leadership, as well as a series of 40 vignettes by individuals rescued by this unheralded hero. Illustrated.