Reb Chaim Yisroel Eiss, the Man at the Center of Orthodoxy’s WWII Rescue Activities

On the 60th Anniversary of his Passing

By Shoshanna Goldfinger, a Great-Granddaughter

This commemoration is dedicated to the memory of the writer’s mother, Mrs. Malka Ruth Schwab, daughter of Reb Yaakov Eiss, and granddaughter of Reb Chaim Yisroel Eiss.

Written with the help of T.R. Rosin

Translated from the Hebrew by Judith Weil

Rescue Activities

“It’s freezing cold here in the shack in which I am living with my family. But that is not what is bothering me. I am writing to ask you to please send me Jewish books, particularly a Tenach and sections of the Gemara. I’m afraid that without Jewish books my children could grow up to be ignoramuses, and if this would happen, chas veshalom, what’s the point in everything we are trying to do?”

This letter, which was written by a Jew who was incarcerated in a Nazi work camp, was one of many such letters that were sent to Switzerland, to my great-grandfather, Reb Chaim Yisroel Eiss, during the years of the Second World War. Going through his papers we can feel only amazement at the tremendous devotion to Yiddishkeit displayed by people who were living under conditions of extreme physical deprivation and nevertheless did not request material aid but asked only for help to bring their children up to be knowledgeable Jews.

Reb Chaim Yisroel lived in Switzerland, which was neutral and he was therefore able to serve as the link between people living in countries under Nazi occupation and residents of the free world. He transferred information and requests for help to the Agudas Israel offices in London, New York and Istanbul, in the one direction, while in the other he facilitated the transfer of money, passport photographs and requests to locate family members.

He received hundreds of letters from Nazi-occupied countries and was one of the first to obtain a clear picture of the atrocities that were being carried out there. He was a well-known Aguda activist and writer, and many people knew of him already before the War, but during the War his name became still better known and synonymous with providing hope to Jews under Nazi occupation.

The communications system that he set up was complex and not without danger. The unofficial postal service was conducted by non-Jewish residents of the occupied countries, people he referred to in his letters as “pure Aryans”, and the phraseology that was used was designed to pass muster with the censors on the one hand, and be understood by the recipients on the other. An example of this can be seen in a letter that he wrote to Agudas Israel’s American branch at an early stage, before people were yet aware of the Nazis’ extermination efforts. It stated: “Our friend Rav Alexander Susha Friedman wrote me a letter of thanks on behalf of Mr. ‘Mekayem Nefesh’ (Lifesaver)” and that: “Mr. ‘Chalelei Raav’ (Dying of Hunger) is a permanent guest at our friends’ homes.”

Sometimes he was able to be more explicit, and he wrote to the London branch of Agudas Israel, “The situation of our French brethren and even more, of our Polish brethren, is getting worse each day. In Warsaw the Jews are dying at a rate of 6,000 per month, mostly from hunger.”

Many people were delivered from certain death by Reb Chaim Yisroel’s efforts, but these were not the only people he saved. For thousands of the Jews who were trapped in occupied Europe his activities provided them with a ray of hope, thereby redeeming them from the despondency that is a killer in itself.

It all Ties up

A cable found among my great-grandfather’s papers stated that the government had approved the “Rebbitzen’s” application for certificates and instructed him to: “Do everything possible to help.” The telegram had been sent to him during World War II by his friend and partner in their rescue efforts, Rav Itzik Meir Levine (the son-in-law of the Imrei Emess Gerrer Rebbe) and the certificates concerned were entry visas to the Land of Israel that Jerusalem-based Agudas Israel activists had managed to procure from the British. The cable elaborated that the “rebbitzen” referred to was Rebbitzen Chaya Mira Shulman, the wife of the Slabodka Rosh Yeshiva.

When I met with the editor of Hamodia – a granddaughter of Rav Itzik Meir Levine – in order to discuss the possibility of my writing an article about my great-grandfather for the paper, I showed her the cable her grandfather had sent to my great-grandfather. She asked: “Do you know who this rebbitzen was?” She did not wait for my reply, but continued: “After the War my mother, Devora, then Mostowitz, joined a group of young people who were trying to reach the Land of Israel. When they finally received instructions to go to the ship it was a Shabbos, and my mother resolutely refused to go. Rebbitzen Shulman heard my mother say that she could not go to the port on Shabbos and she there and then adopted this young orphaned girl as her own. Although the two of them – the rebbitzen and the girl – suffered many obstacles along the way, they remained together, and eventually reached the Land of Israel. Now the descendant of Reb Chaim Yisroel Eiss is returning this telegram to me. It all ties up: your great-grandfather, my mother, Rebbitzen Shulman – Hashem’s ways are beyond belief.”

Agudas Israel Rescue Pioneers

The hundreds of letters that in Reb Eiss’ files can significantly affect the current rather stormy debate that is taking place in connection with the rescue activities that were conducted under the leadership of Switzerland’s Orthodox community. The letters make it clear that the Orthodox activists directed an entire network of services that included local agents who operated within the occupied countries, Red Cross personnel and intermediaries inside various Bern-based foreign embassies. The general opinion among at the time was that all activities should be conducted only within the strict limits of the law in order not to antagonize the gentiles. The Eiss documents strengthen the opinion voiced by the American historian Prof. David Kranzler, among others, that Orthodox activists were the first to break with this consensus. The Orthodox activists referred to include not only Reb Chaim Yisroel Eiss, but also the Sternbuch family, Rabbi Dr. Shaul Weingort and Attorney Meir Miller. The chief proponent of the don’t-annoy-the-gentiles approach was Mr. Saly Mayer, who headed the Federation of Swiss Jewish Communities.

The Swiss representative of the World Jewish Congress, Dr. Silberschein, and others eventually adopted the methods pioneered by the Orthodox group, and then utilized their contacts and work methods to further ease the plight of the Jews in Nazi countries.

The Rebbe’s Blessing

Reb Chaim Yisroel Eiss was born in 5636/1876 in Istrik, Galitzia. Family tradition has it that he was the only one of ten children to survive an epidemic of diphtheria – an illness for which there was no treatment at the time. After the death of his other children, his father, Reb Moshe Nissan Eiss, took young Yisroel, to the Sadigora Rebbe who blessed him and gave him an additional name, Chaim. The Rebbe’s blessing was more than answered, because Chaim Yisroel not only grew up to found a wonderful dynasty, one in which all his descendants, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren, are deeply involved in Torah learning, but also saved the lives of untold thousands of his Jewish brethren. Circumstances were such that he moved to Zurich, in neutral Switzerland and became a successful businessman there – and it was this that made his lifesaving work possible. But he never became fully Swiss and was always a citizen of the Jewish people rather than one of the country where he lived.

One grandson recalls that: “My grandfather loved the Hebrew language. He used to write a beautiful, full, idiomatic Hebrew and used to type Hebrew on a typewriter that he ordered specially for his own used. Even the clock he had hanging on the wall of his home had Hebrew letters on it instead of the usual numerals.. He always dreamed of going to live in the Land of Israel. His home was open to everyone who cared to come by: everyone who visited Zurich could eat meals at his home and his guests included Rabbanim, communal activists, people passing through the city, and the local poor.”

However, he recalls: “When the reports began to come through of the Nazi barbarities everything changed. My grandfather felt that it was in order to help his brethren that he had been allowed to live. He neglected his business entirely. He never sat down for a quiet meal. His sleep was interrupted. And even when he was sick, he sent off letters and issued orders from his hospital bed.”

He spent all the money he had accumulated over the years, leaving his family almost penniless, and he himself died of a broken heart, of a heart broken by the fact that he was unable to save more of his brethren.

Angel of Mercy – Food Parcels to Ghettoes and Labor and Concentration Camps

When Reb Chaim Yisroel heard about the hunger and deprivation suffered by his brethren in occupied Europe, he immediately dispatched money to a Lisbon business associate. This associate used the money to buy cocoa, coffee, sugar, tea and sardines, items that were very scarce at that time, and sent them to the starving Jews. The recipients were able to exchange them for large quantities of flour and potatoes. My great-grandfather often financed these purchases out of his own pocket.

In 1942 he wrote to Istanbul: “On Sunday, with G-d’s help I will issue instructions for a consignment of sardines and raisins to be sent to Rebbitzen Sarah Alter.” This was a reference to the wife of the Beis Yisroel.

He had a good relationship with the chairman of the Red Cross in Geneva and utilized the services of the organization in order to transfer parcels to Poland.

He made a special effort to enable ghetto Jews observe the mitzvas and sent them arba minim, matzos and raisins with which to make wine for the “four cups” that are drunk on Seder night. During the last Succos of the Warsaw ghetto, in 5703/1942, a large number of Jews visited the succa of Rabbi Menachem Zemba – may G-d avenge his blood – in order to use his esrog – which had been sent by Reb Chaim Yisroel.

There were people at the time who said that they doubted whether the food parcels would reach their destinations. However after the War survivors testified to the fact that they had, in fact, arrived.

One woman who survived the War related that when Mrs. Tzilla Orlean, the wife of the principal of Cracow’s Beis Yaakov seminary, was in Auschwitz she received parcels there right until the end of the War. “They contained almonds and other dry foods. I don’t know how they arrived. It was a real miracle.”

These parcels contained more than food for the body. They were a balm for the suffering souls, and helped the inmates feel that on the other side of the barbed wire there was someone who cared about their welfare.

Foreign Papers – a Passport to Life

Sending money and food parcels was obviously not enough. What was really essential was that the Jews be helped to escape from the clutches of the Nazis. With this in mind Reb Chaim Yisroel contacted the Paraguayan consul, Mr. Higly, from whom he purchased Paraguayan identity papers and passports at great expense. Reb Chaim Yisroel then had these documents copied and notarized and then sent them to Poland. My great-grandfather did not send the documents in his own name because he did not want to draw the censor’s attention to himself, but sent them in the name of a member of the recipient’s family.

At a later stage they managed to obtain South American papers without having to pay for them, and this was done through George Mantello, the first secretary at El Salvador’s Geneva consulate. The stories of the Japanese consul who was stationed in Kovno and that of Raoul Wallenberg, who issued thousands of visas to Jews during the War, thereby helping them to escape from the Nazis are well known. The public is less familiar with the story of George Mantello, but it too deserves to be known.

After my great-grandfather introduced his friend Attorney Meir Miller, of the Paris branch of the Aguda, to George Mantello, in May 1943, there was a major change in the situation regarding South American identification documents. Since the consul was not asking to be paid and Meir Miller was, of course, also not charging any fees, the documents were now obtainable for free. Tens of thousands of certificates were distributed in this way.

During the early years of the War Jews holding foreign passports were sent to the Vittel Detention Camp in France, which was a camp for people of foreign nationalities. The Gerrer Rebbe’s family was one of the families sent to this camp.

Rebbitzen Rivka Alter-Rappoport, may G-d avenge her blood, the daughter of the Beis Yisroel Gerrer Rebbe, wrote to my great-grandfather as follows: “I have come here… to Vittel, and conditions here are very good and we are well… I hope everyone will come here so that we can be here together…”

When Reb Chaim Yisroel passed away on 15 Marcheshvan 5743/1942 he thought that these Jews, at least, were saved. We know, however, that shortly after Pesach 5704/1944 almost all the Jews in Vittel were transferred to Auschwitz, where they were killed. The few exceptions included Reb Hillel Seidman, the author of The Warsaw Ghetto Diary.

However the method that Reb Chaim Yisroel developed and improved upon eventually proved itself later in the War when tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews were granted South American identification papers, and were saved. Historians are of the opinion that the reason the Nazis allowed this system to continue was so that they themselves would be able to escape to South America once the War was over.

A Man of both Words and Action

Reb Chaim Yisroel Eiss was a founding member of Agudas Yisroel and one of its main activists. Starting from the first Knessia Gedola, in Katovitz, hardly a day passed when he was not involved in its affairs. He operated mainly behind the scenes and every proposal that was brought to the presidium for ratification was first presented to him.

During the First World War many Jews lost their homes and were forced to wander from place to place, suffering poverty, starvation and disease, and Reb Chaim Yisroel did all he could to help them. He set up a huge aid system that located the refugees, found out what they most needed and raised the required funds.

Reb Chaim Yisroel was entrusted by the Gedolim of the time with the directorship of all Switzerland-based Agudas Israel funds. These included the Orphan Aid Fund, the Land of Israel Yeshiva Fund and the Polish and Lithuanian Yeshiva Fund. He received contributions from all over the world, and transferred the money to the recipients.

His files include hundred of letters that were written personally by Gedolei Yisroel. When his grandchildren went through his papers they found that some of the communications were particularly exciting. These included a handwritten letter from the Gaon Harav Meir Shapira, that told Reb Chaim Yisroel of his plans to set up a yeshiva in Lublin, and a letter from the Chafetz Chaim that discussed the distribution of important books he had written.

Reb Chaim Yisroel was a prolific writer and published Haderech – the Zurich-based Agudas Israel mouthpiece that was really a one-man publication. He wrote all the articles himself and was personally responsible for printing and distributing the paper.

Although he was based in distant Switzerland, he battled from there on behalf of the difficulties that Eretz Yisroel’s Orthodox community and its leader, Harav Chaim Sonnenfeld, were facing at the time. He discussed all issues that were on the public agenda at the time, expressing himself lucidly and forcefully in a clear, correct Lashon Hakodesh. He was a regular contributor to the then Agudas Yisroel mouthpiece, Kol Yisroel, which was published in Jerusalem, and used it to make his opinions known to the population of Eretz Israel.

He was particularly critical of the Mizrachi movement and attacked it repeatedly in his distinctive sardonic style. He wrote that Mizrachi did not teach its children Torah but had a new religion, that of labor. He also claimed that the only reason that Mizrachi affiliated itself to the Zionists was in order to receive monetary gain. In a play on words on the fact that the Hebrew word keranot means both corners and funds, he wrote that the Mizrachi had a Modeh Ani of its own, that was a variation on the Modeh Ani that is said after learning, particularly at a siyum.

The original goes: “I thank You, Hashem, that you have chosen to place me among those who sit in the Beit Midrash and that you have chosen not to place me among those who sit at the (keranot) street corners,” and he wrote that the Mizrachi’s variation went: “I thank you that You have chosen to place me among those who sit at the (keranot) funds” – the Keren Hayesod Fund, the Keren Kayemet Fund, and so on. He indicated further, in connection with the same prayer, that the words: “they travail and I travail, they travail and receive no reward and I travail and receive a reward” meant in the case of Mizrachi that it was busily occupied, was travailing, with aligning itself to the various funds, but for naught.

He was deeply pained at the situation of Eretz Yisroel’s secular educational system. He wrote in this connection: “Forty thousand of the children of our people are being educated in schools which are such that the children will not turn out to be apikorsim (heretics), because they will not know enough Torah to be able to rebel against it, but will turn out to be ignoramuses.”

Reb Chaim Yisroel Eiss’ life presented a lesson that is as relevant today as it was at that time. “Whoever saves one Jewish life is deemed to have saved an entire world” – and he saved many worlds.

Wikipedia about Reb Chaim Yisroel Eiss

Yad Vashem The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority