IN-DEPTH FEATURES
In Tempestuous Times: The Life And Achievements Of HaRav Avrohom Kalmanovitz Zt'l

Part Four

The Yeshiva's New Home

On Rosh Chodesh Elul 5700 (1940), Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz zt'l delivered the first shiur keloli in the Mirrer Yeshiva's new "home," the beautiful and spacious two story beis haknesses Beis Aharon in Shanhgai. At the time, nobody knew or expected that the yeshiva would remain in Shanghai for the following five years.

Shanghai was an open city of four million Chinese and one hundred thousand foreigners; no visas or passports were required to gain entry and, until August 1939, immigration was unrestricted by the Japanese authorities, who controlled the city's harbor. Despite the city's negative reputation, it became a haven for Jewish refugees who fled from Nazi- controlled Germany and Austria in the year before the war broke out. The Jewish refugee community grew to nearly eighteen thousand souls.

Approximately half of the two thousand bnei Torah who had escaped to Japan via Vilna were either already in possession of, or managed to obtain, end visas to Eretz Yisroel, the United States, Canada, or other countries to which they could actually go. The remaining thousand, whom the Japanese expelled to Shanghai, comprised rabbonim and bochurim from a number of different yeshivos.

The largest contingent was that of the Mirrer Yeshiva, the only Eastern European yeshiva that survived the war virtually intact. The leaders of the Shanghai community devoted themselves to the needs of the bnei Torah and soon after their arrival, the various yeshivos were quartered and the sound of Torah continued being heard. Besides individual sources of support, the Vaad Hatzoloh and the Joint also contributed to the yeshivos' upkeep and substantial sums reached them. Although contacts with Rav Kalmanovitz over plans for reaching the United States continued amid concern for the future, the Mirrer Yeshiva's situation during the first four months in Shanghai was stable.

Swept Into War Once Again

Everything changed with the surprise Japanese attack on the American naval base in Pearl harbor, and America's subsequent entry into the war. All contact with Rav Kalmanovitz was lost. The generous support of the Joint came to an abrupt end, with the organization's refusal to violate American laws against communicating or transferring funds to enemy countries.

A few weeks into the war, the bnei yeshiva were stricken with conditions caused by nutritonal deficiencies, and the threat of starvation loomed.

Initial relief came from the Sternbuch family in neutral Switzerland, from where there was no problem in sending funds. The Sternbuchs immediately organized appeals and collections among the Swiss communities, which yielded the desperately-needed funds to sustain the Torah community in Shanghai. They established a special organization for raising and sending the funds, and when Vaad Hatzoloh subsequently started sending money again, it was routed via this organization in Switzerland.

Since lives were at stake, Rav Kalmanovitz and the organization's other leaders had no compunction about bypassing legal restrictions on sending funds to an enemy country. When threatened by the F.B.I. with prosecution and imprisonment for the illegal transfers, Rav Kalmanovitz declared that he was even ready for the severest retribution but he would not be deterred from attempting to rescue the bnei Torah, whom he considered as his own sons, from starvation.

Eventually, the Vaad managed to have the transfers legalized. Rav Kalmanovitz made a personal appeal to the Secretary of the Treasury himself, who was a Jew albeit assimilated. While presenting his case Rav Kalmanovitz fainted which, under the circumstances, was probably the most effective demonstration possible of the urgency of the situation.

The State Department agreed to license the sending of funds to the exiled Polish government, to benefit Jewish refugees who were Polish citizens. However, although the refugees were allowed to receive money from neutral countries, great care was necessary in order ensure that the Japanese did not discover that the ultimate source of the funds was "traitorous America." This would have brought the harshest of punishments upon the heads of the yeshiva. In fact Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz was interrogated several times -- prior to one of the interrogations he even recited the viduy -- but miraculously, he emerged unscathed.

An elaborate system of coded messages was employed for passing communications between Rav Kalmanovitz and Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz concerning the yeshiva's needs and details about the various sums that were sent. The messages were relayed via Rav Shlomo Wolbe in who was in Sweden, Rav Aharon Milevsky in who was in Uruguay and the Sternbuchs in Switzerland. Altogether, in the course of the yeshiva's sojourn in Shanghai, three quarters of a million dollars were channeled to the support of the bnei Torah.

Rav Kalmanovitz himself who, as the yeshiva's president, was the prime mover in the fundraising and allocation, wrote after the war that, "as far as the yeshiva was concerned, I myself am astounded at what possessed me. How was such an achievement possible? To convey to Shanghai, flying through the sky and digging deep underground tunnels, in order to obtain the money and make it available . . . three quarters of a million dollars, to the enemy zone. To get the money in and to send it during the war years -- was it anything short of an open miracle? To protect them from being killed and destroyed and then afterwards to get them out of there with neither money, boats, nor visas -- and that expense also came to a quarter of a million dollars."

No Peace of Mind

Rav Kalmanovitz might have marveled in retrospect at the incredible achievement of having maintained the yeshiva, but if one examines how he acted at the time, it is clear that he dealt in practicalities and hard work.

He labored unceasingly to do anything that he possibly could for the cause of hatzoloh in general and for the welfare of the Mir Yeshiva in particular, without overly concerning himself with gauging the probability of success. If an endeavor held out a chance of being able to save or help Yidden, he pursued it. This is one of the preconditions for meriting siyaata diShemayo over and above the norm. His ability to drive himself with such superhuman zeal is also understandable when one sees how he felt towards the bochurim. He was racked with a father's concern and a father's sense of responsibility, for them.

Once, while staying at the home of Rabbi L. B. Friedlander of Baltimore, Rav Kalmanovitz told his host that he would be leaving the next morning to keep an appointment in Washington D.C. Heavy snow fell that night and at four in the morning, Rabbi Friedlander heard Rav Kalmanovitz leaving the house. In response to his host's amazement, Rav Kalmanovitz explained that since no taxis were running, he was going to walk to the railway station. "I cannot miss the appointment," he stressed. "Our children are freezing in Siberia and starving in Shanghai and we are sleeping in comfort!"

Rabbi Friedlander noticed that he was not even wearing galoshes on his feet.

In addition to the difficult living conditions that the bochurim endured throughout their wanderings, and particularly in Shanghai, they were tormented by worry over the fates of the families that they had left behind. It was Rav Kalmanovitz who received the letters from bochurim and avreichim alike, expressing their concern and begging him to try to help them, which he did.

In a very moving telegram to one of the bochurim, Rav Kalmanovitz asked that it be conveyed to all the rabbonim and avreichim, "that they are all etched upon his heart and that we will beli neder do whatever is possible, in Hashem's kindness. But do not do pressure in order to hasten an outcome, for things are not in our hands at all."

He also wanted to apologize for being unable to reply to all their letters. He was not managing to daven with a minyan nor to learn, he told them, so he certainly could not find time to reply to letters. Were he to spend time resting, he wouldn't be able to devote himself to relief work. "I cannot describe or give an idea of what I have experienced since the beginning of the war . . . I have had neither rest nor peace but [instead] have solely been concerned with the welfare of the bnei yeshiva. While the remainder of my colleagues have been securing themselves spiritual and material foundations, and have been learning in peace and having spiritual satisfaction, I have had to assume the role of fighter and warrior over every extra cent that I fought to send you, with the blood of my heart and soul. I placed myself in danger over sending the money that was a thousand more times serious than the money's actual value, as well as the cost of the visas . . . "

A Glimmer of Hope

Sometime during the winter of 5703 (1942-3), the first Japanese plan to exterminate the Jewish community of Shanghai was to have been executed. This plan, and another later one that also failed, were devised by the Japanese in coordination with their Axis partners, the Nazis ym'sh. The idea was that the Jews were to be evacuated by boat to one of the Japanese islands. In the course of the voyage, all were to be drowned at sea. Everything had been prepared in secret when, two weeks beforehand, details of the plan were leaked and the resulting exposure made its implementation impossible.

Around this time, Rav Kalmanovitz learned of a possibility of leaving Shanghai in the framework of a British-Japanese diplomatic exchange. He immediately seized the opportunity and obtained permission for the inclusion of forty bnei Torah on the list. Towards the end of 1942, he called meetings to try to raise funds for the plan. "According to the telegrams that we have received from London, there is currently hope of taking them all together to South Africa, a safe haven. We must not delay, even by a single hour, for this is the Torah's law, [as stated] in the halochos of redeeming captives . . . "

The Rosh Yeshiva, HaRav Eliezer Yehudah Finkel zt'l, who had already arrived in Yerusholayim, also wrote to Rav Kalmanovitz about the plan, after he heard from two bochurim, Rav Zeidel Semiatitsky and Rav Shimon Wiskoer zt'l, who had already left Shanghai that way.

Rav Kalmanovitz wrote to HaRav Abramsky zt'l, the av beis din of London, asking him to become involved and to involve the British Chief Rabbi and others. The continuing uncertainty and the multiple dangers to which the Jewish refugees in Shanghai were exposed, led to a modification of the earlier resolution to emigrate all together as a group or not at all. In his letter to Dayan Abramsky, Rav Kalmanovitz decries the use of that argument to deny the bnei Torah at least their rightful quota among those who might be allowed to leave. As citizens of the Polish government-in- exile, the bnei Torah were under British jurisdiction and were therefore entitled to representation among those to be included in the exchange.

Contacting Rav Kalmanovitz from England, Rav Zeidel Semitatzky wrote, "I arrived here in London several days ago . . . In the holy yeshiva, they are learning with great application, so much so that the terrible world situation and the bad material situation of our yeshiva in particular, are not discernable. In the same degree that the spiritual situation is very good, the material situation is very bad. Many bochurim have recently become weak and have taken ill with pneumonia R'l, and there is nothing with which to fortify them. We are aware of your honor all the time, and of your personal devotion to the yeshiva and are certain that you are doing everything that you can. Still, `One only encourages those who are already alert' . . . Yitzchok Tzvi Semiatitsky, a.k.a. Zeidel Tiktiner."

Ultimately, it is clear that for one reason or another, it was not possible to utilize this avenue of escape.

From the Depths of Despair to the Heights of Achievement

Shortly afterwards, in Shevat 5703, the Japanese authorities announced the establishment of a ghetto for stateless refugees who had arrived in Shanghai after 1936. This further exacerbated relations between the authorities and the Jewish refugee population.

Although the former tried to dismiss the sinister intentions that were imputed to them, they were not believed. After all, they had concealed their vicious plans to wipe out the entire population several months earlier. The bnei Torah had the choice of entering the ghetto, or of remaining outside it by accepting the protection of their official citizenship, which entitled them to British protection. After weighing the pros and cons, the Mashgiach resolved upon the former course.

Registration for the ghetto continued until the thirteenth of Nisan 5703 (April 1943) and the ghetto was established after Pesach.

In retrospect, this proved to have been the yeshiva's salvation. Had the bnei Torah refrained from entering the ghetto, they would have been placed in internment camps where conditions were terrible and where learning would have been impossible. In the ghetto, life continued virtually as before. The yeshiva's schedules of prayer and Torah study were uninterrupted and it was possible to arrange whatever was needed. In fact, it was during the ghetto period that the bnei hayeshiva experienced their greatest spiritual elevation. Here they attained their most impressive accomplishments, in both the personal and the communal spheres.

At this time Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz wrote to Rav Kalmanovitz, "It upsets us that we cannot describe the yeshiva's spiritual splendor to your honor, with the frequency of our earlier correspondance. The truth is however, that it cannot be described in words. It can only be experienced and understood when one comes face to face with the hundreds of precious bnei Torah . . . the sound of whose Torah grows stronger, despite all the vicissitudes, for now that they are starting [with the establishment of the ghetto], the concentration within the daled amos of halochoh all day long, is reaching the highest possible level . . . In brief, there has never been a period of such spiritual success as the present. Were your Torah honor to witness it personally, you would agree that for the sake of all this, all your toil on our behalf and the great burden that you bear in order to sustain the yeshiva, are worthwhile.

"The only thing that upsets us and pains our hearts continually is that this present period of spiritual success reminds us of the troubles that we have experienced, that have destroyed our homes and have cast our brethren into an ocean of suffering, may Hashem have mercy on them . . . With regard to material conditions, boruch Hashem to date, we have seen Hashem's kindness, for your . . . honor has been like a redeeming angel to us all the time . . . your name is mentioned for blessing on everybody's lips. We will never forget it, neither us, nor a single one of the [other] bnei Torah, all whom feel you to be literally like our father."

Vibrant Torah life continued in Shanghai despite the establishment of the ghetto and the changing regulations for leaving it and returning to it and despite the uncomfortable and hazardous living conditions. Educational institutions were established by the bnei Torah for the refugee community, under the auspices of the yeshiva, while seforim and several issues of Or Torah, a journal of original Torah, were published.

Nothing Too Difficult

The Mirrer bochurim were not Rav Kalmanovitz' only sons. He doggedly pursued and spurred others to pursue any and every scheme that held out hope for saving Jewish lives until their strength ran out. "Though to begin with," he wrote, "Vaad Hatzoloh was founded especially in order to save the yeshivos, the talmidei chachomim and the spiritual leaders, after a time [at the end of 5703], we broadened the scope of our rescue work to include all tiers of our people, to anyone whom there was any possibility of saving, even remotely, in ways that called for real sacrifice, such as border smuggling, hiding in pits, cisterns and caves, forging passports and making ransom payments to the murderers ym'sh. Be'ezras Hashem, we were fortunate to save a small proportion."

The idea of something being impossible did not exist for him. Quoting Rav Boruch Ber Leibowitz zt'l, he would say that the yetzer hora has many names, the first of which is, "Men ken gornit oiftuhen (Nothing can be done)."

"To save oneself," he would say, "nothing is too difficult, too costly or too disgusting. When it come to saving oneself, there is no such thing as `illegal.' Our obligation to save others is exactly the same."

One of Rav Kalmanovitz' associates, who worked together with him said that, "Nothing stood in his way during that period. When it was a matter of rescue, he repudiated all normal channels. There were no rulers, ministers or honorables, no wealthy men and no important ones. The law of the land did not exist. On more than one occasion, he committed genuinely criminal offences in order to save a Jewish life . . . He could not understand all those whose minds were filled with endless reckonings."

His burning zeal was infectious, touching all those around him. He even managed to move the highest government officials, who were not ashamed to admit that they could not stand up the tears in his eyes and the storms that rocked his soul.

The United States government War Refugee Board was set up after great efforts on Rav Kalmanovitz' part and after a drawn out campaign against Reform rabbi Stephen Wise, who hindered the office's opening. The Board's director, John Paley, wrote about Rav Kalmanovitz, "Nobody, in Government or out of it, was as devoted to rescue work as he was. His hard work, his sincerity and his faith, gave us all strength."

Another hatzoloh worker recalled that Rav Aharon Kotler zt'l, told him, "In all matters pertaining to hatzoloh, the halochoh is like him [i.e. Rav Kalmanovitz], even against me."

Rescue Attempts

News of Rav Weissmandel's negotiations to ransom Jews from Nazi hands arrived on a Shabbos. Every penny raised could be used for preserving lives. Losing no time, Rav Kalmanovitz, accompanied by a young Rav Gedaliah Schorr zt'l, set out immediately in a cab for one of the botei knesses, many of whose members were enormously wealthy.

Upon arrival, Rav Kalmanovitz asked one of the congregants to call the gabbai, from whom he asked permission to address the congregation. The gabbai referred them to the president, who deferred to the rabbi. After hearing their request, the rabbi replied that they could not simply allow everyone who wanted to speak to his members to do so. "Maybe come back in the middle of the week and we'll see how it could be arranged," he suggested.

Rav Schorr pointed out that lives were in danger and that there was no telling what a few days delay could cost. "I understand," the rabbi said, "but we cannot bypass the rules of the synagogue." And he turned to go.

Rav Kalmanovitz ran after him and begged, "Please, let me say just one single word; I beg of you, in the name of all of Klal Yisroel, our people!"

The rabbi gave in, on condition that it really would be one word and no more. When kerias haTorah had ended, the rabbi introduced Rav Kalmanovitz and then stood at one side, to make sure that the condition was kept. Rav Kalmanovitz drew himself to his full height and glanced here and there at the congregation. Then he began trembling from emotion and from the depths of his heart he cried, "Hatzilu! (Help!)"

Then, from the effort and excitement, he fell down in a faint. The congregation was dumbstruck. Three doctors were summoned and it was only after ten minutes that they managed to revive him.

"How do you feel?" the rabbi asked him.

"Who, me? Fine, boruch Hashem. But gevald!! So many of our brethren are being cruelly murdered, so many!" And he began crying hysterically again. Then he said, "Rabbosai! People see a Jew faint and they straight away run to help him. But in Europe, hundreds and thousands of our brothers and sisters are dropping and nobody lifts a finger. What is going on? How can we let such a situation continue?"

By this time, the rabbi and his congregants saw that a holy man was standing before them. They allowed him to finish making his appeal, which brought in much larger sums than expected. The story caused quite a stir and was even publicized in the newspapers.

Rav Kalmanovitz was the leading proponent of Rav Weissmandel's plea to bomb the railway lines leading to Auschwitz and he put much effort into furthering the plan, which, as is well known, never came to fruition.

Not the least important aspect of his work were his interactions with the heads of Jewish groups that were far from Torah. These groups either sought to employ methods of rescue which were improper from a Torah viewpoint, or simply failed to utilize every moment for saving lives, dragging their feet at times when the rescue of large groups was at stake.

In the case of the Kastner train for example, Rav Kalmanovitz dictated to them which demands should be made and which not. He also warned them about causing damage in the course of their struggles, for example over the issue of the threats that were made to the Hungarian Prime Minister, when Rav Kalmanovitz staunchly opposed the tactics of the irreligious groups.

The Satmar Rov zt'l, felt that he owed Rav Kalmanovitz his life, on account of the latter's role in the release of the famous Kastner train from Bergen Belsen on which the Rov and many others escaped. The Rov expressed his gratitude throughout his life and he drew many lessons and ideas from Rav Kalmanovitz, which the latter had absorbed as a result of his closeness to the gedolim of the past generation.

He was involved in the details of a myriad rescue schemes. He wrote, "Let people understand, experience and examine a little of what [responsibility] I bear and of what I have experienced since the beginning of the war. I cannot describe, or appraise even one ten thousandth of it on paper. Many volumes could be filled."

During the war he also wrote, "Sometimes I think that maybe I have gone out of my mind, chas vesholom, because I see that nobody joins me in taking such an intense interest, right to the very end. Perhaps. Therefore, I am wrong to abandon my own interests and my family to such a degree, with respect to both support and endeavor. Perhaps this is not the Torah's way, for in truth, what can flesh and blood achieve with their toil? Perhaps it is better to do a little and to trust in Hashem.

"This is not what I have learned however and it is not what is written in the Torah: "And they sustained the children" (Shemos 1:17), which is the source of the Yerushalmi's teaching that a person is obliged to place himself in a situation of possible danger in order to save someone else."

In the Eye of the Storm

The Yomim Noroim of 5705 (1944), were the last that the yeshiva spent in Beis Aharon, which was situated outside the ghetto. Thereafter, the refugees were completely confined to the ghetto and for the following two-and-a-half years, several other accomodations served the yeshiva. In the course of that year, with the tide of the war having turned against Germany and Japan, the refugees were exposed to new and grave dangers.

While the war against Germany ended in April 1945, the war in Asia continued until August. During the six months prior, the Americans subjected the cities of Japan and China to intense bombing in an attempt to force the Japanese to surrender. Although many bombs fell on the Hongkew quarter where the yeshiva was located, causing much loss of life and damage to buildings, miraculously, none of the bochurim nor the yeshiva building were ever harmed. Even to the gentiles it was evident that the bnei Torah were meriting special Divine protection.

Rather than give in, the Japanese prepared Shanghai for an all-out land battle. The city was fortified and the refugees were quartered around the military installations, to serve as human shields. Both sides were preparing for a furious fight and the Jewish refugees were caught in the middle.

There was no way that Rav Kalmanovitz could intervene on behalf of the bnei hayeshiva, but he worked like a lion to secure them whatever protection he could. He turned to the many diplomats and governments with whom he worked, and he succeeded in enlisting the help of King Gustav V of Sweden. The King agreed to open the doors of his country to the refugees and in the meantime instructed the Swedish consul in Shanghai to spare no effort in forming a safe zone around the consulate.

Several neighboring buildings were acquired and the Swedish flag was flown from them. Their walls and roofs were also emblazoned with the Swedish symbol, as a sign to ground or air forces that the buildings and their occupants were under the protectorate of a neutral country. This was only one of the several ways in which the King assisted Rav Kalmanovitz in rescue and relief work during and following the war.

On the seventh of Av 5705, Shanghai was subjected to the fiercest bombing ever. The yeshiva building, which was not the strongest of edifices, shook but remained standing. At that time, the American navy was approaching the city's beaches and Chinese nationalist forces were also on their way to take part in the battle for the city. The Japanese dug trenches in the streets, not far from the yeshiva. They declared that they would defend the city until the last man.

It is not hard to imagine the dread that gripped the refugees at the prospect. Incredibly, during this period, the bnei hayeshiva were helping to prepare a new building that they had purchased, so that it would be ready by Rosh Chodesh Elul. Driven by their own faith and fortified by the Mashgiach's stirring declaration that the yeshiva students would be protected, they busied themselves with the readying of a new sanctuary for the Torah.

In His mercy, Hashem preserved them. On the twenty-fifth and twenty-eighth of Av, atom bombs were dropped on two Japanese cities and on the twenty-fourth of Elul, the Japanese surrendered unconditionally. Shanghai was occupied by Chinese forces (allied with the U.S.) without a single shot being fired.

A Suitcase Full of Hopes

With the end of the war, Rav Kalmanovitz was able to renew his efforts to secure visas for the bnei hayeshiva. Despite all that they had endured, this was no easy matter. His efforts were always accompanied by prayers beforehand and by acknowledgement afterwards of the Divine help in every small achievement.

Several months later, in the winter of 5706, he set out on a long and involved trip, in the course of which he planned to visit England, Eretz Yisroel and the Jewish refugees in Germany. On the boat to England he met members of the British government's commission on Palestine, from whom he succeeded in obtaining a promise for certificates for the several hundred talmidim. While in London, he met the Zionist leaders and he tried to ensure that they would place no obstructions in the way of the fulfillment of the authorities' promise.

While he was in Eretz Yisroel however, several attempts to land boatloads of `illegal' immigrants on the shores of Eretz Yisroel provided the British with a pretext for withdrawing their offer. Undeterred, Rav Kalmanovitz returned to London, to try to have the promise reinstated.

Ultimately, the plan to transport the yeshiva initially to Eretz Yisroel did not materialize. The bochurim did not want to wait any longer and they preferred to go to America, whose government was offering them student visas.

Rav Kalmanovitz' visit to the DP camps was at the invitation of UNRRA, the UN body that provided relief to the survivors. After visiting a number of camps, Rav Kalmanovitz informed the heads of Vaad Hatzoloh that the condition of the orthodox survivors was very poor. All aspects of religious life needed regulation and there was a pressing need to open educational institutions, to protect the interests of the refugees and to assist them with plans for emigration. His main recommendation was that permission be obtained for a permanent branch of Vaad Hatzoloh to operate in Germany.

The yeshiva remained in Shanghai for another year-and-a-half after the war's end. Technical difficulties, such as a lack of vessels and mine-infested seas, prevented travel for some time although the main delay was due to the difficulty in obtaining visas. In Av 5706, after a year of intensive work by Rav Kalmanovitz, these were finally obtained, The last group of bochurim left Shanghai in Teves 5707.

The group that arrived in America numbered 324 souls altogether, led by the Mashgiach. At that time, Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz and a group of fourteen talmidim who wished to go directly to Eretz Yisroel travelled to France, en route to the holy Land.

"With the arrival of all of them from Shaghai," wrote Rav Kalmanovitz on the day the last group arrived, "an epoch of rescue and emigration ends and a period of foundation and building opens, both in this country and in Eretz Yisroel.

"Yeshivas Mir that has existed for 130 years, its Torah and fear of Heaven providing illumination [for the Jewish world], has merited being saved in all its glory. There was not a day's interruption in the learning and progress throughout the seven harsh years of war. They had such success in Shanghai that the junior talmidim have developed into seasoned scholars, fluent in Shas. While antisemites burned our Torah and our people in Europe, over there, they printed both the written and oral Torahs, amounting to over three hundred thousand copies of seforim."

Elsewhere he wrote, "We must recognize that they are now Klal Yisroel's hope, from whom the worlds of Torah and yiroh will be built."