This was the silent cry of a tortured 14-year-old boy, in a heartbreaking letter that was received by Ganzach Kiddush Hashem.
The cry that Natan Ressler engraved in his heart’s blood from the depths of the pit of loneliness, exile, and tribulation, echoes from one end of the world to the other and causes countless eyes to tear.
Natan, who perished in Auschwitz in 5703 (1943), managed to send a letter to his aunt Sarah, in which he tells her about a prayer he wrote: a cry – supplication – demand. The words are addressed to none other than Rachel Imenu (Rachel the Matriach). Perhaps because he felt that she had become his mother instead of the biological one who had ascended in smoke from the crematoriums, perhaps because Rachel, in his eyes, expressed more than anything the devotion and compassion for children suffering in exile.
The letter was professionally scanned and translated into Hebrew and English, and is now houses in the Ganzach Kiddush Hashem archive.
Natan, born in Slovakia, perished as mentioned in 1943 in Auschwitz, and his father Shimon, may G-d avenge their blood, perished in Treblinka.
Earth, do not cover my blood (Job 16:18).
We thank Natan’s cousin, Mrs. Sarah Ben Dor, who graciously donated the letter to us.
