Items from the new collection that Ganzach Kiddush Hashem has received
This year’s Yom HaShoah events are being held to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the camps, with an emphasis on the liberation of Buchenwald. The 80th anniversary of the liberation of Buchenwald, and it’s human story that touched the world, was on Shabbat Nisan 28 (April 26th, 2025).
Rabbi Israel Meir Lau upon liberation of the Buchenwald camp
One of the world famous survivors of Buchenwald is Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, the (former) Chief Rabbi of Israel, and the Chairman of the Presidency Council of Ganzach Kiddush Hashem.
In preparation for the 80th anniversary, the archivists of Ganzach Kiddush Hashem met with Prof. Leah Naomi Vogelman, the cousin of Rabbi Lau, in whose home in Kiryat Motzkin the orphaned Rabbi Lau, a Holocaust refugee, grew up upon his arrival in Israel.
Ms. Fogelman holds these memories from her childhood and teenage years in her heart, and Rabbi Lau, of course, also remembers the Vogelman family’s kindness and has a warm place in his heart for his uncle and aunt’s family, for their kindness, and efforts.
The warm bond between the families remains close to this day and throughout time, and in the next section we will tell Ms. Vogelman’s story in detail.
The family connection between Rabbi Lau and the Vogelman family is as follows:
Rabbi Mordechai Vogelman z”l
Rabbi Mordechai Vogelman z”l, the rabbi of Katowice, and the rabbi of Kiryat Motzkin after the war, was the brother-in-law of Rabbi Moshe Chaim Lau, the rabbi of Piotrkow, may G-d avenge his blood.
Rabbi Shmuel Yitzchak Shor z”l, the rabbi of Mostritz, Galicia, author of the “Minchai Shai” (And the origin of the name Shor is their ancestor, the Baal HaTosfot, Rabbi Yosef Bechor Shor).
His son, Rabbi Avraham Chaim Shor z”l immigrated to Israel and was appointed in Jerusalem as the head of a rabbinical court.
His daughter, Leah Hinda, married Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Lau of Lvov, the father of Rabbi Moshe Chaim Lau.
His daughter, Margulya, married Rabbi Yaakov Shimshon Shapira, their son was Rabbi Meir Shapira of Lublin.
One of the daughters of Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Lau was Mrs. Bella Vogelman, the wife of Rabbi Mordechai, the rabbi of Katowice.
Ganzach Kiddush Hashem houses the archive of Rabbi Mordechai Vogelman, which contains important and historical documents. Below is a very important document that is being published here for the first time: a handwritten letter from Rabbi Avraham Chaim Shor to his brother-in-law and sister, the Vogelmans, which was sent to them during the height of the Holocaust.
In the letter, Rabbi Shor describes his efforts to obtain certificates for his family members, which were unsuccessful, and advises them on how to act to save their sister-in-law Meita.
The words were written near the anniversary of the death of Rabbi Shor’s sister, Rebbetzin Leah Hinda, mother of the Rabbi Moshe Chaim Lau and in his words, the rabbi pleads on behalf of her son. In that time, the fate of the victims was not yet known, may G-d avenge their blood…
At that time, Rabbi and Rebbetzin Vogelman, together with their daughter, Leah Naomi, were in the midst of a desperate escape. Their lives were at risk, and they miraculously were saved and immigrated to the Land of Israel.
At the end of the Holocaust, in the spring of 5705 (1945), when the news of liberation had already spread throughout Europe and the Vogelman family was already in the Land of Israel; a few weeks after the liberation of the boy Israel Meir Lau, along with hundreds of other children from Buchenwald by the American army, his uncle Rabbi Avraham Chaim Shor z”l passed away and was buried in Jerusalem.
To mark this date, here is a copy of his moving letter, and a copy of Rabbi Vogelman’s diary in which he recounts the first days of the war, the eve of Rosh Hashanah, and the High Holidays of 5700 (1939).
