"Brothers, Where Are You???"
Cry for Help from Holocaust Survivors in Rome
Roshei Yeshivah of Maor HaGolah Yeshiva
1946
A collection of emotional letters sent by distinguished Torah scholars who survived the Holocaust, in which they plead for assistance in rebuilding Jewish life from the ashes and strengthening the famous chassidic survivors’ yeshiva – Yeshivas Maor HaGolah in Rome, Italy.
The letters are full of extensive historical information, with details about the elevated atmosphere in the yeshiva, lists of sefarim they requested for study, the difficult physical conditions, concerns about immigration to Eretz Yisrael due to risk of capture and being sent to British detention camps, and many other topics.
In one early letter from 1945, written just months after the war’s end, the yeshiva secretary writes with great pain:
"…Regarding the survivors… I know their pain… and from these pure souls with their broken hearts who are studying under difficult conditions and with mesirus nefesh, will emerge the… future of our nation.
And this is why our wonder is so great and the cry bursts forth from the depths of our hearts: Brothers, where are you???…"
The collection contains:
1) A letter from the yeshiva’s founder, Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Ephraim Oshry. Rome, Adar II 1946.
2) A letter from Rabbi Yaakov Lachowitzky. Jerusalem, Shevat 1947.
3) A letter from Rabbi Binyamin Eliezer Borzyskowski. Rome, Tishrei 1945.
4) Letter from H.M. Kichelmacher, President of the ‘Agudas HaAshkenazim’ in Rome, August 1946.
5) An original group photo of the yeshiva students with Rabbi Ephraim Oshry in the center. Photographer’s stamp and yeshiva stamp on reverse.
Yeshivas Maor HaGolah was established in late 1945 in the Roman suburb of Ostia for young Holocaust survivors who were alone and isolated and had no family and basic means. The yeshiva was founded by Rabbi Ephraim Oshry (see below) who devotedly cared for all their physical and spiritual needs. Many of the yeshiva’s students later became renowned Torah and chassidic leaders. The yeshiva existed in Rome until 1949 when Rabbi Ephraim relocated it to Montreal, Canada.
Rabbi Ephraim Oshry (1914-2004) was a student of the Kelm, Ponevezh and Slabodka yeshivas and was one of the Rabbanim of Kovno during the Holocaust and the right-hand man to Kovno’s Rav, author of ‘Dvar Avraham’. He suffered greatly in the Kovno ghetto and after the Holocaust established Yeshivas Maor HaGolah in Rome.
Rabbi Yaakov Lachowitzky of Baranovitch, a Slonim chassid, was in a labor camp together with the Admor Rabbi Shlomo David Yehoshuah of Slonim and was totally devoted to him, staying by his side until his final moments when he was killed Al Kiddush Hashem. He was also one of the Roshei Yeshiva of Yeshivas Maor HaGolah.
Rabbi Binyamin Eliezer Borzyskowski, the "illuy (prodigy) from Czestochowa", was a grandson of Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Yustman, son of the Sifsei Tzaddik of Piltz. He was among the first students of Rabbi Meir Shapiro at Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin and the author of ‘Kav V’Naki’. After the Holocaust, he was the sole survivor of his entire family. He was one of the founders and Roshei Yeshiva of the yeshiva in Rome and Montreal and passed away in 2000.
Total of five documents in various sizes.
