“My Heart aches When I Remember What Happened to Us” – a Moving Letter From Rav Menachem Mendel Halberstam , Switzerland 1946
Sent Prior the First Pesach After the Holocaust
The Rebbe, who endured the terrors of the Holocaust, fleed to Switzerland, but he wanted to leave Europe. In this letter, he deliberates whether to emigrate to Eretz Yisrael or to America.
This was his first Pesach after the Holocaust, where nearly all his children and grandchildren were killed, Hy”d.
“
For Pesach I invited six descendants of my ancestor the Rebbe of Sanz, four of them being the grandchildren of my great uncle, the Rebbe Rav Yeshayele [Tchechoiver]. Sadly, in Switzerland that is all there are.
“May Hashem arouse mercy over us, and my heart melts when I remember what happened to us…”
The Rebbe Rav Menachem Mendel of Stropkov (1873-1954), author of Divrei Menachem, was a great-grandson of the Divrei Chaim of Sanz, who was his sandak.
During the War he hid together with Rav Aharon of Belz, who also gave him a kvittel. After the War he settled in America where he was famed as a tzadik and poel yeshuos, was admired and respected by the Rebbes in America.
Gutenberg – Switzerland [Nissan 10] 5706 [1946]. All in the Rebbe’s handwriting. Size: 21×30 cm. Moderate condition. Fold marks with tears. wear and stains.
