Why are thousands of nonjews who saved jews during the holocaust. A hagiographic documentary, killing kasztner, has been shown to countless audiences in north america and beyond. Even kastners enemies usually give him credit for saving 1,684 jews aboard the kastner train. Rezso kasztner 1906 15 march 1957, also known as rudolf israel kastner, was a. The true story of rezso kaztner, unknown hero of the holocaust as want to read. There have been repeated efforts to name an israeli street after him. This well written book lets us share this humanity with kastners humiliation. The kastner train was a trainload of almost 1,684 jews who, on june 30, 1944, escaped from nazicontrolled hungary, eventually arrived in switzerland, while some 450,000 members of the hungarian jewish community were deported to the gas chambers at auschwitz the train was named after rudolf kastner original spelling kasztner, one of the leaders of the hungarian aid and rescue committee.
He was assassinated in 1957 after an israeli court accused him of having collaborated with the nazis. The kasztner train, as it became known, would save members of hungarys. List of about 300 jews, mostly hungarians, sent on the first kasztner train from bergenbelsen to switzerland in august 1944. If reszo kasztner saved hungarian jews during the holocaust, why was he put on. Story of how denmarks jews escaped the nazis, london. Eliezer elie wiesel kbe a romanianborn jewishamerican professor and political activist. Some came out of bergen belsen on the first train, in august.
The pain of the holocaust echoes through three israeli. Hungary is allied with germany to protect its citizens from invasion, but in 1944 hitler breaks his. The list of people on the kastner train, which ferried 1,670 hungarian jews to safety, has been published before, but it was drawn up when the train left hungary, or during its stop at bergen. Author anna porter has just released a book in which she defends that rudolf kastner, who was found to be a nazi collaborator in a jerusalem trial in the early 1950s, was instead a great jewish hero. In june 1944, kasztner convinced eichmann to allow nearly 1,700 hungarian jews to escape hungary and the deportations to auschwitz. The kastner train consisted of 35 cattle trucks that left budapest on 30 june 1944, during the german occupation of hungary, carrying over 1,600 jews to safety in switzerland. Though elsa believes that negotiating with the germans is the best way to solve their difficulties, her parents eventually convince her to take the parents own tickets on the kastner train to palestine, and she obeys, eventually landing, however, at bergenbelsen, where she experiences some of the punishments and torments meted out to.
Anna porter is an absolute marvel as a historian of the nazis and the jews in hungary. My position regarding the topic is that the jewish holocaust was a terrible event that led to over 6 million deaths. Refuting anna porters defense of rudolf kastner in. Kasztners traina reference to the famous train ride to freedom he organizedtells this dramatic story for the first time, including a shocking postscript. The kastner case was one of the greatest political scandals of. Anna porters new book attempts to rectify this by describing his life in meticulous detail. Survivors of that journey recall their terror when the train was diverted to the bergenbelsen death camp in germany as negotiations with the. The controversy has been the subject of several books, and most recently a. New lists shed light on kastner train passengers ynetnews.
Rezso kasztner 1906 15 march 1957, also known as rudolf israel kastner, was a hungarianjewish journalist and lawyer who became known for having helped jews escape from occupied europe during the holocaust. There were 338 jews from kasztners home city of cluj. The true story of an unknown hero of the holocaust. The kastner train consisted of 35 cattle trucks that left budapest on 30 june 1944, during the. Heller and his immediate family survived on kasztners train. The book was written by the admor grand rabbi of satmar, rabbi yoel teitelbaum, the admor who was saved with other privileged people during holocaust on the socalled kastner train. New books, film find hidden hero of holocaust ynetnews. Holocaust memorials defamation pits zionism against anti. Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. In 1953 he was accused of having been a nazi collaborator in a pamphlet. You argue, provocatively, that this rescue train was actually a nazi hostage.
Adolf eichmann, the ss officer sent to exterminate hungarys jews, confronts rezso kasztner rudolf kastner, acting head of the jewish rescue operation. As a hungarian holocaust survivor, i was horrified to discover a recent book by a. At the end of the documentary, kastners daughter zsuzsi, a hospital nurse in tel aviv, tells an undocumented tale of how the kastner called rabbi teitelbaum to testify in his favor in court, and the rebbe. Distorting the holocaust in hungary tablet magazine.
Chaim michael dov weissmandl project gutenberg self. Other passengers on the kasztner train represented a crosssection of hungarian jewry. The true story of an unknown hero of the holocaust by anna porter. Since i had never heard of rezso kasztner and his role in the holocaust, i bought a copy of kasztners train. Reputation of israel kastner may be about to be restored, more than 60 years after he negotiated blood for money deal with adolf eichmann to save jewish lives in exchange for cash, jewels and trucks. A holocaust train from thrace was witnessed by archbishop stefan of sofia who was shocked by what he saw. The true story of an unknown hero of the holocaust porter.
The outcome of this encounter is the liberation of 1,684 jewish hostages on a train. The authors thesis is to help prevent people from making the same mistakes in the future. The purpose of the story is to inform the reader about the holocaust. Extremely scarce pamphlet, uses the kastner case as a weapon to attack the attorney general of israel, the governing mapai party, and the entire government of israel. She is the author of four other nonfiction books, including buying a better world. One hungarian passenger train later known as the kastner train transported 1,684 jews to safety in switzerland on 30 june 1944 in exchange for gold. The strange mr kastner leadership ethics in holocaustera. As the leader of a group of rescue activists in holocaustera budapest. After the war, kasztner emigrated to israel, where in 1956 he was stunningly convicted of collaborating with the nazis more than a decade before.
The true story of rezso kasztner, unknown hero of the holocaust, and a memoir, the storyteller. George soros and billionaire philanthropy, the ghosts of europe, kasztners train. Yes, the interesting thing is after the kastner trains arrival in switzerland, kastner went to switzerland and never returned to hungary even though tens of thousands of jews in budapest were. Why did rabbi teitelbaum hate the zionists if they saved. The last train is the harrowing true story about young brothers paul and oscar arato and their mother, lenke, surviving the nazi occupation during the final years of world war ii. At the initiative of the offspring of the survivors of kastners train and others, an annual gathering in memory of him has been held for the past five years in the context of holocaust remembrance day.
Kastner train passengers, travelling from budapest, via the. She was a girl of 15, experienced in hardship and tribulations, who escaped nazioccupied hungary. Known for, saving 1,684 jews on the kastner train, who were otherwise destined for auschwitz. After several months i picked up the book again and didnt dwell on trying to. Anna porters most recent book is in other words, a memoir of life in the publishing trenches. She had left budapest with 2 children and came back with 4. On quest to clear kasztner, historian shocked to prove nazi.
The confounding case of the kastner trains and kolozsvar. I struggled through the first half of the book as it was overloaded with details and characters. The allegations culminated in kastner being accused in a newsletter of having been a nazi collaborator. For anyone wanting to take a different approach to understanding the holocaust, an intensive read of anna porters kasztners train might yield some promising results. Two years later he was murdered outside his home in tel aviv. The train was named after rudolf kastner, a jewishhungarian lawyer and journalist, who was a founding member of the budapest aid and rescue committee, a group that smuggled jews out of occupied europe during the holocaust. He was around 11, sister 9 and his mother pregnant. One reason for this was the influence exerted by kastners friend yosef lapid, the late journalist and politician who served as chairman of yad vashem. The train was named after rudolf kastner, a hungarianjewish lawyer and journalist, who was a founding member of the budapest aid and rescue committee, a group that smuggled jews out of occupied europe during the holocaust.
The affair has spawned more than 10 books, a theater play and a television film. Living in the town of karcag, hungary, the aratos feel insulated from the war even as it rages all around them. Holocaust survivors and victims database list of about. Kastner negotiated with adolf eichmann, the german ss officer in charge of deporting hungarys jews to auschwitz in germanoccupied poland, to allow over 1,600 jews to escape in exchange for gold, diamonds, and cash. Rudolf kastner, a journalist and lawyer from the town of kolozsvar in then hungary, todays cluj in romania, cut a deal with eichmann to free about 1,700 hungarian and romanian jews from certain. The primary source for this name register is the original listing.
Note that the kastner train started out as a particularist zionist venture. Books have been written applauding him as an unknown hero of the holocaust. The instructions were usually carried out by the ssnco escorting the train. The western world and the news of the holocaust the warsaw ghetto uprising jewish fighting kovno, vilno, lodz, and minsk western european jewry jewish reacttion and resistance in other countries the reaction in palestine and the slovakian affair. In mid1944, rudolph kastner, the zionist representative in budapest, negotiated with adolph eichmann for a train comprised of 750 zionists to leave hungary.
Kasztners train consisted of 35 cattle trucks that left budapest on 30 june 1944, carrying 1,684 jews to the bergen belsen concentration camp in germany. The last train is a nonfiction story regarding the holocaust. The film attempts to rehabilitate kastners image as the executer of one of the most successful rescues of jews during the holocaust. The trial the first great holocaust trial held in israel began in early 1954 and lasted for a year. For this book he received the austrian holocaust memorial award 2012. He has written about his experience in dealing with satan. World heritage encyclopedia, the aggregation of the largest online encyclopedias. A small committee headed by otto komoly, chairman of the relief and rescue committee, kasztner, and other hungarian jewish leaders selected the passengers for the rescue transport.
The true story of rezso kaztner, unknown hero of the holocaust by anna porter. Holocaust trains wikimili, the best wikipedia reader. Bogdanors new book, kasztners crime, published in october, sets out. The court ruled that kastner, by keeping hungarian jewry ignorant of the nazi plans for their extermination in exchange for freedom for his colleagues, had indeed sold his soul to the devil. This book looks at the background to a story about a group of hungarian jews who miraculously survived the nazis attempts to exterminate them in the summer of 1944. According to the plaque, kastner saved the lives of 20,000 people, in addition to the 2,000 who were on the famous train. Kasztner himself did not get on the train, but survived the war and.
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