Chaim Danzinger, the beloved Rav of Rostov Russia, took a large group of children to an obscure location for camp. The Rav wanted a mountainous area for the retreat, but little did he know why he chose that exact place.
“You’re the first Jews I’ve seen here in a really long time. Can you do me a favor?” Kabzir, the owner of the campsite, asked me.
“A few minutes away, just up the hill, is a massacre site, where the Nazis killed Jewish orphaned children during the Holocaust. Perhaps you can go there and pray to honor the children?”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Kabzir and I walked the short distance up the hill to the small memorial while he shared this shocking story with me.
“The Jewish orphanage from Leningrad was evacuated to this area, assuming the Nazis wouldn’t make it all the way here to these mountains. But they were wrong.
“When the Karachay villagers understood that the Nazis were approaching, the elders of the community met, and made the difficult decision to adopt as many Jewish orphans as possible, to save their lives. Even if it meant risking their own.
“The Gestapo caught wind of this, and warned them that any family caught harboring Jewish children would be shot dead.
“But they did it anyway. They changed the children’s names to Karachay names and hid them in their basements and attics.
“32 children were heroically saved.
“But tragically, the remaining Jewish orphans were marched up this hill, and shot dead right here,” he said, pointing to the memorial.
I looked at the modest memorial, and then read the date on the stone. This horrific massacre took place exactly 80 years ago on December 13, 1942.
Now I understood why we ended up choosing this campsite for our winter retreat.
The next morning we took our group of teens to pray at the memorial site.
In all likelihood, this was the first time Kaddish and Jewish prayers were recited in this remote area. By a group of Jewish children who had come to spend shabbat together and celebrate their Judaism.
“Eighty years ago, these precious orphaned children died sanctifying Hashems name.”
“Our job,” I told our group of teens, “is to LIVE sanctifying Hashems name.”
We will never forget.
Am Israel Chai.
