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Historicus Hasidicus
9,149 posts
Historicus Hasidicus
@hasidicus
Jewish History, Torah, Books, Yiddish, Etymology, Puns, and more
Joined January 2020
- An iconic image: A group of Jewish soldiers in the German Army gather on a frosty Chanukah in 1916 to kindle the menorah and warm themselves by its light. But who is the chaplain in the center? I believe I have the answer.
- “L’chaim—To Life” from a Japanese performance of Fiddler on the Roof.
00:00 - Replying to @hasidicusIn the ghetto, Lilli died of malnutrition and exhaustion in 1942, while Siegfried was killed in Auschwitz in 1944 — by the very government he had so faithfully served. ㅤהשם יקום דמו.
- “I decided, being Jewish, I better go straight in. I didn't want to look like a coward…” Harold “Hal” Baumgarten, a D-Day veteran whose recollections inspired the opening scenes of Saving Private Ryan, recalls saying the Shema out loud while storming Omaha Beach.
00:00 - Replying to @hasidicusI began by looking for pictures of German-Jewish military chaplains, or feldrabbiner (usually Reform clergy). There weren’t that many, so I figured that the man in the Chanukah picture was bound to have been photographed elsewhere. Lo and behold, a match:
- Replying to @hasidicusSo who was the intrepid feldrabbiner? Siegfried Klein was born in Rheydt, Germany, in 1882. He pursued rabbinic studies at the Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums in Berlin, and got his PhD at Freiburg on the topic of “Death and Burial in the Tannaitic Era.”
- Replying to @hasidicusSadly, the tale has a tragic ending. After Kristallnacht, Hanna and Julius were sent to England on a Kindertransport, but their parents were later deported to the Lodz Ghetto. Siegfried and Julius at their home in Düsseldorf in better times:
- Jewish boys show their Auschwitz concentration camp tattooes as they arrive in Haifa on July 15, 1945.
- Replying to @hasidicusKlein was drafted during World War I and served for over a year at the front, where he received the Iron Cross. He was then appointed and served as feldrabbiner from 1916 to 1918. Here he is in his office in 1916.
- Replying to @hasidicus[By the way, feldrabbiner wore the same military caps as other chaplains, but had a Star of David on their visors instead of a cross. Alternatively, they wore their religious ID around their neck, like Jacob Sonderling of Hamburg or Sali Levi of Breslau (who had both).]
- Replying to @hasidicusIn addition, as mentioned, Klein was the recipient of the Iron Cross award. The ribbon can be seen in the Chanukah photo, attached to the second buttonhole in his tunic — as was customary for everyday wear.
- Replying to @hasidicusAfter the war, he became a rabbi in Düsseldorf, and married Lilli Plotke in 1920. The couple had two children, Hanna and Julius.
- Replying to @hasidicusRabbi Dr. Siegfried Klein served faithfully, and fulfilled his duties as chaplain to the best of his abilites. Here, he's pictured (far right) with other soldiers on the western front during WWI.
