The Rabbi of Kromolow (1) and the Rabbi of Zawiercie, Rabbi Shlomo Elimelech Rabinowitz (2) coming out of Katowicz railway station [Zawiercie Book of Remembrance]
“At the end of 1943, the Nazis also transferred our camp to Fünfteichen. In January 1945, when the Red Army marched in the direction of Breslau, the Nazis led our camp on foot to the main camp in Grossrosen…
After a few days of bloody wanderings we arrived in the main camp of Grossrosen. There we found many thousands of inmates from Auschwitz. There wasn’t any place to lie down, not even on the floor. Here, in Grossrosen, I found the Zawiercie Rabbi, Rav Shlomo Elimelech. Despite the fact that he was physically completely broken, he was filled with optimism and faith that the end of Nazis is coming near. He recounted to me how the Zawiercie residents in Auschwitz had helped him. Zawiercie girls used to smuggle flour to him. They even managed to bake him challot for Rosh Hashanah…
When we had to leave Grossrosen on another death-march, the Rabbi – who was unable to walk – remained behind. The SS shot him dead.”
