Rabbi Hershel Schacter,1917-2013, was a prominent American Rabbi with a distinguished career in the rabbinate and in public Jewish life. During World War II, he was a chaplain in the Third Army's VIII Corps and was the first US Army Chaplain to enter and participate in the liberation of the Buchenwald concentration .

camp on April 11, 1945, very shortly after it had been liberated by Gen. George Patton's troops. While other American personnel begged to leave Buchenwald due to the unbearable stench, Rabbi Schacter remained there for months, tending to survivors and leading religious services. Never once did he ever mention any bad odor to anyone. His tremendous devotion to his fellow Jews and their religious needs was his supreme goal; everything else was trivial.

Rabbi Schacter was appalled at the sights that he encountered when entering Buchenwald. He was so shocked that he decided to stay there until he could make a more substantial contribution to his brothers who had survived. There was a young man we’ll call Chatzkel, a former Chasid from Poland who renounced his faith in G-d as a result of the war. Rabbi Schacter befriended Chatzkel and found him intriguing. He empathized greatly with the boy, who had lost his entire family in the war. Chatzkel defiantly told the rabbi about his plans to totally assimilate and live the rest of his life in Germany devoid of any trace of Judaism. Rabbi Schacter listened sympathetically and tried to offer his moral support.

Some time after his arrival in Buchenwald,, Rabbi Schacter organized a train transport for 200 boys to Switzerland. Each boy was issued a special ticket from the Swiss government, and Rabbi Schacter made certain that each boy received it. He also knew that this was a desperate time for these survivors, and they needed to get more boys into Switzerland. So he invited another survivor who was an expert artist to create  additional such tickets. His craftsmanship was such that you could not tell the difference between the original and the copy. Rabbi Schacter distributed the copies, so nearly 400 boys were planning to make the special trip. Rabbi Schacter offered Chatzkel a ticket, but the boy absolutely refused. The day came when the train for Switzerland arrived at Buchenwald. Rabbi Schacter told Chaztkel, “Look, even if you don’t come with us to Switzerland, at least come to see us off when we board the trains”. Chatzkel reluctantly agreed.

A young mother and her small son were desperate to get out of Buchenwald, but babies were not allowed on this transport. No matter, Rabbi Schacter said. “Get on the train, and hide in one of the lavatories. Under no circumstances shall you get out of the door unless I call you personally.” He locked them in after giving them some food to tide them over.

The hundreds of boys made their way onto the train. Rabbi Schacter was rushing to and fro, making sure each boy was accounted for. In between, Rabbi Schacter was scanning the crowd, wondering if Chatzkel would show up. As the train was ready to depart, Chatzkel came up to shake the rabbi’s hand. “Chatzkel, it’s so nice of you to come and say goodbye!” And with that, he grabbed Chatzkel’s hand and with a burst of strength that surprised both of them, he hauled Chatzkel onto the train in a smooth motion, just as it began to pull out of the station! Chatzkel was shocked and furious, and Rabbi Schacter told him he just did it on impulse, but to please not be so angry. It didn’t help. Chatzkel was steaming!

Finally, the train made its way to Switzerland; an adventure in itself. The Swiss tried to protest the fact that there was double the number of boys they expected, but Rabbi Schacter got them to back down. He simply threatened to call a press conference to tell the world that Switzerland is refusing entry to destitute war orphans. The mother and child also made it safely without incident. Some time after their arrival Rabbi Schacter attempted to put together a minyan on Shabbos. There was no problem for Shacharis but there was for Mincha. He could only find nine men, including himself.

He did not give up. He remember Chatzkel. Rabbi Schacter quickly found the young man, who was still cursing his lot at having been hijacked.

“Chatzkel, I need you for a minyan.”

“Are you crazy? Absolutely not!”

“But we only have nine. We need a minyan in order to daven and lein.”

“Oh really? Well, YOU need a minyan. I do not!” And with that, he lit up a cigarette.

Rabbi Schacter would not stop now. “Chatzkel, I’m begging you. Just come in to the tent - we’ll daven quickly”.

In a huff, Chatzkel replied, “Fine! Just this once!” He entered the makeshift shul with a scowl.     

They started Ashrei, and said Uva L’Tziyon, followed by Kaddish. All the while, Chatzkel made sure everyone knew how unhappy he was. Rabbi Schacter then took out the precious Sefer Torah, rolled it to the correct parasha, and asked if any of the men knew how to lein. They all shook their heads, and Chatzkel was looking longingly outside the tent, apparently distracted. “What now?” thought Rabbi Schacter.

Suddenly, he remembered something.

“Chatzkel!”

“What do you want.”

“Didn’t you tell me you were a ba’al koreh before the war?”

“Maybe. So what.”

“So you’re the only one of us who knows how to lein. We need to hear Krias HaTorah.”

“There you go again with your “We Need To…”. You might need to. I certainly don’t!”

“Chatzkel, please! This is the first chance in years for people to hear the leining after being denied the chance. I’m begging you. I know you can do this!”

With extreme reluctance, Chatzkel threw his cigarette outside, and approached the table. He cast an expert glance at the unrolled Sefer Torah and immediately found the starting point. “Okay,” he sighed. “Let’s get on with it.”

Another man was called to the Torah and made the blessing. “...who has chosen us from all other nations and given us the Torah….”  

“Amen,” Chatzkel found himself saying automatically. It came back so easily. Chatzkel began to read the sacred text. Without warning, the letters seemed to jump off the page and hit him in the face with full force. He felt as if he was literally being struck with the powerful black letters. They seared his soul.

Chatzkel’s angry veneer had been shattered. He broke down crying like a baby, and barely got through the Torah reading.

When he had begun, it had been someone else’s Torah. Now he had reclaimed it. And it had reclaimed him.

Chatzkel was forever changed by that Krias HaTorah. He remained Torah-observant for the rest of his life, and built a beautiful Jewish family in Australia. Chatzkel championed Torah causes in his city, and he stayed a devoted friend to the Schacter family for many decades.

About the author: Shlomo Horwitz is the founding director of Jewish Crossroads, an educational theatre project which has provided creative Torah programming across the US, Canada, England and Israel. A product of Yeshivat Sha'alvim in Israel and a musmach of Yeshivat Ner Yisrael in Baltimore, Shlomo is a CPA and works full-time as a director at a research firm near Washington, DC. He can be reached at shlomo@jewishcrossroads.org.

Shlomo would like to thank Rabbi Jacob J. Schacter, son of Rabbi Herschel, for sharing this story about his father.