I give him my blessing for teaching Torah. May all his deeds be for the good.
Sealed with a true blessing from the Holy Mount, from Jerusalem, may it be
rebuilt speedily in our days,
Avrom Yitzhak Ha-Kohen Kook
(space for the seal of the chief rabbi)h”
“In the year 5700, on the 9th day of the month of Tevet, 21 December 1939, the
rabbi of S[kępe], may he live a long and good life, together with his whole family,
consisting of 8 persons, his wife and 6 young children, had to leave the
town of S[kępe] along with the whole population, leaving behind a property,
a house and furniture, a collection of holy books and other personal effects.
Chairman of the board of the kehillah of S[kępe],
Y.B.P.¹⁵⁴⁹
(space for the seal of the kehillah)”
[38] Torah scrolls imprisoned
In the last days before departure, the shtetl was faced with the question:
“What is to be done with the Torah scrolls?” The rabbi gave his opinion that
a grave in the cemetery should be lined with cement or tin plate, with a sign to
show its location, to prevent the scrolls from being damaged. And when, with
God’s help, they returned, they would be able to dig them up in perfect condition.
However, that turned out to be technically impossible, because the cemetery
watchman was not a Jew and might reveal what had been done. In short,
the Jews placed the scrolls in private Christian homes, entrusting them to
friends who promised to keep them until the Jews returned.
Two Torah scrolls remained to be dealt with. The synagogue sexton I. K.
took one of them somewhere at night, but on the way he was caught by some
Volksdeutsche who beat him badly and took the Torah scroll. It is not known
where it ended up or what became of it. There was one small Torah scroll left,
so they brought it to the rabbi. The rabbi grabbed hold of the last remaining
small Torah scroll. “No! I won’t let this one be taken away in case it should,
God forbid, be damaged,” the rabbi shouted, lifting up the little scroll. “No!
I won’t leave this one behind. I’ll take it with me! I have danced with this
1549 Yankev Borukh Pisarz, chairman of the Jewish community board from 1936.
