He also assisted in organizing the transportation of survivors to hospitals and displaced persons camps. In recognition of his tireless efforts, Schacter was awarded the Bronze Star for his service at Buchenwald.
After the war, Schacter returned to the United States and continued his work as a rabbi and community leader. He served as the spiritual leader of the Mosholu Jewish Center in the Bronx for over 50 years, and was actively involved in numerous charitable and educational organizations.
Throughout his life, Schacter remained haunted by his experiences at Buchenwald. He often spoke about the importance of remembering the Holocaust and ensuring that such atrocities never happen again. He was a vocal advocate for Holocaust education and remembrance, and he worked tirelessly to ensure that the survivors’ stories were heard and their memories honored.
Rabbi Herschel Schacter passed away in 2013 at the age of 95, but his legacy lives on. He is remembered as a hero and a champion of justice, compassion, and humanity. His bravery and selflessness in the face of unspeakable horror serve as a shining example of the triumph of the human spirit over darkness.
As we reflect on the anniversary of the liberation of Buchenwald, let us honor the memory of Rabbi Schacter and all those who suffered and perished in the Holocaust. May we never forget the lessons of history and may we always strive to build a world of peace, tolerance, and understanding.
He also convinced US Army officials to set aside a nearby tract of land for a group of young men and women who established “Kibbutz Buchenwald,” a site for agricultural training in preparation for immigrating to the future State of Israel.
When the Swiss government agreed to admit several hundred children, Schacter bent rules and forged documents to include many additional passengers on the train, even hiding mothers in the train cars’ bathrooms so they would not be separated from their children.
Schacter joined them on the long train ride to Switzerland, and emerged victorious from a tense standoff with border officials, who accused him of bringing more orphans than permitted.
The American Jewish military chaplains who were sent to Europe during World War II had no advance warning or training for dealing with survivors of death camps. Schacter rose to the challenges posed by extraordinary and unimaginable circumstances, and the survivors whom he impacted regarded him as having saved their lives.
Schacter’s months in Buchenwald deeply affected his own life as well. In the short run, he served as the voice of the survivors in a coast-to-coast speaking tour in 1946 that drew the American public’s attention to the plight of displaced persons, and the need for a Jewish homeland.
Rabbi Hershel Schacter’s personal connection to the Nazi genocide inspired him to devote his life to Jewish communal service; first as a major figure in the revitalization of American Orthodox Judaism in the 1950s and early 1960s, then as an early leader of the Soviet Jewry protest movement, and finally as the first Orthodox rabbi to chair the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
Through his decades of community leadership, there pulsed a sense of commitment that had been nurtured in the crucible of Buchenwald, where Schacter had witnessed the ultimate, tragic toll of inhumanity.
This essay was adapted from the author’s forthcoming biography of Rabbi Herschel Schacter and originally appeared in the Jerusalem Post.