Holocaust survivors from Holland and Israel, many with tears in their eyes, joined residents in the Golan Heights city of Katzrin to dedicate a Torah scroll in memory of a fellow survivor who, because of the horrors inflicted on her in a Nazi concentration camp, died childless.
The gathering last week at the Chabad-Lubavitch center in Katzrin drew to a close the saga of Marta de Lange, who passed away almost a year ago in Canada. The Holland native survived medical torture at the hands of Josef Mengele – which left her sterile – only to learn that her entire family, her fiancé, and most of his family had perished during World War II.
After the war, she reestablished contact with what little family of Baruch van Gelder was left.
“She overcame horrific situations,” related Shlomit Shwartz, van Gelder’s great-niece and co-director of the Chabad House that hosted the Torah dedication ceremony. “She knew that she would never have children.”
Shifra Morozov, Shwartz’s mother and a Holocaust survivor herself, remembered reuniting with de Lange as both joyous and heartrending.
“I was staying with distant relatives who were miraculously spared,” said Morozov. “There I met Marta again.
“In the dark of the night,” continued Morozov, “she would spill out her heart and tell me about what she went through. She worked with a group of young girls who were forced to push women into the gas chambers.”
De Lange eventually moved overseas and Morozov went to live in Israel, and the pair lost touch. But 22 years ago, they crossed paths yet again when de Lange visited the Holy Land.
Source of Happiness
So was ignited a regular correspondence between the two women, who sent letters to each other, spoke on the telephone, and exchanged birthday flowers and gift baskets during Purim.
Last year, however, the letters from Toronto ceased, leaving Morozov worried. A letter from de Lange’s neighbor confirmed Morozov’s fears.
The neighbor wrote that despite her lonely state, “Marta was the source of happiness and encouragement in the neighborhood.”
“She did not reveal what she went through [to her friends],” stated Morozov.
The letter also relayed details of de Lange’s will, which named Morozov as a beneficiary. Morozov, in turn, used the money to dedicate the Torah scroll in her friend’s name.
Housed in a holy ark at the Chabad House, the Torah is draped in a cover bearing a verse from Psalms: “From the depths, I called to you, G‑d.”
“This is the cry of the Jewish soul,” Morozov said in explaining the choice of the verse.
To find out the Hebrew names of de Lange’s parents, which are also written on the Torah’s cover, Morozov reached out to an organization in Holland that scoured records the Nazis kept of their victims.
In Katzrin, after people lined up to write the last letters in the holy scroll with the help of a ritual scribe, the crowd danced with the Torah outside. A traditional canopy sheltered the scroll from the rain.
“From the time we went outside to when we entered the synagogue, it didn’t stop raining,” said Shwartz. “It was like the tears of angels deeply moved by the ceremony.”
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