Boker tov! We`re on our way to Debrecen, eastward, ultimately to the Carpathian mountains. The bus ride was with anticipation and tefilah that the experience for everybody would be fulfilling. The morning sky was very overcast and foggy, reminiscent of the gloomy days of deportation and encampment. We rode for miles, wondering both how the Jews found these places, and especially how the Nazis went out of their way to find us and torture us.
We arrived at Debrecen to a welcoming hot breakfast at the Jewish Community center and it was kosher lemehadrin. We heard some words about the Baal Shem Tov in order to give a perspective on the wholly Chassidic lifestyle of this region of the world in Eastern Europe.
We then went next door to the shul which was of course inspiring. We did Kriyas Hatorah with a minyan including some of the old, but current members of the shul, which greatly elevated them, especially since we read from their newly dedicated sefer torah!
We then went to the back of the shul where it was heated, and listened to a compelling talk from a young female leader in the Jewish community. She told us the history of the Hungarian Jewish settlers until the shoah, and after. We saw in the courtyard of the shul an outdoor cholent warming oven which was very “warming” for all of us to see. We walked towards one of the old orthodox shuls under renovations, with old mosaic drawings still remaining on the ceiling. It promises to be a beautiful reconstruction. In the courtyard of this shul was also the shechita house where the chickens used to be slaughtered according to Halacha. It was also being renovated for further Jewish functions.
Part of the chesed that we did was dusting and sorting out many of the old siddurim and sefarim that were used over many years. One member of the group even found a machzor used by her uncle!
We left Debrecen heading into the “night” of Satmar and Sighet well into the Carpathian mountains. We arrived at Satu-mare ,”big village” at sunset and went straight to the large shul which only functions now as a concert hall. Next door was the smaller and slightly newer shul erected in the 1920s. This is the shul that is now used by Satmar chassidim when they come for yartzheits of their rebbe’s who are buried in Sighet. There, we also davened maariv. One chilling feeling we got in this shul was from the placard at the front of the ark which had written on it the Parshat Hashavua which happened to be Acharei Mot-Kedoshim, the last time these holy congregants davened in this shul, before they were transported to Aushwitz, one week after Pesach 1944. 18,000 Jews in Satmar no longer, save for about 100-200 remotely affiliated Jews. On the way to Sighet that evening we utilized the time on the long bus ride to watch on the overhead screen an interview of our aunt. She described her life in Sighet before the war, the horrors of the ghetto and camps, and her amazing fortitude in starting her life again after the war in Europe and then America. ~ Lenny
