Celebrating Chanukah: An Act of Jewish Resistance

On a Friday evening in December 1932 before the start of Shabbat, the Posner family prepared to light the 8th candle on their Chanukiah as they had done on each of the preceding nights. Across the street from their home stood the town hall, a large and imposing work of old-world German architecture. A Nazi flag prominently hung from the side of the building, flapping in the cold December wind.

Already a powerful political party in 1932, the Nazis did not shy away from using anti-semitism as the driving force behind their politics; Rachel Posner considered this as she looked at the menorah prominently displayed in her window in juxtaposition to the flag. Committing one of the earliest documented acts of Jewish resistance to Nazi oppression, she took this photograph, which was subsequently published in a local newspaper.

Rachel Posner was married to Rabbi Akiva Posner, a doctor of philosophy and the only rabbi for the small Jewish community in Kiel, a north German harbor city. Kiel’s congregation of around 500 was not particularly religious, according to Akiva and Rachel’s granddaughter Nava, but Shabbat services were well-attended by Jews and non-Jews alike who wanted to hear Rabbi Posner’s lectures. Though the Nazi party was gaining strength and routinely paraded through the streets, the Posners “were not afraid,” says Nava. It would take another year for that to change.

One year later, Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany, marking the official start of the Third Reich’s twelve-year reign of terror and oppression. That night, the Nazis organized a torchlight parade; thousands poured into the streets to celebrate the appointment, cheering their new Chancellor and waving the flag bearing the Nazi Party’s dreaded emblem – the infamous black swastika.

Two Symbols

Though the swastika had been an ancient symbol of auspice and power¹ in use throughout the entire world for well over ten thousand years, the Nazis co-opted it to symbolize Germany’s racial heritage, connecting with it the racial mythology of the ‘Aryans’ to their future destiny under the Third Reich as conquerors of the world. Nazi propaganda eventually went as far as to state that the swastika in the new German flag symbolized the “victory of the Aryan peoples over Jewry."

By contrast, the Chanukiah has a clear and unambiguous meaning. The miracle of the oil burning for eight days is one of the more popular stories in Jewish tradition, and continues to enjoy almost universal recognition today. The true miracle of Chanukah, however, is the act of defiance and the victorious struggle of a small band of Jewish warriors led by Judah Maccabee² against Greco-Macedonian oppression. The Chanukiah should be proudly displayed in one's window to signify the miracle of the Maccabees' victory. However, this was difficult for Jewish communities in Europe, where the danger of anti-Semitic hostilities was a constant threat.

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Incorporating a line from a popular Nazi youth party anthem of the time, Rachel wrote the following lines on the back of the photo she took:

"Chanukah, 5692.
‘Judea dies’, thus says the banner.
‘Judea will live forever’, thus respond the lights.”
(note that the actual Jewish year was 5693)

The Posners left Germany in 1933, not long after Hitler became Chancellor. In the prior spring, the murder of a local lawyer by a Nazi mob during a nationwide boycott of Jewish businesses shocked the Posners. (Rabbi Posner had to personally see to it that the man was buried properly.) Shortly before he left, Akiva warned his congregation of the Nazi menace and of the ruin it would bring to the German nation, urging them to leave. After the speech, several congregants told him that he was already a marked man.

Kiel’s Jewish population heeded Posner’s advice – of the 500 Jews that lived in Kiel, only eight died in the concentration camps; the rest had emigrated. After leaving, the Posners eventually settled in Jerusalem, where Akiva helped build a synagogue and a library, and where their descendants live to this day.

The swastika symbol, heralding death to Judaea, is banned in many European countries, and its use is illegal in Germany. The Chanukiah that sat in the Posners’ window in Kiel is on year-round display at Yad Vashem – except for the eight days of Chanukah, when the family proudly displays its lights in the window of their home.

Akiva Baruch Mansbach, the great-grandchild of Rabbi Akiva Baruch Posner (z''l) and a soldier in the IDF, salutes the family Chanukiah.

The original photograph is featured in JPEF's Tactics of Resistance lesson plan and E-Learning module.

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1. The origins of the swastika are shrouded in speculation – its twisted form is hypothesized to represent the sun, the seasons, the elements, or perhaps even the tail of a comet. To the Kuna people of Panama, it is the octopus that created the world. Though Hitler “personally” adopted the symbol in the 1920s, it was in use by German populist – or völkisch – movements long before that (including the quasi-occult Thule society, which had numerous ties with the Nazi party). The aforementioned Kuna – who assumed autonomy from the rest of Panama in 1930 – are the only ones who still use the swastika on their flag. In 1942, they added a nose ring to the center to distance themselves from the Nazis.

2. It is said that Judah received his surname, which may be interpreted as “hammer”, because of his ferocity in battle.

Jewish Partisan Faye Schulman turns 101 years old today!

"Pictures of Resistance" is an international success!

It’s hard to believe that this incredible woman is 101 years old. I am honored to have had the opportunity to spend some time with Ms. Schulman when she travelled all the way, by herself, to Israel for the opening international premiere of “Pictures of Resistance” last November.

I was struck by how I could still see that beautiful girl, that one who pushed herself beyond the limits of self - fighting the Nazi’s, that girl who was afraid of blood but helped endlessly as a doctor’s aide in the forest ,and fearsomely documenting the experience. That young woman radiates through her being.

One of Ms. Schulman proudest accomplishments remains the three lives she directly saved including the young Jewish girl who was eight years old whose life she saved by negotiating for hours with her commander to allow the child to serve in the partisan unit as her aide until she could be safely airlifted out of the woods to relatives in Moscow.

There is so much to update on “Pictures of Resistance” since our last blog post. “Pictures of Resistance: The Wartime Photography of Jewish Partisan Faye Schulman” is one of the best ways that JPEF can reach thousands of people in communities all over the world, some of whom have never heard of the Jewish partisan experience. The images are a visual testament to the thousand of Jewish boys and girls who heroically fought against the Nazi’s and shatters the myth of Jewish passivity during the Holocaust.

“Pictures of Resistance” has exhibited in nine cities around the world including Zurich, Switzerland and Tel Aviv, Israel. It continues to draw international acclaim and media attention, bringing JPEF’s work to more and more communities. The exhibit is now in Santa Barbara, Calif.

( Captivated viewers at "Pictures of Resistance" in Berkeley, CA)

In March 2009 “Pictures of Resitance” exhbitied again in the United States in Berkeley, California.

The event was a smash hit and covered in the Jewish Week. Many longtime JPEf supporters and board members coming out to view the incredible photographs they had heard so much about.

( JPEF Founding Board Member Michael Grossman and board co-chair Paul Orbuch in Berkeley)

Yom Hashoah 2009 “Pictures of Resistance “ had both a national and international viewing, Internationally a selection of the photos were on view in Tel Aviv at a special event for survivors, partisans , their children and children’s children sponsored by “Second Generation".

Nationally the exhibit was on view at the Columbia/Barnard Hillel. Faye was the keynote speaker to a standing room only audience at the closing reception.

Simon Klarfield, Hillels’ Exectuive Director had this to say about the exhibit, "The vital history of the Jewish Partisans has to be taught to the ‘next generation’, and the exhibit allows for students to raise essential questions regarding heroism, justice, ethics of war, the power of a few, and the list goes on."

(Faye speaking to a standing room only crowd at Columbia University)

Most recently “Pictures of Resistance” was in Memphis, Tennessee. Barb Gelb, Temple Israel’s Director of Education, reported, “Everyone’s reaction has been positive – just blown away by the exhibit. Many people have never heard of partisans before. Our students have learned so much and our teachers have learned so much, especially from the training workshop. Our sisterhood had an amazing presentation. We are thrilled to be able to participate in this.” While in Memphis received some press including this article in the Commercial Appeal.

Some of the most exciting things with the exhibit have been happening overseas. This summer at version of the exhibit was translated into Polish and is showing at the Galicia Jewish Museum in Poland.

( Curator Jill Vexler in Poland with "Pictures of Resistance" )

A new donor brought JPEF to Zurich, including Aron Bell (last surviving Bielski brother) and our photo exhibit. The exhibit was made just for this one night's screening and showing, and brought in from Poland where we had it fabricated, then driven 12 hours to Zurich for the evening. Mitch ran a Q& A to a sold out crowd of 500 people and then a private tour of the exhibit with many key people in the Zurich Jewish community. We now have a second copy of the exhibit to begin touring the US in 2010!

("Pictures of Resistance" on display in Zurich, Switzerland)

Future exhibitions will be in Palm Beach Gardens, Miami, Atlanta , South Africa and Toronto. Toronto is Faye’s “hometown” and she will no doubt the star of the 2010 Yom HaShoah programming built around this exhibit.

In Israel, Faye explained to me how she came to live in Toronto. After the war people simply put their names on lists in the DP camps. Whatever place was willing to take you first is where you went. Faye is somewhat of a community treasure and local hero in Toronto, however she confided in my how she always wanted to live in Israel. JPEF is so honored to have been able to bring “Pictures of Resistance” to both of Faye’s “hometowns”. Yom Heuledit Sameach Faye!

Pictures of Resistance was made possible by: Thomas and Johanna Baruch, the Epstein/Roth Foundation, the Koret Foundation, the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation the Taube Foundation for Jewish Life & culture, Diane and Howard Wohl, and the Holocaust Council of MetroWest.