Prayer book

Identifier
irn7134
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 1992.8.7
Dates
1 Jan 1939 - 31 Dec 1939
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • Hebrew
Source
EHRI Partner

Creator(s)

Biographical History

Sally (Sol) Ossowski was born on January 1, 1919, in Berlin, Germany, to Frieda Schwartzbardt, born in 1888, and Rabbi Issac Ossowski, born in 1877 in Lubraniez, Poland. Sol had two brothers, Leo, born on April 1, 1913, and Joseph, born in 1914, in Pfungstadt, and a sister, Nettie. His father was a prominent and active member of the Jewish community, serving as a shochet [ritual slaughterer], mohel [practioner of ritual circumcision], sofer [scribe], and cantor. The family attended the Alte Schul synagogue where Sol sang in the choir. He attended the Jewish Community School for Boys until he was 14 years old and was active in sports, plays, and clubs. By the early 1930s, and especially after Hitler's appointment as Chancellor in 1933, Sol noticed a change within society as people’s attitudes towards Jews began to change in response to the anti-Semitic policies of the Nazi government. The Ossowski family was the target of anti-Semitic behaviours and attacks, much of this due to his father's prominent position within the Jewish community. Some of Sol's friends stopped playing with him and neighbors no longer said hello. Members of the Hitler Youth attacked Sol on the subway, yelling “Jew, get out”, and attempted to open the doors of the moving train; Sol escaped, but not one person helped him. One day as they were on their way to temple, two SS (Schutzstaffel; Protection Squadrons) guards took Sol, his brothers, and father into the basement of a bar. Sol managed to escape, but was captured and returned; a neighbour talked the SS into letting them go. Another time, the SS forced their way into their home looking for contraband. As a result of this incident, Sol decided he wanted to leave Germany. Isaac supported this decision and made arrangements for him to attend seminary outside of Germany. Sol left in 1934 for a yeshiva in Ponevezh (Panevezys), Lithuania. He wanted to emigrate to Palestine and help establish a Jewish state. His brother, Joseph, got a visa for the United States with the help of a cousin, and emigrated in 1936. He sent Sol money for his living expenses. In December 1936, Sol received a letter from the German government requiring German citizens to register with the embassy in Kaunas and to hand in their passports. He was terrified that if he complied he would be stateless and unable to leave Lithuania. Sol believed emigration to Palestine was no longer an option. An Arab revolt in 1936 resulted in the British severely limiting immigration. He discussed his plight with Rabbi Kahaneman, the head of the Yeshiva. They decided that Sol should apply to the Tree of Life seminary in London. Sol no longer felt safe in Lithuania. Pro-Nazi groups were active in the country and anti-Semitism was growing stronger throughout the country. He decided to go into hiding in the Jasnegurke forest in January 1937. A farmer allowed him to live in his barn. Food was brought to him by the Green family whom he had lived with while in school. The mother, a cook at the Yeshiva, made food for Sol which her daughter brought to him. Once he received his acceptance letter from the seminary in June 1937, Sol came out of hiding and left for London via Denmark. He stayed for one week in Copenhagen with a local Rabbi before securing a ticket to London from the Joint Distribution Committee, a Jewish humanitarian assistance organization that aided German Jews in their flight from Nazi Europe. He entered England on a student visa in June 1937. Sol’s parents and sister left Germany for the United States via Belgium in 1938, having changed their name from Ossowski to Oster. Sol completed university and emigrated to the U.S. in 1939. He married Frieda Perl on December 20, 1947, and they had a son. He was the longest tenured rabbi at Temple Beth Israel-Shaare Zedek in Lima, Ohio, serving for more than 40 years. He retired in 1992, and was bestowed the honor of rabbi emeritus by his congregation. Leo died in 2008, Joseph in 2009, and his wife, Frieda, in 2011. Sol died on August 25, 2011, in Hilliard, Ohio at age 92.

Shalom Dantziger was born in Poland in 1817(?). He attended Yeshiva in Russia and became a scholar and a mohel, a person trained to perform brit milah [ritual circumcision]. Rabbi Dantziger was a member of the Chewra Mohlem [Association of Mohels]. He first settled in Stettin, Germany, then moved to Berlin where he died and was buried in 1915, age 98 years.

Acquisition

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Sol Oster

Scope and Content

Prayer book from the library of Sol Oster. The book was given to him as a present by his maternal great-uncle, Shalom Dantziger who had used the book for years himself. Dantziger was a mohel in Berlin, Germany, in the early 20th century. In 1933, Hitler was elected Chancellor of Germany and by the summer, the Nazi dictatorship was firmly established. Increasingly severe sanctions were placed upon Jews. Sol’s father, Isaac, was a prominent member of a major synagogue in Berlin and the family was targeted repeatedly by the SS (Schutzstaffel; Protection Squadrons.) Fourteen year old Sol told his father that he wanted to leave Germany to attend a seminary and, in 1934, he was sent to a yeshiva in Ponevezh,( Panevezys)Lithuania. In December 1936, Sol received a notice to register with the German embassy. Afraid that his passport would be confiscated, Sol applied to a seminary in London and went into hiding. Friends from the yeshiva and a local farmer provided him food and a place to stay. In June 1937, he received his acceptance letter which he needed to get a student visa for England. After completing his studies in London in 1939, he joined his family in the United States, where they had emigrated between 1936 and 1938.

Conditions Governing Access

No restrictions on access

Conditions Governing Reproduction

No restrictions on use

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Brown leather covered book with discolored white paper with Hebrew text in black ink and the title on a paper label glued to the spine. There is a page with Hebrew text glued horizontally to the back inside cover. Title: : עיר הציון [Gates of Zion] / Description. ; 14 cm.

front endpaper, stamped in purple ink : Danziger. . . Berlin

Subjects

Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.