Upon the Altar of Kiddush Hashem

Can we begin to enumerate the instances of tremendous kiddush Hashem that occurred during the dreadful days of the Holocaust? The bachurim who sang Ani Ma’amin on their way to the gas chambers…the tzaddikim who made a brachah of “Al Kiddush Hashem” before they were brutally shot…those who donned their bigdei Shabbos before marching to their deaths, proclaiming “Shema Yisrael” with their last breaths…

In truth, each precious Jew singled out for his Jewishness and killed during the tragic days of the Holocaust died as a kadosh, in the holy fire of kiddush Hashem. This was so even though none of the Jews were given an option of conversion as a means of escaping this fate.

In Holiness in the Holocaust, noted talmid chacham Rabbi Zalman Hillel Fendel z”l sheds light on the fundamental concept of what constitutes a death al kiddush Hashem—analyzing it and showing us the Torah wisdom of our revered gedolim, both of past generations and contemporary, on this elusive topic.

Read awe-inspiring accounts of the final days and destruction of Litvishe and Chassidic towns across Europe, as so many Torah leaders and their communities prepared for their very final mitzvah. Understand the compelling connection between the Holocaust and the gezeirah of Purim; the striking similarities of the edict of Haman and Achashveirosh, and the Final Solution with the silence of the Western world; the significance of the word “Yehudi” and its bearing on why all six million Jews who were killed during the Holocaust are considered harugei malchus.

A fascinating and inspiring work, this book is a must-read for every thinking Jew.

By Rav Zalman Hillel Fendel