Abraham Klausner
Encyclopedia
Abraham Klausner was a Reform
rabbi
and United States Army
captain and chaplain who became a “father figure” for the more than 30,000 emaciated survivors found at Dachau Concentration Camp, 10 miles (16.1 km) northwest of Munich
, shortly after it was liberated on April 29, 1945. He also cared for thousands more left homeless in camps as the victorious Allied Forces determined where they should go.
and was raised in Denver, Colorado
. He attended the University of Denver
and, later, Hebrew Union College
. He joined the United States Army
and worked as a chaplain
.
Klausner wrote letters of protest about conditions in the camp and sent them up the chain of command and to major Jewish organisations in the United States
. He listed every survivor at Dachau and made sure the list was posted at other camps. Klausner collected and published lists of Holocaust survivors in volumes called Sharit ha-Platah (Surviving Remnant).
Klausner established a centre in Munich
to assist survivors. He conducted funeral
rites for the dying and catered to their spiritual needs.
He later wrote a book on the survivors of the Holocaust, including those from the camp at Dachau called "A Letter to My Children, From the Edge of the Holocaust." He also was featured in an Academy Award–winning documentary, The Long Way Home, in 1997.
and was the spiritual leader of a synagogue in Boston.
He was the leader of Temple Emanu-El in Yonkers, New York
for about 25 years, until he retired in 1989 with his wife to Santa Fe, New Mexico
where the rabbi was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease
, from which he died in 2007.
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
and United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
captain and chaplain who became a “father figure” for the more than 30,000 emaciated survivors found at Dachau Concentration Camp, 10 miles (16.1 km) northwest of Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, shortly after it was liberated on April 29, 1945. He also cared for thousands more left homeless in camps as the victorious Allied Forces determined where they should go.
Early life and career
Klausner was born in 1915 in Memphis, TennesseeMemphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
and was raised in Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
. He attended the University of Denver
University of Denver
The University of Denver is currently ranked 82nd among all public and private "National Universities" by U.S. News & World Report in the 2012 rankings....
and, later, Hebrew Union College
Hebrew Union College
The Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion is the oldest extant Jewish seminary in the Americas and the main seminary for training rabbis, cantors, educators and communal workers in Reform Judaism.HUC-JIR has campuses in Cincinnati, New York, Los Angeles and Jerusalem.The Jerusalem...
. He joined the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
and worked as a chaplain
Chaplain
Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...
.
Holocaust
Lieutenant Klausner (he would later be promoted to captain) was one of the first Jewish chaplains in the U.S. Army to enter the Dachau concentration camp after it was liberated in May 1945 with the 116th Evacuation Hospital. He spent several weeks with the 116th while they were stationed at Dachau. He buried holocaust victims that could not be saved after liberation and traveled throughout Bavaria looking for survivors. When the 116th was ordered to move on to an Army rest camp Klausner initially went with them but surreptitiously returned to Dachau against Army orders and told the commander of the 127th Evacuation Hospital unit at Dachau that he had been reassigned. Eventually the 127th would depart Dachau on a day that Klausner was traveling around Bavaria, leaving Klausner's duffel bag on the floor of an empty room.Klausner wrote letters of protest about conditions in the camp and sent them up the chain of command and to major Jewish organisations in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. He listed every survivor at Dachau and made sure the list was posted at other camps. Klausner collected and published lists of Holocaust survivors in volumes called Sharit ha-Platah (Surviving Remnant).
Klausner established a centre in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
to assist survivors. He conducted funeral
Funeral
A funeral is a ceremony for celebrating, sanctifying, or remembering the life of a person who has died. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from interment itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honor...
rites for the dying and catered to their spiritual needs.
He later wrote a book on the survivors of the Holocaust, including those from the camp at Dachau called "A Letter to My Children, From the Edge of the Holocaust." He also was featured in an Academy Award–winning documentary, The Long Way Home, in 1997.
Later career
Klausner later earned a Doctorate in Divinity at Harvard UniversityHarvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
and was the spiritual leader of a synagogue in Boston.
He was the leader of Temple Emanu-El in Yonkers, New York
Yonkers, New York
Yonkers is the fourth most populous city in the state of New York , and the most populous city in Westchester County, with a population of 195,976...
for about 25 years, until he retired in 1989 with his wife to Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...
where the rabbi was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...
, from which he died in 2007.