A Secret Seder in the Death Camp: The Inspiring Holocaust Story of Faith and Freedom

Rabbi Nissen Mangel, a community rabbi in Crown Heights, New York, who survived the Holocaust as a child, shared a powerful story about a Seder night that took place inside an extermination camp.

“It was an ordinary evening like all the others. We were lying on the wooden bunks, 1,200 Jewish prisoners crowded into a single barrack, when suddenly, at eight o’clock at night, a rumor spread that today was Pesach. How did anyone know it was the festival? None of us had a calendar or any connection to the outside world. When we arrived at the camp, the Nazis stripped us of everything. To this day I do not know who managed to calculate the days so precisely and realize that it was the night of our freedom.”

A Spark of Life in the Darkness

“I will never forget the reaction of the prisoners when they heard the news. It was as if a new spirit entered them. Everyone jumped down from the bunks and gathered in the center of the barrack, and I stood among them. We had no matzah, no Haggadot, and none of the symbols of the holiday, yet we decided that we would hold a Seder no matter what. We agreed that each person would say a short passage from the Haggadah that he remembered, and the others would repeat after him.”

“I was the youngest, only ten years old, but I stood up and raised my hands and cried out in Yiddish, ‘Father, I want to ask you the Four Questions.’ I began reciting ‘Why is this night different…?’ and all the prisoners repeated the words with me. Each person felt his own personal slavery within the camp.”

Danger and Defiance

Suddenly the door burst open and an SS officer stormed in shouting, “What is happening here? Why are you gathered? Return to your beds immediately.” Frightened, everyone rushed back to the bunks and pretended to sleep. But as soon as the door closed and the officer disappeared, we rose again and continued singing the Haggadah passages we remembered.

The officer returned later, furious with anger, threatening that if we disobeyed again he would shoot us all. Not long before, he had given his sixteen year old son a cruel birthday “gift,” allowing him to shoot arrows at the eyes of four Jewish prisoners. We knew he was capable of carrying out his threats. Yet no one agreed to stop. Not on this night. Not on a night that carried such meaning for every Jew.

Singing Through the Night

When the officer left once more, we continued singing the Haggadah together, each person whispering his own prayer to God. At ten o’clock the lights were turned off and darkness filled the barrack, but a small dim glow remained in our hearts. Even late at night, when the officer returned raging and shouting, nothing happened to us. Despite everything, he left without harming a single person.

Our unique Seder continued until four in the morning, the hour when we had to go to forced labor. None of us slept that night, yet somehow we worked the next day with unexpected strength and joy.

The Power of a Jewish Soul

Rabbi Mangel later reflected: “Nearly 1,200 people were with me in that barrack. Many considered themselves non-believing Jews, yet not one of them asked us to stop even though we were risking our lives. Each person took part, each person was willing to endanger himself. This illustrates the power of a Jewish soul. Even in moments of danger, a Jew is ready to sacrifice just to feel the light of the soul within.”

“Despite the pain and horrors we endured, for the first time in many days we felt that our souls were truly free.”