The Extraordinary Story Behind One Family's Escape From the Holocaust

Rabbi Aryeh Shechter zt"l once shared the remarkable story of how his family was saved from the Holocaust through unwavering faith in Hashem.

"It was the year 5690, several years before the Nazis came to power," Rabbi Shechter recalled. "My mother forged birth certificates stating that she and my father had been born in Hungary. Without those documents, they would have been expelled from Hungary, while Poland would not have accepted them. From there, highway robbers would likely have finished the job.

"But the forgery was discovered by the authorities, and what followed were long, exhausting legal proceedings. The threat of imprisonment hung constantly over my parents, who were then raising eleven children."

"I Don't Need a Lawyer"

The trials dragged on for eight years.

"After years of court hearings and even periods of imprisonment, the final trial finally arrived. Before the hearing, my father asked his lawyer what he thought the outcome would be.

"'If we can reduce the sentence to six years in prison,' the lawyer replied, 'that would be considered a tremendous success.'

"When my father heard that, he paid the lawyer in full but asked him not to appear in court. 'I'll represent myself,' he said.

"The lawyer was astonished, but respected his wishes. After all, he was receiving full payment without having to spend the day in court."

When the day of the trial arrived, Rabbi Shechter's father stood before the judge alone.

"'Where is your lawyer?' the judge asked. 'Who will represent you?'

"'I don't need a lawyer,' my father replied calmly. 'I will represent myself.'

"'Very well,' the judge said. 'What do you have to say in your defense?'

"My father answered with complete confidence: 'Hashem runs the world. He is the One Who places thoughts into the minds of honorable judges and words into their mouths. Therefore, I turn to the Creator of the world and ask that He place in the minds of the honorable judges the merit to acquit me and bring forth a true and just verdict.'"

"Is There Any Greater Declaration of Ein Od Milvado?"

Reflecting on the incident, Rabbi Shechter said:

"Is there any declaration of Ein Od Milvado greater or more powerful than this?

"After eight years of suffering through hearings, court appearances, and imprisonment, my father knew this was the decisive trial. Yet he stood before the judge without fear and openly declared that he relied on no one but the Creator of the world, trusting that whatever Hashem decided would be for the best."

The judge was deeply moved.

"He announced a short recess because he needed time to compose himself. About fifteen minutes later, he returned to the courtroom and said emotionally, 'Mr. Shechter, you are a man of noble character. I release you from all guilt. You are completely innocent.'

"He then read the verdict acquitting my father of every charge."

At the same time, however, the judge ruled that within one year the family would have to close its businesses in Hungary and leave the country.

A Miracle That Saved an Entire Family

"The trial took place in 5698, on the eve of World War II, when obtaining permission to immigrate to either the Land of Israel or the United States was almost impossible.

"My father asked to speak once more and said to the judge, 'You are ordering me to leave Hungary, but no country will accept my family.'

"The judge replied, 'You are right. I therefore place the responsibility on the Hungarian government to arrange visas for your entire family to the United States or immigration certificates for the Land of Israel.'

"My father lived with complete faith in Ein Od Milvado. Nothing distracted him or weakened that burning faith. And indeed, he merited to witness open Divine providence and extraordinary miracles throughout his life."

On the fourth of Nisan, 5699, the family arrived safely in the Land of Israel.

Three years later, the full scope of the Holocaust began to emerge. A few years after that, Rabbi Shechter's family learned that nearly all of their relatives who had remained in Europe had been murdered.

"My parents were saved from the Nazi inferno, and here in the Land of Israel they welcomed their twelfth child. Today, they have more than two thousand descendants. Three of my brothers-in-law became among the great Torah leaders of the generation: Rabbi Avraham Reisner, Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch, Raavad of the Eidah HaChareidis and a renowned posek halacha, and Rabbi Yechezkel Bartler zt"l, a distinguished Torah scholar and one of the leading disciples of the Chazon Ish.

"Had our family not been forced to leave Hungary, who knows what would have become of us? But even more than that, had my mother not possessed such extraordinary mesirut nefesh, and had those eleven children not been born under the impossible conditions of those years, what would have remained of our family?"

Rabbi Shechter concluded that the segulah of Ein Od Milvado lies in strengthening one's awareness that Hashem alone governs the world and that no force can override His will. Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin, the foremost disciple of the Vilna Gaon, writes in Nefesh HaChaim that when a person internalizes this truth with complete faith and expresses it sincerely, they awaken Divine mercy. Hashem then comes to their aid, removing harsh decrees and protecting them from forces that seek to harm them.