The Singer’s Mission
In 1995, an elegantly dressed, elderly woman, entered the office of Rabbi Yakov Biederman, the Rebbe's emissary to Austria. She introduced herself as Marguerite Kozenn-Chajes, a retired opera singer and the first emissary of the Lubavitcher Rebbe to Vienna! "I know you think you are the Rebbe's first one here," she quipped, "but in fact I am!"
Mrs. Kozenn-Chajes began her story. Her ancestors had been the holy Vishnitzer Rebbes. As a young woman she left her home in Czernowitz and travelled to Vienna where she eventually became a successful opera singer.
Mrs. Kozenn-Chajes performed during the 1930s in the Salzburger Festspiele. When German troops marched into Austria and the annexation of Austria was complete, all Jewish artists were banned from performing. Somehow, Mrs. Kozenn-Chajes was overlooked and actually performed in the Festspiele of 1939. When WWII broke out, friends smuggled her out to Italy and she made it on the last boat to the U.S. She and her husband, a descendant of the famous Maharatz Chajes, settled in Detroit, Michigan.
Years passed. Mrs. Kozenn-Chajes was offered the opportunity to have a private audience with the Lubavitcher Rebbe. "I walked into the Rebbe's room," she related to Rabbi Biederman, "I cannot explain why, but for the first time since the Holocaust, I felt that I could cry. Like so many others who had lost everyone, I had never cried. We knew that if we would start crying, we might never stop. I began sobbing like a baby.
"I shared everything with the Rebbe: Innocent childhood; leaving home; becoming a star in Vienna; performing in front of Hitler; escaping to the U.S.; learning of the murder of my relatives and friends. I also mentioned my strong desire to visit Vienna. The Rebbe asked that before my trip, I meet with him again.
"A few months later on my way to Vienna, I went to the Rebbe. He asked me to visit two people in Vienna and to give them his regards. The first was Viennese Chief Rabbi Akiva Eisenberg and the second was a Jewish professor, Dr. Frankl, at the University of Vienna. The Rebbe asked me to tell Dr. Frankl in his name that he should not give up. He must remain strong and continue his work with vigor and passion. If he continues to remain strong, he will prevail. The Rebbe spoke in this manner for quite a while.
"Once in Vienna, finding Rabbi Eisenberg was simple, but meeting the professor proved far more difficult. When I arrived at the university they informed me that he had not shown up for two weeks and refused to give me more details. I decided to travel to the professor's home.
"A woman opened the door. I asked if the professor was at home. Moments later, a middle aged man came to the door. He looked extremely tense and I felt very awkward. 'I have regards from Rabbi Schneerson in Brooklyn , New York ,' I told him.
" 'Who is this?' he asked impatiently.
" 'Rabbi Schneerson asked me to tell you in his name that you must not give up. You must remain strong and continue your work with unflinching determination and you will prevail. Do not fall into despair. If you march on with confidence, he promised that you will achieve great success.'
"The professor looked at me as if he had seen a ghost; his eyes opened wide in disbelief. He broke down, sobbing like a baby. I did not understand what was going on. I just saw him weeping uncontrollably.
" 'I cannot believe this!' Dr. Frankl said repeatedly as he motioned for me to enter. He calmed down a bit and said, "This rabbi from Brooklyn knew exactly when to send you here. It is a miracle! You have saved me!'
" 'I survived the German death camps,' Dr. Frankl exclaimed, 'and I retained my spirit there. Still I could not survive the merciless derision and taunting of my colleagues undermining my every attempt at progress.' Freud's ideas reigned supreme and Dr. Frankl's were dismissed as unscientific notions of conscience, faith and obligation. It was unpopular for students to attend his courses. 'I was drained and depressed. I fell into a melancholy and decided to quit. I began drafting my resignation papers.
" 'And suddenly, in walks a woman and gives me regards from a Rabbi Schneerson in New York! Somebody in Brooklyn, no less a Chasidic Rebbe, knows about me! He knows my predicament! This is a miracle!'
"Indeed," concluded Mrs. Kozenn-Chajes, "the Rebbe's words came true. Dr. Frankl continued his work and shortly thereafter, he was given a chair at the University. His book Man's Search for Meaning was translated into English and he became one of the most celebrated psychiatrists of the generation. This all happened some 40 years ago. So you see Rabbi Biederman," Mrs. Kozenn-Chajes said with a smile, "I was an emissary of the Rebbe to Vienna many years before you arrived here."
Rabbi Biederman was intrigued. He began investigating and discovered that Victor Frankl was still alive. In fact he had been sending an annual donation to the Chabad House in Vienna! Rabbi Biederman recalls, "I phoned him, introduced myself and asked him if he remembered the regards Marguerite Kozenn-Chajes gave him from Rabbi Schneerson in Brooklyn some 40 years earlier."
" 'I do not remember the woman's name but of course I remember that day! I will never forget it. My gratitude to Rabbi Schneerson is eternal,' He answered emotionally. 'That is why when, a number of years ago, Chabad-Lubavitch established itself here in Vienna, I became a supporter.'
In 2003, Rabbi Dr. Shimon Cowen, a Lubavitcher Chasid from Australia, who is also an expert on Frankl, went to Vienna to visit his son-in-law and widow, a Catholic, born Eleonore Katharina Schwindt. They spoke at length and in response to Rabbi Cowen's question about Frankl's personal observance, she took out a pair of tefilin and tzitzit and showed it to him. "My late husband would put these on each and every day," she said to him. "He would also say Psalms in bed at night."
With thanks to Rabbis Yosef Y. Jacobson, Tuvia Bolton, Dovid Sholom Pape
