In 1941, the Nazis led the Jews of Kelm—including the revered rebbeim and students of the renowned Kelm Talmud Torah—into a forest, where they were brutally murdered and buried in a mass grave. As they were marched to their deaths, these holy Jews lifted their voices in song, singing ashreinu mah tov chelkeinu and attah vechartanu mikol ha’amim—songs celebrating the joy and privilege of being chosen by G-d.
Before the executions began R' Doniel Movshovitz (1880–1941), asked for permission to address his fellow Jews.
In his final moments, R' Doniel spoke about Kiddush Hashem—the sanctification of God's Name. He related that in the piyut of the Mussaf of Yom Kippur it describes the martyrdom of the Aseres Harugei Malchus, the ten great tannaim killed by the Romans. There, the malachim protested: זו תורה וזו שכרה, is this the reward for Torah? A bas kol answered: Be silent, or Hashem will return the world to water.
R' Doniel explained: In a generation so corrupt and distant from holiness, the world itself is at risk of destruction, just as in the time of Noach. But Hashem, bound by His promise not to bring another flood, instead chose these ten tannaim to serve as a kapparah—an atonement—for the entire generation. And if the malachim would not accept this, Hashem would have no choice but to destroy the world.
R' Doniel continued, “The same is with our generation. We should, therefore, accept our deaths, so that we can be an atonement for the entire generation.” Then, with perfect calm, he turned to the Nazi officer and said, “I have finished. You may now begin.”
About R' Daniel Movshovitz
R' Daniel Movshovitz (1880–1941) was one of the towering figures of the Mussar movement in the decades before the Holocaust. He served as the spiritual leader of the Kelm Talmud Torah—a role akin to both Rosh Yeshiva and Mashgiach—and was the son-in-law of R' Nachum Zev Ziv, the son of the “Saba of Kelm.”
