R' Chaim Kadir Matzliach Mazuz (1912-1971) was asked by the Cheshinover Rebbe, R' Yechezkel Shraga Rubin-Halberstam (1913-1986) about a prisoner who has access only to chametz. Since abstaining would be life-threatening, he must eat chametz on Pesach. The question was: may he recite Kiddush on the night of Pesach over chametz? It would seem contradictory to say Kiddush on chametz while saying “Chag Hamatzos.”
R' Mazuz responded by drawing a parallel to Sukkos. When it rains on Sukkos night, one makes Kiddush inside the house. This is not considered contradictory, because the sanctity of the day remains unchanged, as it is still Sukkos even if circumstances prevent the ideal fulfillment of the mitzvah. So too here: although one is forced to eat chametz, the time is still intrinsically Pesach. Therefore, reciting Kiddush over chametz under such circumstances is not a contradiction.
Shu”t Ish Matzliach Volume 2, Siman 27. He was one of the chief rabbis in Tunisia, a dayan and the Rosh Yeshiva of Kisei Rachamim in Tunisia. On January 18, 1971, he was murdered by a Muslim assassin on his return home from shacharis. He was buried in Tunisia, and about six weeks later he was brought to Eretz Yisrael for burial on Har Hazeisim. After his death, his family moved to Eretz Yisrael. His sons, led by his eldest son, R' Meir Mazuz, renewed the Kisei Rachamim Yeshiva in Bnei Brak.
He was born in Lublin, Poland, and moved to Brooklyn, New York, after the Holocaust.
