Towards the end of World War II, we hid 8 people in a flour mill that was between two mountains, in the center of Slovakia. As is well known, during that period the Germans' desire to murder increased, knowing that the war was supposed to end in a short time, and therefore it was necessary to kill as many Jews as possible. Above the two high mountains was a railway bridge, over which a train with many passengers passed every day. And here, one Friday, we spotted through the shutters of the hut of the flour mill two paratroopers dressed in SS uniforms, who parachuted near the bridge, stayed there for a few minutes, and then went down towards the mill where we were hiding. And here they were approaching. The two looked like two German officers. Therefore, when they discovered us in our hiding place, we were sure that the end had come, and with the help of the rifles in their hands they would immediately eliminate the 8 Jews. These fears were disproved when the two revealed to us that they were Russian soldiers, disguised as SS officers. "We have just planted a mine on the railway bridge," they said, following intelligence information that reached us that tomorrow at 5 a.m., dozens of German officers will travel here on the regular train." The mine was supposed to explode as soon as the train passed, derailing it, so that all the cars would fall straight into the valley under the bridge, and all the officers would be killed.
Everything went according to plan, and as the Russian soldiers said, it was. At 5 a.m., a loud explosion was heard from the direction of the bridge, the cars rolled into the abyss, and all the passengers, including the officers, were killed. Within a short time, the security personnel and officers of the German secret police, under the command of an officer who was known for his cruelty, arrived at the scene and began to look for initial signs in the area in order to track down the assassins. The entire area was covered with a large and high layer of snow. The clearest, and only sign, that was on the ground were the footsteps in the snow of the assassins who led us from the bridge to the flour mill where we were hiding. Within minutes, dozens of security and police personnel surrounded the mill, and now we were sure that this was the end, and along with the chapters of Psalms that we recited all the time, we also began to recite a confession. And behold, the damned Germans are searching and searching, going up and down down, groping here and rattling there, banging with their bayonets and rifles on all the doors and rooms of the mill, and from our hiding place you could hear and feel the anger that dominates the searchers for not finding anyone, despite the obvious 'road signs'. The searches were conducted for many hours, and they did not reach our hut. Or rather, they came and came, knocked the rickety door, Behind it we hid, 8 Jews frightened to death, but for some reason they didn't break down the door. They didn't even try. Throughout the search, we prayed to God with tears and tears that we would not be handed over to the enemies who rose up against us. It was clear as the sun that if the door was broken and they discovered us, they would have no doubt that we had laid the mine and killed dozens of their officers. The Germans continue their search. From above and below, from front and back, from all directions and from all sides, and they do not break down the door. It should be noted, Rabbi Singer adds, that above our hiding place there was not even a roof, but rather a room like an open loggia at the top, and in Kelly – we could easily be found. But no, they didn't find out.
We sit curled up, and we hear how they are so angry that they stick the bayonets in every corner of the flour mill, and spew out vigorous curses that express their bitterness at their 'failure' to find the people. Some of them said, 'We must not leave here without merchandise... Without finding the assassins. Forbidden! Our commanders will kill us if we don't inform them that we have discovered the culprits.' The search lasted between five and six full hours. For all the years that have passed since then, I have tried to think about whether it is possible to explain and understand naturally how it is possible that they were so close to us, for so long, and did not follow us, and the answer is clearly no. We had an open miracle. Before they left the area, we heard that one of the officers suggested that his friends throw a grenade into the roof of the room where we were hiding, to be sure that there was no one there. The other officers expressed a similar opinion, but in the end the grenade was not thrown. And go explain why, instead of talking about a pomegranate, they don't come into the room. The Germans did not give up yet, and began to interrogate the non-Jew, the owner of the flour mill, and he, too, by the grace of Heaven, discovered nothing, until we came out of this story safely.
Such overt miracles occurred and continue to occur not only with Rabbi Singer, and not only during the Holocaust. Every Jew who stops for a moment in the course of his life and contemplates the ways in which God leads him will see miracles like these in him as well. However, it is not always possible to see miracles on the spot. Let us believe wholeheartedly that everything that God does is for the good, and since He alone looks from the end of the world to the end, Thus, only he can know what is the true good of each person. Yes, it certainly doesn't happen in the situation of the Germans and the flour mill, nor in the case of a railway bridge and the laying of mines, but it happens when one needs large sums of money, in preparation for the wedding of one of the offspring, and naturally there is no way to get them, and here the Holy One, blessed be He, miraculously turns things around so that the money will come and go. It happens to literally every one of us, who had to arrive at a certain place at a certain time. And again – naturally it was not appropriate to do it at all, because of big traffic jams on the way, etc., and despite everything we arrived, and we had a clear feeling that the Holy One, blessed be He, was clearing the roads of traffic jams especially for us. Isn't that so? So instead of thinking of patents that will help us "clear the traffic jams," it would be much more efficient and much more profitable to think about how to fulfill the will of our Creator in its entirety, and then He alone has already done and will do all things.
