(HOLOCAUST).

Szombathely, (Hungary)

1946

Questionnaire of Beth Din to ascertain death of a missing woman: Esther, wife of R. Mordechai Teitelbaum. With declaration by witness (Shifra Ausch) corroborating that the woman and her four children were sent to Auschwitz and was never later seen among the camp’s work-crews.

Beyond the enormous loss of life, the Holocaust left those who survived with overwhelming difficulties in re-establishing their lives. The present document testifies how the halachic process attempted to assist many with excruciating difficulties regarding their personal status. By seeking to gather eye-witness accounts of those killed or led away, ascertaining probable death was vital for the surviving family-member to thereafter be able to form new relationships, new families and new lives.