A rare photograph of the Koznitz Rebbe, Rabbi Aharon Yehiel Hopstein, issued in his lifetime. Handwritten description on the front: "Photo of the Rav HaTsadik Admor Aharon Yehiel Shalit'a...", and the addition of the inscription "Zatzuk'l" after he passed away.
Rabbi Aharon Yechiel Hofstein (1891-1943), known as "Rabbi Ahar'le", the Rebbe of Kuznitz, sixth generation, son after son, to Rabbi Yisrael Hofstein the Magid of Kuznitz. Being 18, the court was divided between two of the sons, Rabbi Aharon and his brother Rabbi Asher Elimelech. In 1917 during the First World War, he left the town of Kuznitz, and lived for short periods of time in various cities in Poland, finally settling permanently in Otwock. He traveled a lot and visited Rome, Antwerp in Belgium, France, Germany, and more in order to spread Judaism. At the beginning of World War II, Rabbi Hofstein stayed in Warsaw in a hiding place. After a while he managed to escape from the Warsaw ghetto and arrived in the city of Zalikhov at the end of the summer of the year 1941. This ghetto was relatively small, but it is claimed that many arrived there because a false rumor was first intentionally spread that there would be improved conditions in this ghetto, and therefore about 13,500 people was pushed in. On the eve of Rosh Hashanah 1942, Rabbi Hofstein fell ill in typhus, and the next day, Rosh Hashanah, on Tuesday, Tishrei 1942, he passed away. According to one of the testimonies, on the day of his death, the rabbi announced: "If Polish Jewry is destroyed, then There is nothing to live for" and he asked that the clothes of "purity" be prepared for him. His funeral was attended by a large number of people and in an orderly manner, and was therefore considered unusual at that time. It was probably the last orderly funeral during the Holocaust in this area.
Provenance: From Willy Lindwer collection.
9x14 cm. Good condition.
