Ben Zion Halberstam
| Ben Zion Halberstam | |
|---|---|
| Second Bobover Rebbe | |
| Term | 1905–1941 |
| Full name | Ben Zion Halberstam |
| Born | 1874 Bikofsk |
| Died | July 28, 1941 (aged 67) Lemberg |
| Predecessor | Shlomo Halberstam |
| Father | Shlomo Halberstam |
Ben Zion Halberstam (1874–1941) was the second Bobover Rebbe. He was murdered by the Nazis in 1941.
Halberstam was born in Bikofsk in 1874. His father was Shlomo Halberstam (1847–1905), the first Rebbe of Bobov, and a scion of the Divrei Chaim of Sanz (1798–1876). Upon his father's death Halberstam succeeded him as Rebbe. He wrote a commentary on the Torah called Kedushas Tzion.
Lvov, where Halberstam then lived, fell under Nazi control in July, 1941. For about a month Halberstam hid in a room whose door was secretly blocked by a large bookcase. But a friend convinced him to come out of hiding, on the theory that the Germans were harsher to people who were found hiding. The friend also argued that the Germans would honor Halberstam’s official papers that declared he was a foreign resident. On Friday, July 25, he left his place of hiding and established himself openly in a separate room in the apartment.
Early in the morning of July 25, groups of peasants from nearby villages began to flow into Lvov. They assembled on the premises of police stations; set out from there to the streets accompanied by Ukrainian policemen, and assaulted any Jew whom they encountered with clubs, knives and axes. Groups of Jews were taken to the Jewish cemetery and murdered brutally. A roundup of Jews from their homes, coupled with looting, began in the afternoon. The proportion of Jewish intellectuals was high. Ukrainian police circulated in groups of five and consulted prepared lists. The pogrom was known as the "Petliura Days" in commemoration of Symon Petliura. For three days, Ukrainian mobs went on a rampage through the Jewish districts of Lvov. They took groups of Jews to the Jewish cemetery and to Lunecki prison and shot them.
At about 6 p.m. that very day the door opened suddenly and a Ukrainian youth entered together with the building’s gentile superintendent. The youth carried a red whip with the insignia of the Symon Petliura bands. The youth ordered Halberstam to accompany him. His youngest son, Moshe Aaron, pleaded to come along to help his father, and was eventually allowed to.
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