Yvonne's Jewish Corner
Pavel Batel: The testimony of survivors is a vital pillar of history.
The book Yom Kippur and the Last German Knight captures the true stories of several individuals whose lives are haunted by the shadow of the Second World War.
Pavel Batel is an author of historical fiction and a recognized expert on the Terezín Ghetto.
The author, Pavel Batel, has dedicated over 15 years to researching the history of the Terezín Ghetto and its heroes. For questions that could not be answered in archives or memoirs, he turned to eyewitnesses—former Jewish prisoners or contemporaries—scattered across the world. Piece by piece, he assembled mosaics of the stories he describes in his book. Among them is the tale of a brave teenage boy, Heinz Prosnitz, who eluded the Gestapo like a phantom and, as long as he could, sent life-saving food parcels to children in ghettos and to the family camp B2B in Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Another of Batel’s personal heroes is Fredy Hirsch, a former top athlete and educator of Jewish children, to whom some survivors attributed nearly miraculous abilities. Batel’s latest book also features “the last German knight,” Albert Battel—a hero of the First World War and a colonel in the Nazi army—who took up arms against the SS and, together with his loyal men, defended Jewish families from liquidation in the fortress town of Przemyśl. For his actions, he was posthumously honored with the title Righteous Among the Nations.
These gripping true stories are conveyed through fictional bridges, narrated by a schizophrenic historian who believes he is traveling through time. The audiobook version, narrated by the author himself, is available for download on AudioLibrix.
Another of Batel’s personal heroes is Fredy Hirsch, a former top athlete and educator of Jewish children, to whom some survivors attributed nearly miraculous abilities. Batel’s latest book also features “the last German knight,” Albert Battel—a hero of the First World War and a colonel in the Nazi army—who took up arms against the SS and, together with his loyal men, defended Jewish families from liquidation in the fortress town of Przemyśl. For his actions, he was posthumously honored with the title Righteous Among the Nations.
These gripping true stories are conveyed through fictional bridges, narrated by a schizophrenic historian who believes he is traveling through time. The audiobook version, narrated by the author himself, is available for download on AudioLibrix.
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The purpose of telling these stories is not to diminish the horror of the Holocaust, but to show that even in the darkest times, light could appear from unexpected places.
What led you to start documenting Holocaust stories?
Sixteen years ago, I was working as a personal bodyguard and was assigned to escort a group of American government officials. Their guide through the Terezín Ghetto was a Holocaust survivor and my later mentor, Professor Kolmer. He arrived in Terezín on the very first transport, AK1, which brought 342 young Jewish men to prepare the ghetto for the arrival of Jewish families.
I listened to his every word and, for the first time, heard the names Fredy Hirsch, Valter Eisinger, and Egon Redlich. I saw the drawings made by children in Terezín and watched footage of the opera Brundibár. It deeply moved me and, for the first time in my life, made me reflect on my own Jewish roots, which I had previously ignored.
In the middle of the tour, Professor Kolmer sighed and said that one day, all those who had lived through Terezín and Auschwitz would be gone. There would be no one left to tell the story of civilization’s failure and its legacy. I knew I was standing at a crossroads of fate and felt a responsibility to ensure the story of Terezín would be fully recognized and never forgotten.
You’ve met many witnesses to the Terezín story, both prisoners and observers. Can you tell us about the most memorable ones?
I interviewed over fifty survivors from both Jewish and non-Jewish backgrounds. Among the most powerful testimonies were those of Petr Erben in Ashkelon and Jehuda Bacon in Jerusalem. A particularly controversial interview was with Wolf Murmelstein, the son of Terezín’s last Jewish Elder, Benjamin Murmelstein.
I also interviewed Jeremy Adler, son of the legendary historian of the Terezín Ghetto, H.G. Adler. In Ramat Gan, author and survivor Ruth Bondy spoke for the first time about the miraculous abilities of the forgotten teenage hero Heinz Prosnitz, giving him the nickname “The Phantom of the Gestapo,” thereby stepping beyond the boundaries of her previous official version.
Sixteen years ago, I was working as a personal bodyguard and was assigned to escort a group of American government officials. Their guide through the Terezín Ghetto was a Holocaust survivor and my later mentor, Professor Kolmer. He arrived in Terezín on the very first transport, AK1, which brought 342 young Jewish men to prepare the ghetto for the arrival of Jewish families.
I listened to his every word and, for the first time, heard the names Fredy Hirsch, Valter Eisinger, and Egon Redlich. I saw the drawings made by children in Terezín and watched footage of the opera Brundibár. It deeply moved me and, for the first time in my life, made me reflect on my own Jewish roots, which I had previously ignored.
In the middle of the tour, Professor Kolmer sighed and said that one day, all those who had lived through Terezín and Auschwitz would be gone. There would be no one left to tell the story of civilization’s failure and its legacy. I knew I was standing at a crossroads of fate and felt a responsibility to ensure the story of Terezín would be fully recognized and never forgotten.
You’ve met many witnesses to the Terezín story, both prisoners and observers. Can you tell us about the most memorable ones?
I interviewed over fifty survivors from both Jewish and non-Jewish backgrounds. Among the most powerful testimonies were those of Petr Erben in Ashkelon and Jehuda Bacon in Jerusalem. A particularly controversial interview was with Wolf Murmelstein, the son of Terezín’s last Jewish Elder, Benjamin Murmelstein.
I also interviewed Jeremy Adler, son of the legendary historian of the Terezín Ghetto, H.G. Adler. In Ramat Gan, author and survivor Ruth Bondy spoke for the first time about the miraculous abilities of the forgotten teenage hero Heinz Prosnitz, giving him the nickname “The Phantom of the Gestapo,” thereby stepping beyond the boundaries of her previous official version.
Ruth Bondy, survivor and author of "Last Elder"
Achim Beginski
With Jehuda Bacon about Birkenau Boys.
What made some of these testimonies controversial?
Benjamin Murmelstein, the last head of the Terezín Ghetto, was referred to by Czech Jews as “Murmelschwein” and a “collaborator.” But for German Jews, he was a hero. His son, Wolf, spent his entire life fighting to clear his father’s name. In the small town of Ladispoli, near Rome, he explained to me who spread such ugly slanders and why. These were very sensitive matters.
Unfortunately, they corroborated a detailed postwar testimony by Karel Lowenstein, former head of the Jewish Ghetto Police and a highly respected figure among German Jews in Terezín. The national conflict among Jews in Terezín is a crucial factor in understanding its history.
Your stories often challenge simplistic views of Holocaust history. Why is that important?
The narrative includes several unconventional perspectives that challenge black-and-white perceptions of history. A Nazi army colonel who tried to save Jews from liquidation, and a Jewish prisoner whose homosexuality gave him access to influence the behavior of SS officers both in Terezín and Auschwitz-Birkenau.
How do people react to these sensitive topics?
The older generation is usually shocked and skeptical. The younger generation is enthusiastic to hear perspectives “from the other side.” I believe the way a story is told is just as important as the story itself.
During interviews, I was struck by mentions of SS or even SD officers—trained sadists—who, in the middle of hell, began to show signs of humanity. Survivor Jehuda Bacon spoke of the power of Fredy’s gaze, his charisma that could hypnotize officers and change them forever.
Officers began visiting his children’s block, Block 31, in the middle of the killing camp at Birkenau. When they entered, they became again as they had once been—loving fathers and decent men. I asked what happened afterward—whether they stopped killing. He told me that yes, one of them, named Pestek, even escaped with a Czech Jewish prisoner named Lederer. Another chose to shoot himself rather than continue murdering. He wasn’t the only one to break away from the devil in this way.
This fascinated me and motivated me to write a chapter about this wartime anomaly.
Why do you believe it’s important to tell stories that challenge simplified views of Holocaust history?
Because truth is layered and complex. Human behavior in extreme situations often defies our moral expectations. The purpose of telling these stories is not to diminish the horror of the Holocaust, but to show that even in the darkest times, light could appear from unexpected places—and that, too, deserves to be remembered.
Benjamin Murmelstein, the last head of the Terezín Ghetto, was referred to by Czech Jews as “Murmelschwein” and a “collaborator.” But for German Jews, he was a hero. His son, Wolf, spent his entire life fighting to clear his father’s name. In the small town of Ladispoli, near Rome, he explained to me who spread such ugly slanders and why. These were very sensitive matters.
Unfortunately, they corroborated a detailed postwar testimony by Karel Lowenstein, former head of the Jewish Ghetto Police and a highly respected figure among German Jews in Terezín. The national conflict among Jews in Terezín is a crucial factor in understanding its history.
Your stories often challenge simplistic views of Holocaust history. Why is that important?
The narrative includes several unconventional perspectives that challenge black-and-white perceptions of history. A Nazi army colonel who tried to save Jews from liquidation, and a Jewish prisoner whose homosexuality gave him access to influence the behavior of SS officers both in Terezín and Auschwitz-Birkenau.
How do people react to these sensitive topics?
The older generation is usually shocked and skeptical. The younger generation is enthusiastic to hear perspectives “from the other side.” I believe the way a story is told is just as important as the story itself.
During interviews, I was struck by mentions of SS or even SD officers—trained sadists—who, in the middle of hell, began to show signs of humanity. Survivor Jehuda Bacon spoke of the power of Fredy’s gaze, his charisma that could hypnotize officers and change them forever.
Officers began visiting his children’s block, Block 31, in the middle of the killing camp at Birkenau. When they entered, they became again as they had once been—loving fathers and decent men. I asked what happened afterward—whether they stopped killing. He told me that yes, one of them, named Pestek, even escaped with a Czech Jewish prisoner named Lederer. Another chose to shoot himself rather than continue murdering. He wasn’t the only one to break away from the devil in this way.
This fascinated me and motivated me to write a chapter about this wartime anomaly.
Why do you believe it’s important to tell stories that challenge simplified views of Holocaust history?
Because truth is layered and complex. Human behavior in extreme situations often defies our moral expectations. The purpose of telling these stories is not to diminish the horror of the Holocaust, but to show that even in the darkest times, light could appear from unexpected places—and that, too, deserves to be remembered.
Yom Kippur available on Amazon.
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