During the hectic and terror-ridden years of 1917 to 1920, Rabbi Jacob Korff was not afraid to take even greater risks to bring stability to the town.

 "The government of Zvil itself changed hands several times. When the White Russians [the anti-revolutionaries] seized the city and [a] pogrom broke out and many Jews in the community paid the supreme sacrifice, the rabbi took a Torah Scroll and bearing it aloft marched directly to the military headquarters of the conquerors. The commanding officer was startled by Rabbi Korff's sudden and fearless demonstration.

"To discredit the rabbi and the Jews of the community the officer connived a devilish plan. First, he accused the Jews of harboring the enemy and for that reason many of the Jews had been executed. Second, he challenged the rabbi to go into a local church and pronounce that the accusation was untrue and furthermore that the Jews were not hiding ammunition. Rabbi Korff agreed to accept the officer's challenge. In the company of a military escort, he marched to the church where he was met at the entrance by the priest. In the courtyard was assembled many of the townspeople. The priest came forth and in no uncertain terms declared that he believed the rabbi and offered a strong plea to the commanding officer to stop killing innocent people.

"Suddenly the commander turned to the rabbi and said, "I'll believe you only if you will go in the company of my officers to every Jewish home and see to it that every Jew in the community meets at the synagogue and there together take an oath that they did not fight on the enemy side."

 "The rabbi immediately realized that the malevolent plan of the officer was to draw the entire Jewish community to one place-- and there slaughter them. The rabbi had no choice but to say that he agreed. The rabbi was furnished with an armed escort and warned that if he returned empty handed he would be shot.

“The rabbi made a pretense that he wanted to stop at his own home first. Here he entertained his escorts with liquid [alcoholic] refreshments--and quietly sent his beadle to warn the people to go into hiding. While all this was going on, the pounding of artillery could be heard [from] across the river, more and more distinctly. As the sounds of the distant guns increased, the more lavish was the rabbi's entertainment of the officers.

"The pounding of the guns eventually stopped and the news soon spread that the Polish army had marched into the city. The Poles, too, were not cordial to the Jews. They took the rabbi as their hostage and ordered a ransom of 100 horses, 5,000 pounds of flour, a large sum of money, and sundry other items. The rabbi had been held at gunpoint in the town square until the "contributions" were brought in.

“These scenes were repeated countless times during the war and the local government continually changed. Whether it was the White Russians, the Bolsheviks or the Poles, the practice of [killing] the Jews and pillaging their homes was a common occurrence and taxed Rabbi Korff’s leadership qualities to capacity.” [1]   

Rabbi Korff with his two oldest sons, Baruch (left) and Samuel

 During the worst pogrom in the summer of 1919, the rabbi's family had its most horrific experience, when Gittel, Jacob's 29-year-old wife, became trapped during anti-Jewish riot with her four young children.[2] Samuel was then eight; Baruch, five; Adele, two; and Nathan, 11 months. No one knows precisely how Gittel died. There are at least three different accounts of her death. Her son, Baruch, provided his eyewitness account:

“On a weekday afternoon in the late summer of 1919, the bells of all four churches in Zvil began to peal simultaneously. The Gentiles quietly left their jobs and gathered in the streets. The Jews soon followed, and to their horror, they discovered the tolling of the bells was a call to arms. The Christian clergy called upon their parishioners to wreak death and destruction upon the Jews, so the rape and murder began. The Jews fled in terror.

"Gittel clutched infant Nathan in her arms and tried to lead the three other children to safety. A shot rang out and she toppled backward onto pieces of broken furniture, surrounded by the dead and dying. Bleeding from a flesh wound, Gittel nursed her whimpering infant, fearing the cries would endanger all their lives. They remained there, still and quite, Gittel pretending to be dead. Daylight faded into night and the bells finally ceased their ominous call. Scavengers came and combed the area, stripping clothes and valuables from the dead. One approached Gittel and tried to rip her diamond-studded earrings from her ears. She screamed out in pain. The scavenger drew out his gun and pumped her full of bullets. However, the children were spared and they found refuge with Sabina, their Gentile maid. She protected them until it was safe for the children to rejoin their father.”[3]

Another version of the tragedy was described in the press release prepared weeks before Rabbi Korff died:

"As [the Jews] were led to their deaths, the rabbi's wife called out to the people, Let us walk together. The enemy must not see fear upon our faces. We shall live on! Her heroic expression was halted as a bullet pierced her heart. She dropped to the ground holding in her arms her six-month-old infant, Nathan. Around her were her three other children...The children were soon recognized by one of the hooligans--the Shabbos goy of the rabbi--and the children's lives were spared.

"While this pogrom was going on, Rabbi Korff was absent from his home...trying to aid in the evacuation of some of the people in another part of the city.[4] A number of the families had lost their homes as a result of a conflagration...caused by the incendiary bombs which had been thrown into the city by the Russians. During this effort, the rabbi was injured and was found lying in the street unconscious by one of the peasants who took him into his home and nursed him for several days.

"After returning to his home and realizing the great tragedy that had befallen so many of the Jewish townspeople as well as himself, Rabbi Korff was determined that the remaining members of the community must find a haven, and he immediately dedicated himself to his plan of having as many of his neighbors as well as his own family migrate to the United States so that they would be safe from degradation and persecution." [5]

	Click here to listen to Adele Korff Gass’s description of her mother’s murder. (Recorded November 9, 1992 in Winthrop, Massachusetts)

     
[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]