Recha Sternbuch - A Life of Courage

Recha Sternbuch was a courageous humanitarian who dedicated her life to rescuing Jewish people from Nazi persecution.

Recha Sternbuch was born in 1905 in Poland and grew up in Antwerp, Belgium, in a very religious Jewish family. In 1928, she married Isaac Sternbuch and moved with him to his hometown of St. Gallen, Switzerland. They ran a linen and raincoat business and later opened a kosher shelter for Orthodox Jewish refugees. Recha was a young mother, and at first, her life seemed ordinary, but the rise of the Nazis changed everything. She discovered a strong sense of mission and became determined to save as many people as she could from persecution.

From 1933 to 1937, thousands of Jewish refugees came to Switzerland. Recha and her husband helped them by providing food, shelter, and safety in their home. Many refugees stayed for months, and neighbors were often confused by the constant activity. Visitors sometimes thought the house was a small hotel. Even on holidays like Yom Kippur, groups of refugees gathered, praying and singing together. Recha refused to sit idle when people needed help.

By 1938, Switzerland had stopped allowing Jewish refugees without papers, leaving many people trapped in Nazi-controlled territories. Recha worked closely with Swiss police captain Paul Grüninger to help refugees cross the border safely. She waited in the forests at night, dressed in black, offering hot drinks, blankets, and rides hidden under produce or hay. Grüninger falsified documents so the refugees could stay legally in Switzerland. Recha also personally brought refugees across the border, including children from Munich and a family from Vienna. Together, they saved hundreds of people, but the work was dangerous.

Recha faced arrests and threats from the Swiss authorities. She was accused of smuggling, hiding refugees, and forging visas. While imprisoned, she lost an unborn child, but she refused to give up or reveal the names of her helpers. Even after these experiences, she continued her rescue work, forging documents, buying visas, and helping Jewish people travel to what is now Isreal and other safe locations.

In 1942, Recha sent urgent messages to Jewish organizations in the United States, alerting them to mass deportations and the genocide of Jews in Europe. She developed secret channels to communicate with rescue committees, using couriers from the Vatican and contacts in Switzerland and Turkey to send money, visas, and information to Jews in Nazi-occupied territories.

Recha also carried out daring plans to save large groups of Jewish people. She enlisted Jean-Marie Musy, a former Swiss president, to help negotiate with Heinrich Himmler, a top Nazi leader. Through careful planning and clever diplomacy, Recha convinced Himmler to agree to release Jewish people from concentration camps. Five days after she sent a cable to the American Union of Orthodox Rabbis, Himmler reportedly ordered an end to the killings at Auschwitz and the destruction of its gas chambers. Her actions helped save hundreds of lives and may have influenced the course of history during the Holocaust.

In addition to large-scale rescue efforts, Recha continued helping individuals. She smuggled people across borders, arranged safe housing, and coordinated visas and money for those in need. Even on her son’s bar mitzvah, she skipped the ceremony to travel to Vichy France and help Jewish refugees.

After the war, Recha visited displaced persons camps, searching for Jewish children who had been hidden in monasteries, convents, and non-Jewish homes. She reunited them with Jewish families or found foster and adoptive homes for them. The people she saved now have hundreds of thousands of descendants.

Recha Sternbuch risked her life, her family, and her freedom to rescue thousands of people during the Holocaust. She was a mother, a wife, and a businesswoman who became a courageous hero. Her determination, bravery, and clever planning made an enormous difference in the lives of countless people and ensured that her efforts would be remembered for generations.

References:
Meade, Amy. “Woman of Valor: Recha Sternbuch.” Accidental Talmudist, 1 Sept. 2024, www.accidentaltalmudist.org/heroes/2023/04/24/a-woman-of-valor-recha-sternbuch/.
“Recha Sternbuch> 1938 - 1944.” Crossing the Border, crossing-the-border.info/indexprev3_en.php?id=11.

Key words:
Justice, Wartime, Courage, Perseverance, Freedom, Selflessness, Challenge Injustices, Take Risks for Others