In Memoriam Dr. Frant. Kahn

Remember him for a while with me: the way he stood, pale, gray-haired, with a clear gaze and sharp features, with the mifkadim, pgishot, and neshafim movements. Remember how he laughed, remember his cutting, sceptical humor and especially his clean and clear position on any issue. And remember how he was described by members of the community: he was different from all of the other functionaries of thecommunity in one aspect—he never lied.

1940 Davle

The Aliyah Youth Camp is consumed with worry: it will most likely be the final camp. What then? Will there be aliyah? Or won’t there? And what will happen if there won’t be?

On Sunday, guests from Prague arrive—Jujkev, Erich Munk, Leo Janovitz, Dr. Kahn. The situation is tense. What will they tell us, what is new? His speech isn’t long. He explains the reason for the drawn-out process and explains the plans to go forward, but then concludes: The atmosphere that could make us aware of these facts, this atmosphere of uncertainty and doubt must not affect this camp. The atmosphere of this camp must be all about preparing tsionit and aliyah. Preparations for tsionit anywhere and under any conditions and for aliyah wherever and however, for you must know—I don’t see you as small children and so I cannot hide it from you—that we don’t know what we will have to face in the near future or what tasks will be required of us, and into what trouble this broken, unprepared Jewry of the Protectorate will be placed. Let us not delude ourselves. We are in a trap from which there is no escape, and we will have to rely on ourselves and ourselves alone. Be aware that the next aliyah will happen only after the great suffering. Perhaps this will help you become aware. Therefore I am happy to hear that the camp is a preparatory one. To those who do not yet realize, I’d like to emphasize this word: PreparatoryCamp.

September 1941. Na Zderaze 14

The evening before wearing the Jewish star was made mandatory. A small circle of Jewish functionaries met. They were members of the G.A. and representatives of the youth movement. Doctor Kahn spoke about the concept of Jewish honor:

The yellow star is a sign of shame (Schandfleck), but this sign of shame temporarily affixed over our hearts will remain a sign of shame eternally affixed over the heart of the German nation. When the Jew will be proud to talk about the time he wore this sign, the German will scream at the world until he is red in the face. He then ended with the words: I was supposed to speak about Jewish honor here, but I would like to tell you this: tomorrow’s honor will be to settle the Jewish question once and for all and for all the world to see. To settle it with dignity, independently, honorably. Our future will be dishonored, our shame eternal, if we make the same old mistakes, turn to the murderers of our fathers, brothers, and children with the contrite and willing smile of assimilation and lay the foundations for a new tragedy. This is what I am saying: nobody else in this world contributes to our honor or shame. It is only we

who are the creators of our honor or shame. It is in the hands of each Jew whether he be honorable or shameful.

He was sent to Theresienstadt

Suddenly. We couldn’t even say goodbye. An eyewitness told me about what happened at the Gestapo:

Selected communityofficials stood in a row in front of the all-powerful Günther. He made a hypocritical speech that was supposed to appease them, promising that they would be treated extremely well in Theresienstadt, much better than in Prague. With the condescension befitting a monarch, he called upon those present to utter their final wishes, for despite his great sympathy for them, he could not allow them to return home. They would depart on the transport directly from the Zentralamt. He told them this and then went up to each person and asked them: Also, was wünschen sie? The Jews wished for: letters to friends, 20 more kg of luggage to take with them, to leave their children in Prague, letters to fiancées, folding beds, etc., etc. One after another. And all the while, Günther smiled, approved, smiled.

Coincidentally, Dr. Kahn stood in the last row. Günther also stopped in front of him and said with a smile: Und Sie Kahn? Sie wünschen? Nichts he answered resolutely and clearly. Günther frowned, but said nothing and left.

There was movement in the row. One of them had just shown the rest what character truly was. In this situation, when this scoundrel was taking everything away from them, was sentencing them to death, Dr. Kahn had no final wish.

And then Theresienstadt

True, he was reproached for standing aside; he was unwilling to assume a role of responsibility in the ghetto leadership. They criticized his principle of keeping one’s hands clean. There is no skill in maintaining clean hands if one is not going to get them dirty. But this is not how dirt is cleansed. In order to understand his attitude in Theresienstadt, one must know his character. He simply wasn’t able to work in this atmosphere. He proved unable to work anywhere. He was absolutely useless when it came to communicating with the Germans. He was as incapable of living in this legal, or rather lawless, atmosphere as a fish on dry land. Günther himself once pronounced about him: Dieser Mann ist mir zu wenig elastisch. This man is too inflexible.

But for us who were living in the immorality that was Theresienstadt, Dr. Kahn represented a living conscience, something clean in all of this dirt, individualism within this mass, culture in this barbarism. Young and oldcultural workers and organizers from the offices would meet in his apartment.

I will never forget his words about how the war would end. He had the gift of true judgement together with the fantasy of a prophet. But this question deserves separate attention and so I will not squeeze it into these notes.

And then he left Theresienstadt

He wasn’t calm, although he tried to seem that way. All of us who loved him met in the evening at his place. He was burning letters and mementoes of his youth, and removing photographs from his luggage. With a heavy heart, he tore himself away from each book, placing it into the box that we would keep safe for him. His wife was crying. Throwing a stack of letters into the fire, he said to her with a forced laugh: Don’t cry, our love is still burning strong… just like in a novel.

When I was alone with him, he told me: And so goodbye. Do it better than I have done. Give my love to my children, tell them everything, and, if possible, save my box for them.

Two days later, the doors of the gas chamber closed behind Dr. Kahn, just like they did for millions of his brethren, whose brighter future he worked so hard to achieve.

His box is intact and unopened in the archive of the Documentation Campaign.

For just a fleeting moment, my thoughts have turned to this man, who meant so much and is no more. How should we preserve his legacy? How should we keep alive the memory of those who died? It is so hard to repeat the phrases and statements uttered on the podiums and during the pre-demonstration meetings about his eternal legacy when the sadness and loss touches your heart directly. I found in Dr. Kahn a man, in uniform at his core, politically independent even from productive movements, a man who still respected the value of an individual yet revered mankind, an esthete with a refined taste. A great man. This is the reason we consider his loss irreplaceable. May his memory live on eternally. I will cherish it till the end.

Zeev Scheck recounts his memories.

Copyright by the Documentation Campaign in Prague