Holocaust Survivor Who Saved Hundreds of Jewish Children Dies at 99

Mrs. Hadassah Karlebach, a Holocaust survivor who helped save hundreds of Jewish children from the Nazis in occupied France, passed away on Sunday at the age of 99. Born in Leningrad in 1927 as Hadassah Schneerson, she endured life under Soviet persecution before her family managed to emigrate to Mandatory Palestine in 1935. Her father, a distant cousin of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, later moved the family to Paris in 1936, where he established the "Kehilat HaChareidim" organization to support Jewish refugees.

During World War II, Karlebach, then a teenager, worked alongside her father at a kosher children's home in Chateaudun, later relocated to Marseille. Despite severe hunger and constant danger, she served as a cook and teacher, ensuring the children received religious education and vocational training. The family went to great lengths to maintain strict kosher standards, even sending margarine for chemical testing to ensure its kashrut.

Karlebach's father orchestrated the clandestine rescue of hundreds of children, moving them between various locations to evade Nazi capture. In one instance, a warning of an impending Gestapo raid on Purim led to the children being secretly evacuated immediately after a festive celebration. While many children were successfully smuggled to safety in neutral Switzerland, a group of 16 was tragically handed over to the Nazis and sent to Auschwitz, with only one survivor.

Karlebach herself narrowly escaped death multiple times. After the liberation of France in 1945, the family worked to reunite children with any surviving relatives. In 1947, the family immigrated to the United States, and in 1949, Hadassah married Rabbi Eliyahu Chaim Karlebach. She dedicated her life to sharing her testimony, preserving Holocaust memory, and emphasizing Jewish identity and pride. She is survived by her five daughters, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

The funeral procession in New York is scheduled to pass by the Lubavitcher Rebbe's headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn.