V Is for (Rabbi) Vorhand

Coordinating much of the relief work was a dynamic rabbi named Rabbi Zev Tzvi (Victor) Vorhand. He possessed an ability to “get things done” — obtaining food, clothing, and shelter for refugees, temporary transit documents, and most importantly, visas to final destination countries. In his position as Prague’s chief rabbi, he developed key relationships with important diplomats, including Laurence Steinhardt, the Jewish US ambassador to Czechoslovakia; and Czech foreign minister Jan Masaryk, among others.

Stemming from an illustrious rabbinical family, he enjoyed a close relationship with his grandfather Rav Moshe Vorhand, the Makover Rav, while his father Rav Mordechai was the rabbi of Nitra, Slovakia. His rescue work commenced before the war’s outbreak, while he was still a student at the Pressburg yeshivah, with an attempt to charter a steamer to transport refugees down the Danube to the Black Sea and then to safety in Palestine. The Belzer Rebbe, Rav Aharon Rokeach, blessed his efforts by declaring, “Di bist a baal chein. Di vest nosei chein zein. Lech v’hoshata.” (“You are someone who possesses chein. You will find favor with others. Go and be successful.”)

But his rescue efforts really took off with the postwar refugee influx in Prague. Rabbi Vorhand represented the Vaad Hatzalah, and was key to the efforts of Rabbi Solomon Schonfeld’s London-based Chief Rabbi’s Religious Emergency Council, Agudath Israel, the Joint, and the Zionist Bericha movement. His efforts were aimed at assisting the maximum number of Jews possible, regardless of background or affiliation.

His primary focus was to obtain non-quota visas to the United States and other countries. While it is unclear just how many visas he managed to procure, sources indicate that it likely was many thousands. Another of his postwar projects was the Vaad Hatzalah Rescue Children initiative. As the Vaad’s representative in Prague, Rabbi Vorhand would go from house to house searching for Jewish children, often turning to priests and paying ransom to return orphaned children to Klas Yisrael.