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Shimson Kleuger
Ivan007:
Shimson Kleuger (1932 - 2000) was the last Jew to live in the town of Oswiecim in Poland. He became known as The Last Jew in Auschwitz.
== Early life ==
Kleuger came from an Hasidic Jewish family. The family house was behind a small synagogue. During the war he was interned in a concentration camp and then went to Sweden. Although it is not known where he was interned, the rabbi that prepared him for burial confirmed that he had a number tattooed on his arm. <blockquote>"There was a number tattooed on his arm," Pecaric said. "I can't say that means he was in Auschwitz, but he was in one of the camps, for sure.<ref>[https://ift.tt/3bOASX1 Chicago Tribune, July 9, 2000]</ref>"</blockquote> In 1961 he returned to his home town and lived in the family home.
== Later life in Oswiecim ==
When he returned to Oswiecim, all the Jews had left for America or Israel. Klueger took up residence in the family home. He became a recluse, never venturing out. The townspeople left him food in a bowl outside the house.
<blockquote>... Shimshon Klueger had become a recluse, living in a hovel from which he never emerged, next to the abandoned synagogue<ref>[https://ift.tt/3bOASX1 Chicago Tribune, July 9, 2000]</ref>. </blockquote>
It seems that Kleuger was not quite a recluse. In his 1994 book, From Oswiecim to Auschwitz<ref>[https://ift.tt/2vH3Nfj Moshe Weiss, From Oswiecim to Auschwitz]</ref>, Moshe Weiss writes of a meeting with him:
<blockquote>Upon leaving the death camp at Auschwitz/Birkenau, I stopped in the town to visit Shimek Lkuger, the last remaining Jew in Oswiecim. He offered me refreshments and an hour of gentle conversation, in which he reiterated his hope to leave Poland soon and join his brother and his family in Brooklyn, New York. Before departing, I presented him with a talit, a mezuzah, and two yarmulkes.</blockquote>
== Death and burial ==
When Klueger died there were no Jews remaining in Oswiecim to prepare him for burial in the correct manner. Jewish law prescribes a ritual washing prior to burial. The nearest rabbi, Rabbi Sacha Pecaric, was summoned from [[Krakow]]. He went to the mortuary in Auschwitz to perform the taharah ceremony. A [[minyan]], a quorum of 10 males over the age of 13, was also required. Luckily a busload of American Jewish students were pursuaded to attend the funeral. Kleuger was buried in the old Oswiecim cemetery which had been revived after the war.
== Conversion of house to cafe ==
After Shimson Klueger died his familiy donated the house to The Auschwitz Jewish Centre who run the small synagogue and Jewish museum<ref>[https://ajcf.pl/en/ The Auschwitz Jewish Centre]</ref>. The house was converted into a cafe called Cafe Bergson with the help of a Kickstarter campaign in 2014<ref>[https://ift.tt/2SBTW3t Kickstarter, Cafe Bergson]</ref>.
== Jews in Oswiecim ==
== Early life ==
Kleuger came from an Hasidic Jewish family. The family house was behind a small synagogue. During the war he was interned in a concentration camp and then went to Sweden. Although it is not known where he was interned, the rabbi that prepared him for burial confirmed that he had a number tattooed on his arm. <blockquote>"There was a number tattooed on his arm," Pecaric said. "I can't say that means he was in Auschwitz, but he was in one of the camps, for sure.<ref>[https://ift.tt/3bOASX1 Chicago Tribune, July 9, 2000]</ref>"</blockquote> In 1961 he returned to his home town and lived in the family home.
== Later life in Oswiecim ==
When he returned to Oswiecim, all the Jews had left for America or Israel. Klueger took up residence in the family home. He became a recluse, never venturing out. The townspeople left him food in a bowl outside the house.
<blockquote>... Shimshon Klueger had become a recluse, living in a hovel from which he never emerged, next to the abandoned synagogue<ref>[https://ift.tt/3bOASX1 Chicago Tribune, July 9, 2000]</ref>. </blockquote>
It seems that Kleuger was not quite a recluse. In his 1994 book, From Oswiecim to Auschwitz<ref>[https://ift.tt/2vH3Nfj Moshe Weiss, From Oswiecim to Auschwitz]</ref>, Moshe Weiss writes of a meeting with him:
<blockquote>Upon leaving the death camp at Auschwitz/Birkenau, I stopped in the town to visit Shimek Lkuger, the last remaining Jew in Oswiecim. He offered me refreshments and an hour of gentle conversation, in which he reiterated his hope to leave Poland soon and join his brother and his family in Brooklyn, New York. Before departing, I presented him with a talit, a mezuzah, and two yarmulkes.</blockquote>
== Death and burial ==
When Klueger died there were no Jews remaining in Oswiecim to prepare him for burial in the correct manner. Jewish law prescribes a ritual washing prior to burial. The nearest rabbi, Rabbi Sacha Pecaric, was summoned from [[Krakow]]. He went to the mortuary in Auschwitz to perform the taharah ceremony. A [[minyan]], a quorum of 10 males over the age of 13, was also required. Luckily a busload of American Jewish students were pursuaded to attend the funeral. Kleuger was buried in the old Oswiecim cemetery which had been revived after the war.
== Conversion of house to cafe ==
After Shimson Klueger died his familiy donated the house to The Auschwitz Jewish Centre who run the small synagogue and Jewish museum<ref>[https://ajcf.pl/en/ The Auschwitz Jewish Centre]</ref>. The house was converted into a cafe called Cafe Bergson with the help of a Kickstarter campaign in 2014<ref>[https://ift.tt/2SBTW3t Kickstarter, Cafe Bergson]</ref>.
== Jews in Oswiecim ==
February 18, 2020 at 09:06AM
