Tzaddik, rabbi of Piaseczno, one of the rabbis of the Warsaw Ghetto, innovative educator, expert and commentator on the Torah.
He was born on May 20, 1889, most likely in Grodzisk Mazowiecki. He was the son of Elimelech of Grodzisk, the spiritual leader of the local Hasidim. He was a student of Rabbi Yerachmiel Moshe Hofstein of Kozienice. In 1913, he was elected rabbi of Piaseczno. After the outbreak of World War I, he moved to Warsaw, where in 1923 he founded one of the largest Talmudic higher schools for unmarried students – the Hasidic Daas Moshe.
The outbreak of World War II found him in Piaseczno, but unwilling to abandon his students, he returned to Warsaw. He lived in a tenement house at 5 Dzielna Street. After November 16, 1940, the rabbi's house found itself within the ghetto. It quickly became a shelter for refugees as well as a place of study and prayer. The rabbi delivered weekly commentaries on the Torah, striving to strengthen the spirits of his listeners. A kosher kitchen for the hungry was also organized there.
In the spring of 1943, he was deported to the Trawniki camp. Jewish organizations made efforts to free him, but the rabbi spurned the opportunity for rescue – he and his companions swore an oath that they would not be separated under any circumstances. Rabbi Kalonimus Kalman Szapiro was shot along with other prisoners in early November – most likely on November 3 – during the "Ernterfest" (Harvest Festival) operation.
Kalonimus Kalman Szapiro | Public Domain
