Rabbi Manfred Swarsensky (z”l) survived the Holocaust and immigrated to Madison, becoming the first rabbi of Temple Beth El. When he accepted the position in 1940, the synagogue had 12 members, which grew to over 400 families during his 36 years of tenure. He is a beloved figure of Madison’s history; in 2024, Temple Beth El held a “Swarsensky Memorial Weekend” to honor his legacy.
Rabbi Swarsensky’s inspiring life story can be a powerful reminder to remain hopeful in face of rising antisemitism.
This article draws on information from an oral history Swarsensky recorded with the Wisconsin Historical Society. During the spring and summer of 1980, an archivist spoke with him for 12 hours to capture memories of his life. Swarsensky felt it important to share his experience because “…the past should not be forgotten, but recorded for the future in the hope that future generations will learn from the past.”
Rabbi Swarsensky was born October 1906 in Marienfluss, Germany. Between 1925-1932, he studied at an academy for Jewish studies in Berlin while simultaneously pursuing a Ph.D. in Semitics at the University of Würzburg.
When asked why he chose to become a rabbi, Swarsensky had a difficult time answering the question. “I was always…very, very Jew and non-Jew conscious. I was the only Jew around and….it always fascinated me, interested me, troubled me, why I was different from others. And I think I wanted to find out what made me different.” In 1932, Swarsensky became appointed as a rabbi in Berlin, serving the city’s entire Jewish community of about 150,000 people alongside 15-20 other rabbis.
On Kristallnacht, November 9-10, 1938, he received a call in the middle of the night from the Jewish sexton who lived at Prinzregentenstrasse synagogue. Swarsensky rushed over and saw “Nazis pouring oil over the interior and the firemen standing by on the outside protecting the adjoining buildings, and pouring water on them so that they wouldn’t catch the heat and also burn down.” This synagogue, many others, and Jewish businesses, were destroyed that night.
The next day, the gestapo arrived at Swarsensky’s apartment to arrest him. After spending a few nights in a Berlin jail cell, he was taken to Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg concentration camp, where he endured grueling hard labor and tortuous conditions. “Originally, of course you didn’t know what was happening; later on it was a daily routine,” Swarsensky said. “Turns out, we were actually building munitions plants in preparation for the war…For instance, digging foundations all day long…lifting huge rocks, stones.” He didn’t experience the horrific gas chambers, as those were built later on in the war.
After six months at the concentration camp, Swarsensky unexpectedly received a summons to appear before the commander, who offered him freedom if he left the country. Initially, he denied. “I felt I couldn’t accept a certain privilege or exception for myself which was not given to other Jews because I was a rabbi,” Swarsensky said. “But then I thought of my parents…what good does it do if I die and nobody is helped either? Alright, so I gave up my heroism, which was not too deep in the first place, and I said yes.”
After being escorted to the edge of a large field, a man addressed Swarsensky and said “that I should remember that the arm…of the Gestapo is long enough to catch me wherever I am. And I will be caught if I ever say one word about concentration camps. And this fear in me accompanied me for a long time.”
After leaving the concentration camp, he eventually received the paperwork to certify his travel and live with his brother in Chicago. While there, he learned of vacancies for rabbis, including in Madison. “The fact that here was a university and since I had a PhD, since I have certain academic interests, I felt Madison is just a fine place, quite aside from the natural beauty.”
He arrived in February 1940, on a cold, dreary day. He described the beginning as being “somewhat depressing” – about 12 people attended his first services at Temple Beth El, comparable to the amount of people he would bury in Berlin in a week. “So I was praying to God that they should live, this congregation [laughs], otherwise there is no future in this.” During his tenure, he grew membership to over 400 families.
After the war, he encouraged the resettlement of approximately 75 Holocaust survivors in Wisconsin. “I did it because…I regard this a mitzvah, to bring people into a home in a place of security,” Swarsensky said. In 1952, he started his own family, marrying Ida Weiner of Chicago and raising two children.
He spoke often about his perspective on the Holocaust, Israel, interfaith marriages, and antisemitism. When asked about the American Nazi party planning to march in Milwaukee, he said he understood why Jews may overreact, but that fortunately the “number of these kooks has been very small,” Swarsensky said. “I’ve always felt, and many people just don’t agree with this, that the quarantine treatment is the best treatment for them…There are people who are maladjusted and want to appear as big shots…if you put them on TV and interview them, then they become real big shots.”
Rabbi Swarsensky retired from Temple Beth El in 1976. He grew to like living in the Midwest, and he would spend many of his days in retirement traveling around Wisconsin, speaking to various churches, ministries, and civic clubs about the Jewish perspective.
“I do have a deep sense of gratitude to America, to Wisconsin, and to Madison because they have done for me more than I can ever repay. They have given me a new chance to rebuild my life and for this I shall always be grateful and the little I have done for the community is, not consciously but in a sense, a way of repaying, or better, paying my civic rent.
Rabbi Swarsensky died in Madison on Nov. 10, 1981, the 43rd anniversary of Kristallnacht.
* * *
* * *
About Rabbi Manfred Swarsensky
Rabbi Manfred Swarsensky, the founding rabbi of Temple Beth El in Madison, was a notable advocate for interfaith marriages during his tenure from 1940 to 1976. At a time when many of his contemporaries, including those within the Reform movement, refrained from officiating such unions, Rabbi Swarsensky took a more inclusive approach.
His commitment to interfaith couples was so pronounced that he was reportedly expelled from the Wisconsin Council of Rabbis for performing interfaith marriages. He believed that embracing these unions was essential for the survival and continuity of Judaism, famously stating, “I do it for the Jewish mothers.”
Loading ...