Moscow newspapers today carry a report of how Rabbi Issac Zavada of Sandomierz, Poland, and his brother-in-law Mendel Kohn of Lods, joined the Polish Kosciuszko Division as volunteers and fell in the division’s first battle Against the Germans on the Byelorussian front. The Soviet military authorities have posthumously awarded Rabbi Zavada the Order of the Red Star and the Cross of Valor.
The two joined the Polish division in Russia as soon as it was formed. At first everyone in the unit looked upon the two orthodox Jews with surprise. Their long beards attracted special attention. They refused to eat non-kosher food and received dry rations and prepared their own food, The astonishment grew as the rabbi and his brother-in-law, given the right as volunteers to choose their branch of service, elected to join a mortar unit.
The two religious Jews showed themselves during training to be among the best soldiers in the division, The rabbi was promoted to a sergeant’s rank and later made commander of a mortar platoon where he won a reputation as a sharpshooter and excellent commander. “I owe it to my Sandomir congregation” he said when commended by his superior authorities.
The first to fall in battle was Mendel Kohn, who had been a textile manufacturer in Lodz. He was struck in the head by a German mine splinter, Rabbi Zavada had neither the time nor the opportunity to bury him with the customary Hebrew rites because the battle was raging and growing steadily in intensity.
“With his long beard and his locks flying,” the story in the Moscow press relates, “Rabbi Zavada, during the battle, rushed from one mortar to another, giving orders and helping the crews. The Polish division had already gained the initiative and went over to offensive action. Rabbi Zavada, attacking together with the infantry, was one of the first to leap from his trench to lead his men against the enemy lines.”
In this battle, the first victory for the Polish division, the rabbi-soldier was killed. He was buried in the Byelorussian village of lenino, on the road between Mohilev and Orsha. A simple wooden plaque on his grave, written in Yiddish, Polish and Russian reads. “Here lies the body of 53-year-old fighter Isaac Zavada. He died the death of the brave in the first battle of the Polish Tadeusz Kosciussko Division against the German invaders. Three nationalities render him honor in simple words. His memory will remain forever in the hearts of his people and his country.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
