Regina Jonas - Persecution and Death

Persecution and Death

Because of Nazi persecution, many rabbis emigrated and many small communities were without rabbinical support. The duress of Nazi persecution made it impossible for Jonas to preach in a synagogue, and she was soon ordered into forced labor. Despite this, she continued her rabbinical work as well as teaching and preaching.

On November 4, 1942, Regina Jonas had to fill out a declaration form that listed her property, including her books. Two days later, all her property was confiscated "for the benefit of the German Reich." The next day, November 5, 1942, the Gestapo arrested her and she was deported to Theresienstadt. She continued her work as a rabbi, and Viktor Frankl, the well-known psychologist, asked her for help in building a crisis intervention service to improve the possibility of surviving by helping to prevent suicide attempts. Her particular job was to meet the trains at the station. There she helped people cope with shock and disorientation.

Regina Jonas worked tirelessly in the Theresienstadt concentration camp for two years—her work including giving lectures on different topics—until she was deported to Auschwitz in mid-October 1944, where she was murdered two months later. She was 42 years old.

There have been many other gifted Jewish people giving lectures in Theresienstadt, such as Leo Baeck. Most of them have been murdered. None of the famous survivors has ever mentioned her name or work at Terezin, nor has there been research on why.