The kindness the Kaliver Rebbetzin, Rebbetzin Chana Sarah Shifra Taub, planted gave shattered survivors strong roots

Life was still idyllic in Vishau, Romania, in 1922, when Shifra, the youngest child of the illustrious Shapiro family, was born. Her intellectual, inquisitive mind stood out, and her older sister was determined she attend Bais Yaakov. While their grandfather, the noted Berzanne Rav, opposed sending girls to Bais Yaakov, in Shifra’s case he conceded that it was a good idea — paving the way for her future role as a mechaneches.

“A pity she isn’t a bochur!” her proud father quipped as he watched his daughter soak up the Torah she learned.

When Shifra reached marriageable age, she was introduced to Menachem Mendel Taub, known as the Kaliver Rebbe, a young man who had already acquired a reputation as a tzaddik and talmid chacham. The young couple settled in Vishau, but storm clouds soon darkened the skies. Three days before Shavuos of 1944, they were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

A few days later, on Motzaei Shavuos, Shifra’s sister and children reached Birkenau, where they found Shifra waiting at the gate to see if there were any familiar faces among the new prisoners. Most of the family, including Shifra’s sister, were immediately sent to the gas chambers; only two of the daughters survived.

“We were always close like sisters,” recalls one of her surviving nieces, Rebbetzin Chaya (Leifer) Rubin. “Imagine what it was like to meet in Birkenau! Her presence was nothing short of miraculous.”

Chaya was just 18 when she arrived in Birkenau with her older sister — she’d celebrated her birthday on a cattle car. “My sister and I were left all alone in the world,” says Rebbetzin Rubin. “The other members of our family had been sent straight to their deaths. We fell into our aunt’s warm embrace and from that point on, we walked through the valley of death side by side with her.”

The two girls were subjected to incredibly harsh conditions in the camp — yet Shifra’s inner wellspring of unwavering faith imbued them with spirit and strength. “Throughout everything,” recalls Rebbetzin Rubin, “Shifra kept reiterating that we would survive, and live to tell our miraculous tale.”