This is a photograph of Rabbi Dr. Leo Baeck (1873–1956) with his wife, Natalie Hamburger. Rabbi Baeck is wearing a hat, woollen overcoat, and scarf. Although not dated, the photograph seems to have been taken in the latter years of his life. Rabbi Baeck was born in the city of Lissa, then part of Germany but now in Poland. He studied at the Conservative Jewish Theological Seminary in Breslau but later left to study in Berlin at the Higher Institute for Jewish Studies where he was ordained as a rabbi in 1894. Rabbi Baeck served as a rabbi in several German congregations and was an army chaplain during World War I. His most well-known book, The Essence of Judaism, argues that Judaism is a relevant, moral, and ethical religion which combines rational ethics with a connection to God. After the Nazi rise to power in Germany in 1933, Rabbi Baeck declined offers to help him leave Germany and famously said that he would not leave the country until he was the last remaining Jew. At the age of 70, he was sent to the Theresienstadt concentration camp, where he continued to lead the community. After the war, Rabbi Baeck faced criticism for withholding information about the fate of Jews in the Holocaust to the other camp inmates. He justified his decision by explaining that he thought that the knowledge of Jews being gassed in concentration camps would make life even more difficult for them. Rabbi Baeck was liberated in 1945, although four of his sisters were killed in Theresienstadt. After the war, he moved to London where he became the chairperson of the World Union for Progressive Judaism. He also lectured at the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. Many schools and institutes around the world are named in memory of Rabbi Leo Baeck.
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Theresienstadt – Located in Czechoslovakia, Theresienstadt was established in 1941 as a ghetto and transit camp for Jews on their way to the death camps. In 1943, as reports of death camps were circulating in the Western world, the Nazis invited the Red Cross to visit Theresienstadt where they showed a “model camp,” by deporting Jews in an effort to reduce the rampant overcrowding and building fake schools, stores, and gardens. The Nazis filmed the Red Cross visit to use as propaganda; most of the actors in the film, leaders in the camp, and children were subsequently sent to Auschwitz where they were killed. In total 35,440 Jews died in Theresienstadt and 88,000 were deported. Theresienstadt was liberated on May 8, 1945.
World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ) – The World Union for Progressive Judaism was founded in London in 1926 with the goal of uniting congregations around the world that followed the principles of Progressive, Liberal, or Reform Judaism. The organisation was based in London until 1959 when it moved to New York, where the Reform movement was flourishing. In 1973 WUPJ moved to Israel and was the first international religious organisation to affiliate with the World Zionist Organization and the Jewish Agency. Well-known leaders of the WUPJ include Rabbi Leo Baeck, Rabbi Solomon Freehof, and Rabbi Uri Regev.
