Remembering the Holocaust: Jewish Resilience Through Chess in Internment Camps
Deportation to Kaunas
Annually, on November 20th, a somber commemoration marks the first Jewish deportation from Munich-Milbertshofen to Kaunas, Lithuania in 1941. Five days later, the deportees were brutally murdered.
Amidst pitch darkness and torrential rain, around a thousand burdened individuals marched towards Milbertshofen train station at 4 AM. Erwin Weil, then 16 years old, recalls the chilling atmosphere, "We tried to calm the children’s fears, but it was a horrifying sight."
Charlotte Knobloch, the 92-year-old leader of Munich’s Jewish community, narrowly escaped this tragic fate. A compassionate farming family hid her as their own illegitimate child.
Jewish Dignity in Internment Camps
In his extensive documentation, "Chess in the DP Camp Landsberg and in the Terezín/Theresienstadt Ghetto," Siegfried Schönle vividly portrays the resilience of Jewish prisoners in these horrific environments. Despite relentless degradation, they clung to their humanity and dignity, often expressed through the game of chess.
Nathan Markowsky emerged as a beacon of hope. Before the outbreak of World War II, he managed a paper factory in Kaunas. In September 1946, at the Landsberg camp, he organized the first Yiddish Chess Olympiad.
Markowsky was also the stepfather of acclaimed surrealist artist Samuel Bak, now 91 years old. Bak’s father perished in the Holocaust, but his mother and stepfather survived Dachau and Landsberg. Bak’s "chess landscapes," featuring mutilated figures, serve as powerful testaments to his stepfather’s shattered soul.
Chess in Dachau: A Perilous Game
The book includes a poignant photograph of two emaciated chess players in Dachau from December 1944. Despite having two extra pawns, the Black player looks apprehensively at the board.
Solving the enigma reveals the Black player’s predicament. If he takes on f2 with his Rook (1…Txf2), White can recapture with his King (2.Kxf2) and then threaten the Black Bishop (3.Lxd5). The Bishop capture (3…Lxd5) forces White to trade off this valuable piece (4.Ke3 Ke5). Black can then force White to give up the pawn on g3 with 5…Kd4 6.Ke2 Ke4 7.Kf2 Kd3. Alternatively, Black’s move 5…f4 proves hopeless for White.
Conclusion
The Holocaust stands as a tragic chapter in human history, a testament to the depths of human cruelty and suffering. Yet, amidst the darkness, the story of Jewish prisoners finding solace and dignity in chess offers a flicker of hope and resilience. It reminds us that even in the most dire circumstances, the human spirit can endure and triumph.
