4 Av · Yahrzeit
Rabbi Ben Zion Halberstam - the Bobover Rebbe - Al Kiddush Hashem
Rabbi Ben Zion Halberstam - 2nd Rebbe of Bobov (1874 - 1941) - Al Kiddush Hashem
Yahrzeit - 4 Av
Resting place - Lviv
He was born in Bukowsko to the founder of the Bobov dynasty, Rabbi Shlomo Halberstam (1847–1905), the first Bobover Rebbe and grandson of the "Divrei Chaim" - Rabbi Chaim of Sanz. He is the author of a commentary on the Torah called "Kedushat Tzion."
Al Kiddush Hashem
Lviv, where Rav Ben Zion was living at the time, fell under Nazi control in July 1941. For about a month, Halberstam hid in a room whose door was secretly blocked by a large bookcase. But a friend convinced him to leave his hiding place, believing that the Germans were harsher toward those found hiding. The friend also argued that the Germans would take into account Halberstam's official documents, which identified him as a foreign resident. On Friday, July 25, he left his hiding place and openly settled into a separate room.
Early in the morning of July 25, groups of Ukrainian peasants from nearby villages began streaming into Lviv. They gathered at police stations, then went out into the streets accompanied by Ukrainian police and attacked any Jew they encountered with clubs, knives, and axes. Groups of Jews were taken to the Jewish cemetery and brutally murdered. Raids on Jews and their homes, accompanied by looting, began in the afternoon. Ukrainian police walked in groups of five, checking prepared lists. The pogrom became known as the "Petliura Days" in memory of Symon Petliura. For three days, the Ukrainian mob rampaged through the Jewish quarters of Lviv. They led groups of Jews to the Jewish cemetery and to Lontskoho Prison, and shot them there.
At around 6:00 PM that same day, the door suddenly opened, and a Ukrainian youth entered along with the non-Jewish building caretaker. The young man held a red whip bearing the insignia of Symon Petliura's gang. He ordered Halberstam to accompany him. His youngest son, Moshe Aharon, begged to help his father, and in the end he too was allowed to come along.
At the street corner, other prominent prisoners from other parts of the city joined them. Soldiers stood guard to prevent escape. When the number of prisoners reached one hundred, the guards lined them up in rows of three and ordered them to march. Halberstam was too weak to keep pace with the others at a brisk walk, and fell behind. The guards beat him with clubs and demanded that he hurry. An eyewitness writes that "he saw from his window how the Rebbe, dressed in his Shabbat clothes, was attacked by soldiers. The cruel Ukrainians struck him on the head with their rifle butts, and his yarmulke fell to the ground. The Rebbe bent over, someone tried to help him up, and the Ukrainians continued beating him." ("Eileh Ezkerah," Naftali Ehrenberg, vol. 1, ed., p. 141)
The next day there was another roundup. This time, among the prisoners were Halberstam's three sons-in-law: Rabbi Yechezkel Halberstam (son of Rabbi Yeshaya'le of Shinov), Rabbi Moshe Stempel, and Rabbi Shlomo Rubin. On Monday, July 28, the imprisoned Jews were shot in the Yanover Forest outside the city. That day, twenty thousand Jews were shot.
Among them were the Rebbe, Ben Zion Halberstam, his son, and his three sons-in-law.
The Rebbe's surviving son, Rabbi Shlomo Halberstam (1907–2000), rebuilt the Bobov dynasty in the United States.
May the merit of the tzadik protect Am Yisrael!
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Zion_Halberstam#)