Regina Jonas

Passions

Vocation

Notable

German rabbi, who became the first woman to be ordained as a rabbi in 1935. There had been some women before Jonas who made significant contributions to Jewish thought, such as the Maiden of Ludmir, Asenath Barzani, and Lily Montagu, who acted in similar roles without being ordained. 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 hold services in a synagogue, and she was soon ordered into forced labor. Despite this, she continued her rabbinical work as well as teaching and holding services. On 4 November 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, 5 November 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. She was deported with other prisoners to Auschwitz in mid-October 1944, where she was murdered either less than a day or two months later. She was 42 years old. Link to Wikipedia biography