The Rebbetzin and Mother
Lotte, the Rebbetzin
Rabbi Boruch B. Borchardt, Agudath Israel of America:
“Rebbetzin Carlebach was active to make the Rabbi’s house the Center… even when she had a very hard time, because her husband gave all his salary for charity… but her house remained open day and night and she did an outstanding job… she was such a great woman…”
In her position as Rebbetzin she was operating on two levels: She pacified the agitated people who came to consult with the Rabbi and listened to part of their troubles. When it was their turn, they were already a bit calmer, hence capable to accept the solutions that were not always simple – for problems that became more and more complicated in light of the non-terminating chain of verdicts against the Jews.
Secondly, Lotte was the “harmonizing angel”, enabling our father the Rabbi to keep, develop and radiate his tolerance, his sense of humor, his wisdom and his goodness of soul – in the darkest hours. He used to confer upon her the characteristic that says it all: “Priest of the soul”.
1932
Lotte Taking Care of Babies in Concentration Camp Jungfernhof near Riga 1941/42
Fanny’s testimony:
“Rabbi Carlebach and his wife Lotte devoted themselves to providing babies and toddlers with better accommodation… The couple did everything in their power for the unfortunate.”
Lotte Carlebach-Preuss, the Mother
After Crystal Night, Lotte was able to send abroad five of her children.
The longing for the children:
“…I feel at my wits’ end – I have no more energy left; daily work makes no sense anymore… And above all: the terrible longing for the children, that’s the prime reason for all soul fatigue. …I feel like after a complicated birth – as if all blood is flowing out, slowly and incessantly. Each child that left has literally taken a piece of my heart…”
And yet she asked with desperate efforts regarding her four youngest children:
“How can I save my four youngest beloved children – where in the whole wide world is there a way?”
She inquired about possibilities in the Netherlands, France and in what was then Palestine, and pounded on the ever sealed gates with all her motherly power…
At the same time – in spite of it all – she taught her three youngest daughters to stand by those even more unfortunate, like sharing food that was limited for Jews, or dispelling hunger by playing with their little Jewish friends. She also knew how to strengthen and deepen the bond between father – the Rabbi – and his son.
Letter to Cary Moeller
When she secretly cried at night in the concentration camp, her tears were shed for the Rabbi and his afflicted community, for the children and their father, her beloved and revered husband, with whom she shared the cruel fate, her whole life, and also the common yearning for the Holy Land.
“… Nobody could believe what was happening! We all slept in bunks – men, women and children – altogether. Mine was next to your mother. I held her hand trying to comfort her in an attempt to hold back the tears.”
Letter from Ruth Nebel, 7 June 1988
The tombstone of Grandma Preuss’ grave on ‘Har Hamenuchot’, the mountain of final rest in Jerusalem, the city of eternal peace, comprises a unique memorial for Lotte, with the following engraved words:
May this stone be a monumental witness for her daughter Elisheva-Chana (Lotte)
She fell as a martyr of God
Together with her husband, Rabbi Joseph Zvi Carlebach
And her daughters Ruth, Noemi, Sara
On 8 Nissan 5702 near Riga
Only God can avenge their blood
May their souls be bound in the bond of eternal life.
