Memory Lane: Reb Meir (Morris) Rokowsky

Morris Rakowsky—a native of Switzerland, and hero of Hatzolah rescue during the war—was a leader of the Holocaust rescue movement. In addition to founding Beth Jacob of Boro Park almost singlehandedly, he had a supportive role in nearly every Klal organization founded or active during that era—including Torah Umesorah, Hatzolah, Agudas Yisroel, Bikur Cholim of Boro Park, and others.  

Basel

Meir was born in Basel in the year 1902, and he would be destined for a life of helping his brethren, in both Switzerland and America—And all of it would be done with hatzneia leches… and most of his activities would remain hidden. 

He married Rochel Bollag, the daughter of Reb Yisroel Bollag of Baden, Switzerland, whose family had been in various cities in Switzerland for 400 years. The couple settled in Basel, and he began his life of chessed there. But nothing would compare to his lifesaving work as WWII was heating up, as we read in a letter to the Flatbush Jewish Journal, penned by R’ Osher Lehmann, z”l, a son-in-law of Morris Rokowsky. 

“Jews were being persecuted in neighboring Germany, and were looking for ways to escape that country. One of the exit routes was to travel to Eretz Yisroel by way of Switzerland. To accomplish that feat, Mr. Morris Rokowsky worked with a helpful chief of police and a bank official to obtain the needed documents for hundreds of people.” Once it began to appear that Hitler would enter Switzerland, the Rokowsky’s were advised to leave the country immediately.  

But not before saving hundreds of lives. A family member relates that, on a recent trip to Basel, he was told by the locals that Morris Rokowsky saved countless people from the jaws of the Nazis!

The Rokowsky’s arrived in America in 1941 following a seven-week journey by freight ship from Spain (the ship was torpedoed on the way back to Europe), where Reb Meir continued his rescue efforts through Vaad Hatzolah.   

Bais Yaakov 

The legendary Beis Yaakov of Boro Park was founded by none other than Reb Meir Rokowsky. He had three daughters, and he needed a mossad hachinuch for them. Dissatisfied with the existing chinuch options, he set about founding a new school that would follow the old traditions of chinuch habonos.  

“With the initial help of Rabbi Yehuda Goldberger, they started a Beth Jacob of Boro Park school with one small class consisting of the first grade. The three Goldberger girls were already too old for this initial first grade. Three of the six first grade students were Miriam Rokowsky [Schwab], Faigy Levine and Mindel Gerstner [Press]. This first classroom was above a store on 13th Avenue, near 47th Street,” continued Mr. Lehman. The school expanded exponentially, when Mrs. Rokowsky saw a mezuza on the door frame and girls playing outside, she rang the doorbell to talk to and encourage the parents to remove their young girls from public school and register them in the new Beth Jacob.” The first principal that they hired was Rabbi Dr. Michael Munk. 

Life in Boro Park

The Rakowsky’s not only dedicated their lives to the welfare of Beis Yaakov of Boro Park, but for countless other institutions in Boro Park and beyond. 

They davened in Rav Shmaya Wiesner’s shul (located at the later site of Rav Avorhom Chaim Spitzer’s shul on 49th Street). They assisted Yeshiva Be’er Shmuel which was led by Rav Moshe Horowitz, Unsdorfer Rov, as well as the Bais Yosef-Novaradok yeshiva in Boro Park.  

In Boro Park of yore, the locals did not appreciate when Rabbonim bought homes and opened shtieblach therein. So, when the Kopysnitzer rebbe wanted to move from the Lower East Side in the 1960’s, Morris Rokowsky bought the house on his name, and later transferred it over to the rebbe, and when the Satmar Rebbe came to Boro Park (on his first visit following the war), the Rokowsky’s served as his host. The connection went back to when Reb Yisroel Bollag, the father of Mrs. Rokowsky, sent two of his sons to learn in Satmar. The Divrei Yoel said, “if there is a daughter of Reb Yisroel Bollag in Boro Park, this is where I will stay.” 

Reb Meir was also a strong supporter of Agudas Yisroel of America, and he was honored at one of their dinners. 

He was niftar in 1991 at the age of 89, leaving behind an incredible legacy, and a beautiful Torah family.