Background

Ben Zion Kalb (later Colb or Ben Zion Colb) was a Polish Jewish rescuer during the Holocaust. Born in Strzyzow, Poland, he was the son of Reb Abraham Kalb, a shochet (ritual slaughterer). In September 1939, shortly after the German invasion of Poland, Kalb was beaten by a German policeman and fled to Slovakia. He later smuggled his fiancée Clara Lieber (later Clara Kalb/Colb) across the border in 1943, using a network of smugglers and guides. This success led him to expand efforts to rescue others, focusing primarily on children, youths, and families from occupied Poland.

Working with the underground Jewish resistance organization known as the Slovak Working Group (Pracovná Skupina), led by Rabbi Michael Dov Weissmandl, Kalb orchestrated smuggling operations across the Polish-Slovak border (and later to Hungary). He maintained detailed records, including handwritten and typed lists of names, dates, and places, as well as a diary from September 4, 1944, to January 1945. His efforts saved upwards of 1,000 Jews (estimates vary from 150 documented to over 1,000), often placing children with non-Jewish families for greater safety despite resistance directives. He used the code name Ben Avraham in some operations and corresponded with figures like Itzak Zuckerman (Warsaw Ghetto Uprising leader) and Rabbi Weissmandl. The collection includes a partial typed copy of the Vrba-Wetzler Report (Auschwitz Protocols).

Kalb and Clara married on July 11, 1943, in Bratislava, officiated by Rabbi Weissmandl. They were liberated in 1945 and immigrated to the United States post-war, where Kalb ran a business manufacturing zipper-making machines. He died in 1973 from heart disease at age 63. His papers, donated by his children (including son Mark Colb), are preserved in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum as the "Jews Rescuing Jews: The Ben Zion and Clara Colb Collection." In 2017, he was posthumously honored by B'nai B'rith for Jewish rescuers during the Holocaust.

Family

Kalb and Clara had three children: Mark Colb (physician), Melvin Colb, and Sherry Colb. The family suffered heavy losses in the Holocaust, including all four parents, six siblings, a sister-in-law, and a nephew. Kalb was observant and from a religious background.

No controversies, allegations, legal troubles, or adversarial records are documented in available sources. His work is widely recognized as heroic.