On this day in 1833, August Bondi was born in Vienna, Austria. At 15, he fled the Austrian Empire with his parents and settled in St. Louis, Mo., after a brief stay in New Orleans that introduced him to American slavery. Disgusted by what he saw, Bondi and his business partner, Jacob Benjamin, moved to Kansas in 1855 and began homesteading to help ensure the territory joined the Union as a free state.
Bondi’s farm and trading post suffered several setbacks at the hands of slavers, including theft, arson, and squatting. Bondi and Benjamin, along with their friend Theodore Weiner, then joined the Kansas regulars, under the leadership of famous abolitionist John Brown. Together, they drove out several pro-slavery forces from the territory, which joined the Union as a free state in 1860. Bondi then turned his home into a waystation for the Underground Railroad before enlisting in the Union Army. After an injury, Bondi resettled in Salina, Kan., becoming a postmaster and later a judge. He died in 1907.
In his autobiography, Bondi wrote, “As a Jew, I am obliged to protect institutions that guarantee freedom for all faiths.” What institutions deserve our protection, and what does it mean to live our lives with fidelity to the cause of liberty like August Bondi?
—Rabbi Josh Knobel