For years there have been fragmentary reports of almost unbelievable acts of faith at the Nazi death camps during World War II: the sounding of shofars, the ram’s horn trumpets traditionally blown by Jews to welcome the High Holy Days.
The paradox was not lost on Gergel, a lifelong South Carolinian well versed in local history. But soon, using his knowledge of court procedures and FBI records and the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act, he was on a crusade.