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Nazis Fire Synagogue and Rabbi’s Home in Staten Island, Police Probe Blazes

February 17, 1942
See Original Daily Bulletin From This Date
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Police and Fire Department officials were today probing two fires which broke out simultaneously yesterday at the Temple Emanu El in Staten Island and at the home of the congregations rabbi, Dr. Isaac Milner, about four blocks away. Investigation disclosed that shingles on the outside of both buildings had been soaked with kerosene and an empty kerosene can was found near the synagogue.

Dr. Milner, who has headed the Emanu El Congregation for fifteen years, declared that he believed the fires were set by local Nazis in retaliation for articles he has written in a Staten Island daily attacking the Nazi regime. The rabbi expressed the belief that ”there were a lot of Nazis on Staten Island.”

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