For the first time in six years the synagogues of London had a peace time appearance during the Rosh Hashonah services which concluded tonight.
The congregations gave thanks for the victory which has been won, prayed for their murdered brethren and voiced their hope for a lasting peace during which peace and freedom for all people will be established on firm foundations.
There were more children in the synagogues than in many years since thousands of youngsters who were evacuated from London during the war have returned home. Jewish soldiers in the uniforms of all the Allies attended the services.
Chief Rabbi Joseph Hertz issued a special New Year message in which he declared that the architects of the world charter adopted at San Francisco intended that Jews everywhere share in the benefits of the Four Freedoms and that “due international recognition be given to Jewish constructive achievement in the land of their fathers.” The creation of a free Jewish commonwealth, he said, would be an act of historic justice for Israel and of sheer humanity for the tens of thousands of Jews who “four months after their liberation are herded behind barbed wire fences in concentration camps on a semi-starvation diet.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.