Disappointment at the treatment of the Jews in Europe during the past year was expressed today by practically all Jewish leaders in the United States in Rosh Hashonah messages issued on the occasion of the New Year which will be ushered in tomorrow night by Jews throughout the world.
President Truman led American personalities in extending Rosh Hashonah greetings to the Jews of the United States. Greetings were also extended by Gen. McNarney, commander of the U.S. forces in Europe, to the displaced Jews in the American zone of Germany.
Rosh Hashonah services for Jews in the armed forces in all parts of the world have been arranged through the Jewish Welfare Board. All Jewish servicemen will be released from duty during the two days of Rosh Hashonah by order of the War Department.
The holiday will be observed on Ellis Island by Jewish refugees who are awaiting admission to the United States. Services for them have been arranged by the HIAS in cooperation with the immigration authorities.
MOSCOW AND JERUSALEM SEND GREETINGS TO AMERICAN JEWS
Messages of greetings to American Jews were transmitted through the Jewish Telegraphic Agency from Jewish religious leaders in Moscow and Jerusalem. Samuel Chobrutsky, president of the Moscow Jewish Community, speaking for the religious Jews of the USSR, called upon the Jews of America to intensify their fight against worldwide racial discrimination.
“I pray to God that from now on, as an atonement for the blood shed by innocent millions of our brethren all over the world, hatred of Jewry and fascist doctrines will disappear completely and forever, and that Jews may live happily among the prosperous people of the world,” the message from Moscow read.
The Palestine message, signed by Rabbi Ben Zion Uziel, chief rabbi of the Sephardic community, expressed appreciation for the part played by the Jews of the United States in upbuilding the Holy Land and emphasized that “the Yishuv awaits help and further inspiration from the United States.”
NO LASTING PEACE POSSIBLE WITHOUT HUMAN RIGHTS, TRUMAN SAYS
President Truman, in extending “hearty greetings and good wishes” to the Jews of America on New Year’s Day, said: “Its celebration this year comes at a time when the United States and its allies are seeking to lay the foundation of lasting peace in the world. This task cannot be completed unless all persons, without distinction of race, language or religion, are made secure in the enjoyment of their inherent hu-
Gov. Thomas E. Dewey of New York, in a message to the Jews, said: “One year ago I expressed to you the heartfelt hope that the year 5706 might be inscribed as one of particular moment in the great history of the Hebrew people. Instead it could well be inscribed as the year of the great disillusionment. The world cannot afford to let such another twelve months elapse. The problem of admission of not one hundred thousand, but hundreds of thousands to Palestine must be solved forthwith. New homes for others and quick relief for all must wait no longer.”
LEHMAN, PROSKAUER, WISE SAY DEMOCRACIES DISAPPOINTED THE JEWS
Former Gov. Herbert H. Lehman, who was the head of UNRRA after its establishment, also emphasized in his New Year’s message that “the year that has just come to an end has been one of bitter disappointment and deep sorrow to all Jews.” Pointing out that the Jews, after the massacre of more than six million of them, had every reason to expect better treatment by all governments and peoples, Lehman stressed the fact that “instead, in many countries abroad, the plight of the Jews is worse than ever,” He called for the immediate admission of 100,000 Jews to Palestine “and for the admission in the future of such additional numbers as can be absorbed by the country.”
Judge Joseph M. Proskauer, president of the American Jewish Committee, in his New Year message stressed that the past year was “a year of suffering and sorrow” for Jews in Central and Eastern Europe. “Though they constitute but a pitiful remnant of the masses who were tortured by Hitler tyranny, they still remain in the hundreds of thousands–still suffering the blows of chauvinism, of anti-Semitism, of political turpitude and still looking to us for succor and salvation. Our first New Year prayer must be for them.”
Dr. Stephen S. Wise, president of the American Jewish Congress, struck a similar note. “It might have been thought that the climax of sorrow had been reached and passed during the war years,” his message said. “It is barely disputable that the year which followed the war years has in some respects been even more dismal than the unutterable years that went before.”
Rosh Hashonah greetings were also issued by the American Council for Judaism; Edward M.M. Warburg, chairman of the Joint Distribution Committee; Abraham Harman, president of the NIAS, Judge Morris Rothenberg, president of the Jewish National Fund of America. Secretary of Labor Lewis B. Schwellenbach; A.F.L. president William Green and Philip Murray, president of the C.I.O.
Dr. Abba Hillel Silver, president of the Zionist Organization of America, in his message, re-affirmed the “unwavering solidarity” of American Zionists with the valiant struggle of the Jewish Community in Palestine for national liberation. In an all-out struggle, Dr. Silver said, the Zionists of America stand with them “until our goal has been achieved–firm and final establishment of the national rights of the Jewish people in Palestine.” Dr. Silver also expressed a sense of close spiritual kinship “with those of our people who suffer and languish in the hell holes of Europe.”
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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.
