Passover services for hundreds of Jewish soldiers of an Infantry Division were held in a Nazi party meeting hall, No. 29 Adolph Hitler Strasso, in Dahn, Germany. Pressing deep into Germany, the soldiers halted only for the traditional religious ceremonies.
“I am sure this Passover will live in your memories forever,” the division commander told the men, “You celebrate it in Germany, in the land in which Hitler said no Passove would be celebrated for at least a thousand years. Fighting side by side with your Protestant and Satholic comrades, you broke into this stronghold of the tyrant, to give the lie to his rantings about the Herrenvolk. You have shown by your deeds what the American soldier can do when he fights for a cause in which he believes. We dodicate ourselves to continue this fight until we have smashed this enemy-smashed him so that he shall never be able again to rise against us,” The services were conducted by the division’s Jewish chaplain, Eli A. Bohnon, of Temple Emanual, Buffalo, New York.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
