Some 2,000 persons, many of them survivors of Nazi concentration camps, took part here yesterday in observances marking the 20th anniversary of the liberation of the camps by the Allied armies in the spring of 1945. Sponsored by the Council of Organizations of the United Jewish Appeal of Greater New York, the gathering was addressed by U. S. Senators Everett Dirksen of Illinois and Jacob K. Javits of New York, and by Undersecretary of Commerce Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr.
President Johnson sent a message to the meeting, lauding the work of the UJA for its humanitarian work and paying tribute to the martyrs of the holocaust. “The memory of those who had died in this century as victims of prejudice and oppression,” declared the President, “must be honored by us all through unceasing vigilance against bigotry and bias in our society, and unrelenting efforts to assure a world of peace, freedom and justice for all peoples without regard to creed, color or continent of their birth.”
Former inmates of six of the most notorious Nazi death camps lighted gaint memorial candles at the meeting, which was presided over by retired Judge Jonah J. Goldstein. The candle lighting followed the chanting of the El Mole Rachmim memorial prayer for the dead by cantor Moshe Koussevitzky. The audience then joined in reciting the kaddish.
The 2,000 participants at the gathering adopted a resolution calling upon the memberships of their organizations for an all-out effort in support of the nation-wide UJA 1965 drive for $109,400,000.
FILM DEPICTS HISTORY OF POLISH JEWS FROM MIDDLE AGES TO WARSAW GHETTO
A feature-length documentary film, depicting 1,000 years of Jewish life in Poland, was given its first screening in New York today, Written by S. L. Schneiderman, a Jewish author and journalist, and entitled “The Last Chapter,” the movie, produced by Ben-Lar Productions, traces the history of the Polish Jewish community from the Middle Ages to the Warsaw Ghetto uprising in 1943, and comprises material gathered from many sources, including captured German films and others taken by members of the underground. Narrated by Theodore Bikel, the film portrays the prewar life of the Jews in small Polish villages, as well as in such famous Jewish centers as Warsaw, Vilna, Cracow and Bialy stock.
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.
