Rosh Hashonah Services in Paris Reveal Jewish Tragedy There; Synagogues Crowded

The extent of the tragedy which has befallen the Jews in paris was dramatically emphasized here on Rosh Hashonah during the portion of the synagogue services when the prayers for the dead were recited.

Almost every Jew of the 25,000 who survived the German terror grimly recited Kaddish, since there is not a single Jewish family in Paris today which has no lead. The Rosh Hashonah services were held in six of the larger Paris synagogues and in a member of tiny court-yard synagogues.

Some of the synagogues-especially on Rue Copernic, Rue Notre Dame and Rue de Nazareth – still showed the damages caused by bombs planted by members of the Doriot anti-Semitic Popular party. But the great temple on Rue de la Victorie presented the same spectacle as in peace time, except for the fact that hundreds of American Jewish soldiers crowded the temple this Rosh Hashonah. The services were conducted by Chief Rabbi Julian Weill assisted by Rev. Henri Mandel.

No special services were held in Paris for Jewish men in the armed forces. All of them participated in the civilian services under arrangements made by Chaplain Judah Nadich of New York who preached in the six larger Jewish temples. In one of the military hospitals 500 wounded as well as the Jewish members of the medical staff, held their own services. In Cherbourg a local moving picture theatre served as a synagogue. In Rennes, the Jewish members of the armed forces worshipped in the former Luftwaffe headquarters.

American Jewish soldiers were impressed by the tragedy of the Jews in the old Jewish quarter in Paris. Attending services in the small synagogues on Rue de Secouffes, they saw the starved haunted faces of the surviving Jews, many of whom had hidden for two or three years in cellars attempting to escape deportation to extermination camps. After the services were over, these Jews lingered in the streets, conversed with the Jewish servicemen, invited them to their homes, inquired about their American relatives and told of their horrible experiences during the German occupation.