Times Square was renamed “Warsaw Ghetto Square” for one day today, in commemoration of the uprising of the trapped Jews in that ghetto 21 years ago.
Several thousand persons witnessed the ceremony, sponsored by the Zionist Organization of America jointly with the ZOA Manhattan Region. Those taking part in the renaming ceremony included Rabbi Max Schenck, president of the New York Board of Rabbis; Julius Roobach, president of the Manhattan Zionist Region; and Abram Salomon, chairman of the Warsaw Ghetto Anniversary Committee. Others at the event included members of the Warsaw Ghetto Resistance Organization and Zionist and Jewish communal leaders.
Messages were read from U.S. Senators Jacob K. Javits and Kenneth B. Keating, and Mayor Robert F. Wagner, who praised the valor of the Warsaw Ghetto fighters. Sen. Keating warned, in his message, that “if we are to defend our principles meaningfully, we must not wait until religious persecution reaches Auschwitz proportions.”
Twenty organizations were co-sponsors for the commemoration. The proclamation by Mayor Wagner of the day as “Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Commemoration Day” in New York City was read by Milton Mollen, chairman of the New York City Housing and Redevelopment Board.
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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.