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U.S. Jewish Soldiers Observe Passover Throughout World; Owi Broadcasts to Europe

April 21, 1943
See Original Daily Bulletin From This Date
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Jewish men in the U.S. armed forces throughout the globe observed the Seder last night wherever the military situation permitted it, in accordance with arrangements made by the National Jewish Welfare Board. Matzoth and Passover wine were rushed by air to many oversea points in order to reach the Jewish soldiers in time for the Seder.

In New Guinea the Seder for American Jewish soldiers was the first ever held there. The ceremony was conducted by Lieut. Leonard Krause of Chicago and took place in a coconut grove. Similar ceremonies were held in every other war zone in the Pacific and in Africa. Sergeant Barney Ross, broadcasting from Cleveland to 2,000 Nazy men attending Passover services at the Naval Training Station at Sampson, N. Y., said the marines who fought on Guadalcanal had one thing in common with the Israelites who crossed the desert “they were on good terms with the Lord.”

Through the facilities of the Office of War Information, a Passover message in Yiddish to the Jews of Europe was shortwaved last night by Rabbi Israel Goldstein, president of the Synagogue Council of America. The message spoke of the inevitable victory of the United Nations and concluded with the words of the Passover ritual, “This year we are slaves, next year we shall be free men; this year we are here, next year we shall be in the land of Israel.”

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