The Vatican radio, describing today the first Sabbath services held by Jews in Rome since their liberation by the Allied armies, said that Rabbi Zolli, the aged rabbi of Rome, expressed from the pulpit the thanks of the Jewish community for the aid extended to Jews in Italy by the Catholic Church and clergy during the months of German persecution.
Many American Jewish soldiers attended the services. An American Jewish chaplain, Lt. Morris N. Kartzer of Des Moines, Ia., made a speech telling the worshippers how Jewish soldiers fell on the Italian front in the fight for the liberation of Italy from the Germans and the Fascists. He assured the Jews of Rome that the vorst was over and that they could look forward to a free and democratic life. His speech, delivered in English, was summarized in Italian by a translator.
Rabbi Zolli, who was the only rabbi left alive by the Nazis in Rome, devoted his sermon to prayers for the suffering Jews who have not yet been liberated from the Nazis and for the victory of the Allied Armies. He told all worshippers to pray for the Allies to whom they owed their freedom.
American jeeps were parked in front of the synagogue while the services were going on. They were besieged by happy Jewish children, whose fathers and mothers were inside praying. When the services concluded, the Jewish soldiers poured out of the synagogue and climbed into their jeeps to return to the front.
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.
