Gov. Dewey, in Rosh Hashonah Message, Lauds Jewish Soldiers for Valor and Endurance

Governor Thomas E. Dewey today issued through the Jewish Telegraphic Agency the following Rosh Hashanah message:

“As Governor of the State of New York and on my own behalf, I am happy to extend to the people of Jewish faith my heartiest greetings and sincere good wishes at the beginning of their New Year. There never was a time, I believe, in the history of the Jewish people when the celebration of Rosh Hashanah was so pregnant with meaning. At this particular date, it should also bring consolation and hope. This year marks the destruction of the enemy who made it the first article of their creed to torture and destroy the Jewish people. In these painful years, all have learned the grim truth, that those oppressors are the enemies of all decency, of all freedom, of all civilization.

“In the battle for freedom, soldiers of Jewish faith have played a brilliant and thrilling part, notable for valor and endurance. While we all rejoice with you, we also mourn with you for all the brave fighting men who have perished. We mourn with you, too, for the untold, unparalleled sufferings and destruction inflicted upon those of your faith in the conquered countries. We feel with you, too, the horror and the incredulity at the unexampled and unbelievable mass destruction which has been visited upon the Jewish communities in Europe as the Nazi hordes flee desperately from the doom that pursues them throughout the continent of Europe.

“You have occasion to celebrate your 5705th New Year in the spirit of hope, such as has not been possible for a long, long time. You have cause, too, for hope that the quickening tempo of our victorious armies may soon bring to an end the assault upon civilization in Europe. The people of Jewry also have the consolation that from each successful trial that they have undergone, they have emerged stronger. Persecution after persecution has served only to toughen and held the character of the Jewish people to a vitality which nothing can corrode.

“Our Americans of Jewish faith have contributed mightily to our culture, our policy, our citizenship, our respect for the dignity of the individual. May these essential qualities of a civilized world be brought to suffering peoples everywhere. We have reason to believe that the coming year will be inscribed as a truly happy one.”