Jews in twenty-nine countries today observed a universal day of mourning and prayer for the two million Jewish victims of Nazi brutality by crowding synagogues, stopping their work, closing their businesses and refraining from attending any places of entertainment. In New York, where about 500,000 Jewish workers observed a ten-minute stoppage of work, they were joined by non-Jewish workers of all nationalities who participated in shop meetings at which resolutions condemning Nazi massacres of Jews were adopted. The stoppage was made up later in the day in order not to retard the war effort.
Several radio stations in the New York area observed a two-minute silence, while a memorial service was broadcast at 4:30 over the Blue Network. The service was arranged by leading Jewish organizations and was conducted by Dr. Israel Goldstein, prior to the hundreds of services held in individual synagogues throughout the country at 5:00 P.M.
The entire Jewish press in America appeared today in black borders with articles and editorials appealing to the United Nations to take effective measures to prevent the further extermination of Jews by the Nazis. Some of the Jewish of the Jews in Europe. The non-Jewish press published editorials calling upon the Jewish people to maintain courage. The New York Times, in an editorial reviewing the Nazi slaughter of Jews in Europe, estimated that “two million European Jews have perished and five million are in danger of extermination” and urged the United Nations to declare “that these Jewish lives, taken by our enemies, shall be accounted for at the time of reckoning.”
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.
