Wkat We Were Sag*

PHIL JACOBS EDITOR

T

he beauty of newspapers is
that they are like no-deposit,
no-return history books. They
are disposable, yet years after
we've discarded them, we
wished we hadn't. The only
price to pay in the case of The Jewish News
is perhaps 75 cents and a little printer's ink
on the fingers.
In June of 1944, however, that price was
but a dime.
History rests in the bound volumes of 52
years of Jewish Newses sitting on the
shelves of a conference room. Each time the
heavy, over-sized books are opened, it's al-
most as if there's an argument going on be-
tween the pages.
"Look down here and read," they seem to
shout. Recognition breathes new life. Men
and women who might be long dead are
happy newlyweds again. The community
mobilizes in a show of solidarity against the
vintage oppression of the year. Synagogues
with names that are 1994 familiar announce
services in 1944 locations.
On June 9, 1944, Detroit's Jewish News
covered the Tuesday invasion with drama
and with a fine balance between events over-
seas and at home. Without the benefit of E-
Mail, CNN, Fax and any other high-tech
aids, the picture of what was happening was
amazingly complete.
A drawing of a wounded G.I., his helmet
and machinegun falling to the ground, draw
the eye on the front page. It was a teaser for
the newspaper's backing of the Fifth War
Loan Bond Campaign. Advertisers bought
"Back The Attack" ads on the top of each
one of the following pages of this edition.
Advertisers from Harvey Goldman & Co. to

Janet's Ladies' and Children's Apparel chose
the strip ads.
The week prior, editors put a paper to bed
not knowing how the world would change
from a place called Normandy. The June 2
Jewish News discussed issues such as the
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and even ran a
photo of four Jewish war veterans, includ-
ing the last surviving Jewish veteran of the
Spanish-American War, 99-year-old Dan
Harris.
Lord of Hosts.
The words of the psalmists echo in our
hearts. This is the day for which we have
waited. Girded for battle against the blas-
phemers of Thy name, a mighty host of

Without the benefit of E-
Mail, CNN, Fax and any
other high-tech aids, the
picture of what was
happening was amazingly
complete.

freemen are resolved to crush the ruthless
oppressor who has darkened fair lands, loot-
ed peoples, devastated communities, dese-
crated altars of religion, tortured human
beings and snuffed out millions of innocent
lives.
This was an excerpt of a shared prayer
read in many Detroit synagogues and thm-
pies the evening of June 6. The Council of
Orthodox Rabbis and the Women's League
for Sabbath Observance called for Shabbat,
June 10, to be a day of community prayer

for the safety of the armed forces. The call
was made across all denominations to make
the day a workless one.
Meanwhile, the Detroit Jewish commu-
nity organized its War Bond Drive with
events at Temple Beth El, under the orga-
nization of Maj. Harold Allen and Leonard
Simons; at Franklin Hills Country Club, led
by Lawrence Michelson and Jules Schubot;
at Shaarey Zedek under Harry Cohen and
Maurice Seligman; Harry Grossman led the
Knollwood Country Club drive, and Harry
Schumer of the Arlazaroff branch of the
Jewish National Workers' Alliance raised
$125,000 for the purchase of a hospital
plane.
Jewish News founding editor Philip Slo-
movitz wrote: 'This is no time for jubilation.
Invasion means the beginning of a battle
that will cost many lives. D-Day calls for an
expression of hope, through prayer and
through determined efforts not to permit
injustice to rule anywhere, that the sacri-
fices shall not be in vain."
The invasion and the war showed itself
all over the publication. In the weddings
section, Faye Fishkin of Glendale Avenue
was wed to Cpl. Al Fredson of Dexter. In a
Goldberg-Cohen wedding, the services were
held in the chapel of Camp Chaffe, Ark. Sgt.
and Mrs. Louis Cohen delivered their baby
at his Staten Island, N.Y., post. Pvt. Frank
Gunsberg of Genesee Avenue was overseas
when son David was born.
On the same page as the wedding an-
nouncements was an ad targeting women
to work as fur finishers while the men were
overseas.
A 25-year-old named Danny Raskin tried,
in his Jewish Youths Listening Post column,

144enustkieo 06 A Houk Wax

War Stories ran on the
front page and inside
pages of the June 9.
1944 Jewish News.
The front page depicts
a wounded G.I.
alongside stories of
local reaction to the
invasion; an editorial
hacks the invasion as
does the top "Back the
Attack" ad; a Hudson's
ad talks of the war
effort.

u

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