metro » continued from page 22 ghetto to await their fate. As the German army advanced in Russia, SS killing squads followed behind with the mission of execut- ing Jews. Tens of thousands were murdered. Within three days in September at Babi Yar, outside Kiev, more than 30,000 Jews were forced to completely undress before being shot to death. As August neared its end, Jews who fled to Hungary hoping to escape the barbaric Nazis were rounded up along with other Hungarian Jews, and more than 20,000 were shot to death. IN THE LINEUP As Jews were being slaughtered in Europe, America’s biggest Jewish hero (according to several polls of the era), Hank Greenberg, was training as an antitank gunner at Camp Custer in Michigan. Jewish baseball history was made on Sunday, Sept. 21, 1941, as four Jews were in the starting lineup of a team in a major league game. It never happened before and has never happened since. Almost 10,000 fans paid their way into the Polo Grounds to see the fifth-place New York Giants play against the seventh-place Boston Braves that would close out the home version of the 1941 season for the National League Giants. Bronx-born Harry Feldman was making his second big-league start after spending most of the season in the minor leagues. Thirty-year-old Harry Danning was catching and calling the pitches for the 21-year-old Feldman. Morrie Arnovich, eight weeks shy of his 31st birthday was in left field for the Giants, and rookie Sid Gordon was in center. Gordon, 24, a native of Brooklyn, was making his big Morrie Arnovich league debut. The game only took one hour and 39 minutes as Feldman scattered nine singles for a 4-0 win. Arnovich and Gordon contributed a hit to help cement Feldman’s first major league victory. The following day’s New York Times car- ried the report of the game but made no mention of the number of Jews in the lineup. While most Jews at the time didn’t pick up on Jewish baseball history being made, they did pick up the paper to scan the front page. THE YELLOW STAR Under the heading, “The International Situation,” the Times reported, “In Berlin all Jews began wearing the identifying Star of David badge in compliance with a Gestapo 24 August 11 • 2016 order.” In a related story, the sub-headline read: “Decree Bars Entry to Parks, Zoos, Restaurants, Theatres and Many Other Places.” The story, date- lined Berlin, Sept. 20, read: “Jews in Germany and the Bohemian Protectorate yesterday began wearing six-pointed yellow stars sewed on the left breast of their clothing in obedience to the Gestapo decree that aims at ‘the end of Jewish deception of the German people.’ “The badges are four inches across and stamped in black with the word ‘Jude.’ After 4 o’clock, considerable numbers of Jews were seen standing in lines before food shops. By official order, Jews may enter shops only between 4 and 5 o’clock in the afternoon. “This represents the first time in history that Jews have been required to wear signs of iden- tification in Germany. Previously, however, the Nazis introduced arm bands for Jews in Poland and more recently have required Jews in conquered areas of Russia to wear yellow stars over the left breast.” Manuel Merzon, a well-known Detroit attorney respected for his honesty, business and religious acumen, donned the yellow star arm band similar to those worn by the Jews of Europe. Merzon wanted to show soli- darity and keep the plight of the Jews on the other side of the ocean in the forefront. BIRTH OF A YESHIVA After prayers on behalf of the Jews in Europe, the cornerstone ceremonies of the Yeshiva Beth Yehudah took place on Sunday, Sept. 28, on the northwest corner of Dexter and Cortland. David I. Berris, chairman of the building committee, presided over the event under a large tent with comfortable seating. Well before the 1:30 p.m. starting time, all seat- ing inside the tent was filled to capacity and several hundred had to stand outside. It was estimated that 1,000 people attended. In addition to providing accommodations for the school’s 115 students in six classes, the building would house a synagogue for Congregation Mogen Abraham. The syna- gogue had been without a home of its own since the sale of its building on Farnsworth two years earlier. The congregation turned over $20,000 of the $55,000 estimated cost of construction. The ladies of the Yeshiva raised $10,000, while Young Israel of Detroit donated $2,000. A bequest from the D.W. Simons estate accounted for another large contribution. The local Jewish community was shocked to learn of the auto accident that took the lives of Ralph Davidson and his brother-in-law, Morse Saulson, in Troy Township. Well-known in the Zionist and Shaarey Zedek circles and affiliated with many charitable organizations, Saulson, 56, left two sons, and Davidson, 57, left a daugh- ter and a son, William, who would become one of the biggest entrepreneurs and philan- thropists in the state of Michigan. RABBINIC ERA ENDS When Rabbi Leo Franklin came to Detroit in 1899 and became the 11th spiritual leader of Temple Beth El, he found a Jewish com- munity of about 5,000, and his congregation had 136 members. Franklin helped steer his Reform temple into one of the biggest in the country when he announced his retire- ment. Henry George Hoch, the church editor of the Detroit News, cov- ered Rabbi Franklin’s Rabbi Leo Franklin farewell address in the Nov. 8, 1941, edition of the paper. “‘All I hoped to do has not been done. Only a small part of my early dreams have been fulfilled. But I have done, and I can say this honestly, whatever my feeble talents have per- mitted me to do.’ “This was Rabbi Franklin’s humble farewell to the congregation he has served and guided nearly 43 years, as for the last time he led his people in the prayers and responses of the Evening Service for the Sabbath at Temple Beth El Friday night. “As he left the pulpit at the end of a reminis- cent sermon, he told them: “‘I step down from this spot, which is more sacred to me than any other that I know, bequeathing to you such memories as you may wish to cherish and maybe some inspira- tion. “To my successor I bequeath, I am happy to believe, a strong, unified warm-hearted and enthusiastic congregation — a great opportu- nity for self-realization.’” While Rabbi B. Benedict Glazer of New York took over the spiritual leadership of the congregation, Rabbi Franklin was elected rabbi emeritus and remained in the city. DAY OF INFAMY Hank Greenberg was rising in rank in mili- tary service. Now a sergeant and earning $60 a month, Greenberg returned to Detroit dur- ing the Armistice Day parade Downtown. Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor. On Dec. 5, Sgt. Greenberg, less than four weeks away from his 31st birthday, was finally discharged from the army. Back in August, Congress had passed a law that men over 28 shouldn’t be drafted. Greenberg was disappointed that he wasn’t released in time to rejoin the Tigers for the last part of the season but was looking forward to reporting to spring training early to prepare for next season. Greenberg would only enjoy a couple days of civilian life before the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7. The attack would change the course of the lives of most young men in America. In Detroit on Dec. 7, Myron Milgrom, 13, went to the Avalon Theater on Linwood near Davison to see Orson Welles in Citizen Kane. Benno Levi, 18, went swimming at the JCC on Woodward. Sammy Cohen, 30, got mar- ried at Congregation Beth Tefilo Emanuel at Taylor and Woodrow Wilson. The day after the bombing, Dec. 8, 1941, the United States declared war on Japan and Army guards were placed at the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel. Regulations were imposed on the auto plants as production was converted to war materi- als. The “Motor City” became known as the “Arsenal of Democracy.” It was ironic that Detroit architect Albert Kahn, the son of a rabbi from Germany, designed many of the plants that shocked Hitler and his advisers with their production speed. Armored vehicles and aircraft engines and parts were soon rolling off the assembly lines. Hank Greenberg, who was honorably discharged from military service two days before Pearl Harbor, went to Washington three days after Pearl Harbor and enlisted in the Army Air Force. Offered a chance to stay stateside and be an athletic instructor, Greenberg elected to be a gunner in the Air Corps in the China-Burma-India Theater and rose to the rank of captain and would spend the next three and a half years serving in the military. * The author of the iconic Echoes of Detroit’s Jewish Communities: A History, and a columnist for the Jewish Press, Irwin Cohen headed a national baseball publica- tion for five years before working in the front office of the Tigers and earning a 1984 World Series ring. Well-known also as a speaker on several different subjects, he may be reached in his dugout at irdav@sbcglobal.net.