jews d

in
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Celebrating

Milestones

activities. His popularity among
Jew haters was at its peak early in
1942. However, the federal govern-
ment threatened Smith’s activities
as seditious.
For the most part, the American
public wasn’t sympathetic to groups
like Smith’s as war casualties mount-
ed, and eventually Smith refrained
from stating his anti-Jewish views
through the U.S. mail. Pressure from
government officials suggesting
charges of sedition also led Father
Coughlin, another famous anti-Sem-
ite, to cease publication of his anti-
Jewish Social Justice magazine.
Besides worrying about relatives
and friends serving in the armed
forces, Detroit’s Jews were hearing
about the heart-wrenching reports
from Europe. Five thousand Jews
from the Minsk ghetto were forced
to stand beside a large pit and
the children were thrown in. The
adults were machine-gunned to
death, falling on top of the chil-
dren who ultimately died of suf-
focation. Reports from Greece con-
firmed that thousands of children
had died of starvation since the
Nazi occupation began. By May,
it was learned that 1,500 Jews in
Radom had starved to death and
13,300 Jews were murdered by
Nazis in Lwow.
More than 16,000 Jews of
Poniewiesch, in German-occupied
Lithuania, were massacred over
a three-day period. The Nazis
were converting thousands of
talesim (prayer shawls) into winter
underwear for German soldiers in
German-occupied White Russia.
Only attractive Jewish young
women were spared from death,
only to be subjected to brutal
indignities and enslavement by
German soldiers. The Chief Rabbi
of Kishineff was beheaded with an
axe by Rumanians and his head was
left in public view for several days.
According to a letter dated Aug.
11, 1942, 93 young Jewish women
and girls of a Beth Jacob School in
Warsaw, Poland, chose mass sui-
cide instead of being forced into
prostitution by German soldiers.
The letter from a teacher made
public by Rabbi Leo Jung of the
Jewish Center of New York City,
stated: “It is good to live for God,
but it is also good to die for Him.
All of us have poison. When the
soldiers come, we shall drink it.
We have no fear.”
In an effort to save ammunition,
the Nazis herded about 500 Jews

75

YEARS

1942

2017

DIAMOND
ANNIVERSARY

Best wishes to the
Jewish News as they
celebrate 75 years of
serving the community.

And, we send our deepest gratitude to our clients and
friends as we get ready to celebrate Jaffe’s first 50 years.
We appreciate all of those who have been instrumental
in our continued growth and success.



 .

 .. 

www.jaffelaw.com

2188650

116

July 18 • 2017

jn

onto a barge and drowned them
in a river near Minsk. The women
and children of David-Horodok
(now in Belarus) were executed on
Sept. 10, 1942. They had been kept
in a barbed wire ghetto for over
a year after the men of the town
were machine-gunned to death.

ON THE HOMEFRONT

Rabbi M.J. Wohlgelertner taught a
12-hour course in air-raid instruc-
tion in Yiddish at Beth Tefilo
Emanuel synagogue on Taylor
and Woodrow Wilson. More than
100,000 Detroiters received train-
ing as air raid wardens and as
auxiliary fire and police. Practice
blackouts were held, and lights
were turned off in the city. Air
raid wardens patrolled the streets
making sure unauthorized citizens
remained indoors.
In the summer of ’42, everyone, it
seemed, was involved in some way
in the war effort. Fans were urged
to return foul balls hit into the
stands at a Tigers game. The balls
were shipped overseas for soldiers’
recreation, and the fans received
a 25-cent war stamp for each ball.
Baseball play-by-play broadcasters
were forbidden to mention weather
conditions, for fear of helping
potential air attacks by the enemy.
With the country at war and the
fans in a patriotic mood, “The Star-
Spangled Banner” was played prior
to every game.
Detroit’s most popular soldier,
Tigers superstar Hank Greenberg,
completed a 12-week training
course at the air corps technical
training command in Miami Beach.
Greenberg graduated as a second
lieutenant and was assigned to
the Headquarters Flying Training
Command in Fort Worth, Texas.
A new pulpit dedicated for the
future building of Temple Israel was
donated by Mr. and Mrs. Harry W.
Gilberg. Temple Israel introduced
more tradition in
its prayer service
in the audito-
rium of the Detroit
Institute of Arts.
Rabbi Fram and
the cantor wore
prayer shawls and
the congregation
Rabbi Leon Fram
— unlike at Temple
Beth El — was
encouraged to sing along with the
cantor. Fram preached the use of
more ritual in homes. The lighting
of candles and the blessing over

continued on page 118