62 January 24 • 2019
jn
Looking Back
“The Holocaust Unfolds” — An Exhibit from the Pages of the Jewish Chronicle/JN.
Mike Smith
Detroit Jewish
News Foundation
Archivist
W
e are going to try something new
on the “Looking Back” page.
Instead of my usual column
that focuses on an interesting bit of Detroit
or Michigan Jewish history I find in the
pages of William Davidson Digital Archive
of Jewish Detroit History, for the next 12
issues of the JN, we will present an exhib-
it — “The Holocaust Unfolds.” This exhibit
is also drawn from the Davidson Digital
Archive and was on display at the Holocaust
Memorial Center in Farmington Hills from
October through December 2018.
The exhibit began with two questions and
an idea.
The question: When did the Holocaust
become known as the Holocaust, the Shoah?
This question was a topic of discussion
at a meeting with HMC CEO Rabbi Eli
Mayerfield and then-Director of Education
Robin Axelrod, along with Arthur Horwitz,
JN publisher/executive editor and me.
Well, the answer to the question is that
the Holocaust did not become a commonly
known, agreed-upon term of description until
a decade or so after World War II, when the
magnitude of Nazi atrocities against the Jews
and other groups came to light.
And, we asked ourselves another question
that led to the creation of the exhibit: How
did the Detroit Jewish Chronicle and the JN
report about the Holocaust as it was hap-
pening? The short answer to this question is
that, indeed, the Chronicle and the JN con-
stantly reported on events that make up the
Holocaust, from Hitler’
s rise to power and
Kristallnacht, to the atrocities against Jews
and the stories of survivors — reports most
often ignored by the mainstream American
press. It is also the story of how Detroit Jews
supported the war against the Nazis, fight-
ing in America’
s armed forces and helping
the millions of displaced persons afterward.
This, then, is the essence of “The Holocaust
Unfolds.”
I hope you will find the exhibit panels as
they appear on the “Looking Page” to be most
interesting and informative. Never forget. ■
Want to learn more? Go to the DJN Foundation
archives, available for free at www.djnfoundation.org.
Detroit was known as the “Arsenal of Democracy” during World War II, as nearly 25% of
the Allies’ war material was produced in Southeast Michigan.
Detroit’s Jewish community did its part to support the war effort. Its members worked in
factories building tanks, planes, guns, and ammunition, while also managing life at home
in the midst of rationing of foodstuffs. Despite the difficult times, the community
provided millions of dollars for the war effort.
The front page of this issue of the Jewish News was devoted to a call by The Jewish
Welfare Federation of Detroit for unity and service. This was the forerunner of today’s
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit. The Detroit Jewish community heeded its call.
Slowly but surely, the world began to understand the horror and scale of the Nazi
atrocities. The headline for the front page of this issue of the Jewish News described
protests from the Allied nations and the western world. But was protesting enough?
The front page also featured a headline about another aspect of World War II – Jews
fighting against the Nazis. As the War progressed, the Jewish News reported on
Jewish resistance in Europe.
Slowly but surely, the world began to understand the horror and scale of the
Nazi atrocities. The headline for the front page of this issue of the Jewish News
described protests from the Allied nations and the western world. But was
protesting enough?
The front page also featured a headline about another aspect of World War II –
Jews fighting against the Nazis. As the War progressed, the Jewish News
reported on Jewish resistance in Europe.
The escalating danger to European Jews was reported in this issue of the Detroit
Jewish Chronicle. Here we see reports of Nazi-inspired rioting against Jews and the
destruction of synagogues and Jewish-owned stores and property. An early report,
“Brown War Clouds Over Europe,” warned of the looming war in Europe as well as a
threat to Jews.
World War II was still four years away, but evidence of Hitler’s growing territorial and
military ambitions – and his increasing support for and orchestrating of anti-Jewish
activities – was there for those who could see it.