The Bergson Group, The Rabbis March

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Part 5) of The Bergson Group, A History in Photographs

Throughout the Holocaust years, only one rally for rescue was held in the nation’s capital: a march by more than 400 rabbis, organized by the Bergson Group and the Orthodox Va’ad ha-Hatzala, three days before Yom Kippur. Jewish leaders feared the spectacle of rabbis marching through Washington would cause antisemitism and embarrass the president, and President Roosevelt’s Jewish advisers urged him to refrain from meeting the leaders of the march. The president heeded their advice.

The rabbis march from Union Station. The man in uniform is
Dr. J.H. Gordon, National Commander of the Jewish Legion of Veterans.
To Gordon’s left, in the front row, are, from left to right,
Rabbis Eliezer Silver, Israel Rosenberg, and Bernard Levinthal.
Front row, far left, is Rabbi Nathan Baruch.
Vice President Henry Wallace (left) and Congressional leaders listen as
Rabbi Eliezer Silver reads the petition aloud. Behind Wallace, second from left, is U.S. Representative Sam Rayburn (D-TX), Speaker of the House.
Rabbi Wolf Gold reads aloud the rabbis’ petition, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
Two of the protesters. Rabbi Avraham Kalmanowitz is at left.
On the steps of the Capitol, the Melitzer Rebbe (Rabbi Yitzchok Horowitz) leads the marchers in the recitation of “Kel Maleh Rachamim,” a memorial prayer for the Jews murdered by the Nazis.
The rabbis assembled

The Bergson Group
Part 1)          A History in Photographs
Part 2)          Leadership
Part 3)          We Will Never Die
Part 4)          Emergency Conference
Part 5)          Rabbis March 
Continue to Capitol Hill »
Part 7)          A Flag is Born
Part 8)          Voyage of the Ben Hecht