The Rabbis’ March on Washington occurred on October 6, 1943. It was a movement to support the actions of American and allied forces to stop the destruction of European Jewry. European Jewry would be the areas in towns where it is predominantly occupied by Jewish people. The significance of the date was that it was three days before Yom Kippur. It was originally organized by Hillel Kook who was the nephew of the chief rabbi of Mandatory Palestine which occurred in the First World War. There were approximately 400 rabbis involved in the march and they were part of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the US and Canada. The mainly came from New York and other states in the New England area.
Franklin D. Roosevelt attempted to avoid the rabbis because he wanted to remain neutral and was advised to do so by some of his Jewish aides and some important Jewish figures. There was also the worry that the demonstration would stir-up anti-Semitism and that the marchers were not a good representation of American Jewry. To ensure that he stayed out of the issue Franklin D. Roosevelt escaped from the White House for the weekend and this angered the protestors. Instead of being greeted by the president, Senator William Warren Barbour, but did not want to read their petition to him and instead gave it to the Presidential secretary. There was a lot of media following the protest and it fixated on how they were being shoved to the side and treated poorly regarding what they were fighting for and how so many important figures just simply dismissed their concerns and beliefs. In The Jewish Daily Forward posed a question relating to the possible treatment of Catholic priests in the same situation. The Rabbis’ felt disrespected by the American government and it hurt because of the annihilation of the European Jewry after 1941.
There is something that intrinsically hurts when there is mention of the Holocaust and the events that are related to it. There was a distaste when it came to Hitler and his actions but much of that was not present at the time of the war. Everyone knew what was going on but there was no conversation on the issues and that is what really hurt the Rabbis. They wanted to speak to President Roosevelt and be able to create a solution for the issue in Europe regarding the Jewry. In Gaudium it speaks on the community and the people within it, if something like the destruction of European Jewry happened in the United States it would be automatically shut down but without the dialogue for the Jews in America with government officials it made them feel like they were being dismissed and that no one cared for their ideals and beliefs.
Gaudium says that all men are equal and that is the exact opposite of what was occurring in Europe at the time and the Rabbis wanted to stop that with the help of the government. There is also talk of helping countries that need it within Gaudium and that was a huge part of the march was helping these countries and the Jewish people within them that could not help themselves. There has to be said about how the Jews were treated not only in the European Front but here on the home front as well because according to the account of the Rabbis they were not getting the respect that they deserved because they were just trying to help out the Jewish people that needed it.
McAvoy, Thomas D. 1943. Portrait of participants in the Rabbis' March gathered outside Union Station. Image. The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images. November 11, 2019. Image Courtesy of Getty Images
McAvoy, Thomas D. 1943. View of participants in the Rabbis' March on the steps of the United States Capitol Building where they met with US Vice President Wallace and various Senators. Image. The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images. November 11, 2019. Image Courtesy of Getty Images
The Moving Image Research Collections gives some rare footage of the Rabbis March on Washington and gives a better understanding to how the Rabbis were organized.
Presidential History Geeks gives a different viewpoint on the Rabbis’ March and how they were treated by the United States government.
I found this blog entry very interesting, specifically because I had not known that Rabbis had organized a march on Washington. I agree that the Rabbi were not respected by the government, which sadly was not uncommon during the time of World War II due to Anti-Semitism opinions. However, despite the lack of respect the protesters received from the government, the march can be seen as legitimate in the eyes of "Gaudium" since the protest was meant to bring awareness to save human life in Europe and the protest was non-violent. The non-violence does not relate to my blog topic of the Mayday Riot, since some of the rioters did become violent and the police's actions were extreme in arresting protesters and even bystanders. However, both protests did involve a direct protest of the government in Washington D.C. and were concerned with human life that was being lost in a war.
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