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This Day, June 1, In Jewish History by Mitchell A. Levin

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June 1 In History

987: Hugh Capet was elected King of France making him the first of the Capetians.  During this period, power lay with the nobles and the leaders of the Church.  Among other things this meant that the kings were unable to do anything to protect the Jews against the anti-Semitic teachings of the clergy and the resulting hostile actions of the ordinary people against the Jews.  To make matters worse, when Hugh Capet was stricken with a mystery malady a Jewish physician was summoned to treat him.  Unfortunately, the King died and the Jews were accused of killing him.

1204: King Philip Augustus of France conquered Rouen, the historic capital of Normandy which had been operating under a charter that allowed for self-government.  Considering how poorly the French king treated his Jewish subject, his seizure of Rouen could not have been good news for the city’s Jewish population which numbered 6,000 and was strong enough to support its own Yeshiva.During the second half of the twelfth century, whenRouen was governed under the terms of a charter that allowed for self-government, the town was home to 6,000 Jews (approximately 20% of the population) and was the site of yeshiva.  the site of a yeshiva. At that time, about 6,000 Jews lived in the town, comprising about 20% of the population. In addition, there were a large number of Jews scattered about another 100 communities in Normandy. The well-preserved remains of the yeshiva were discovered in the 1970s under the Rouen Law Courts and the community has begun a project to restore them. In 1215, Rouen would be the site of the Fourth Lateran Council which adopted a panoply of ant-Semitic measures.

1252: Alfonso X is elected King of Castile and León. Known as El Sabio (The Learned One) the well-educated Christian monarch  set out to “to create a Christian culture in the north of Spain that as equal in glory to Moorish culture in the South…He ordered both the Koran and the Talmud to be translated into Latin.”  One of the most prominent scientists in his realm was the Jewish astronomer, Yehuda ben Moses Cohen.

1434: King Wladislaus II of Poland passed away. During his reign, persecution of the Jews intensified and Wladislaus did nothing to protect them or reinforce the rights that had been granted to them by his predecessors Instead he actually took steps to limit their business activities by issuing an edict limiting their right to lend money. 

1571: As a result of a command by the Duke of Alba, the Spanish governor, “a commission at Antwerp compiled the first Index Expurgatorius, a list of passages in Hebrew books which were to be expurgated because they were considered heretical by the church.”

1581 Gregory XII issued Antiqua Judaeorum Improbitas, the Papal Bull that gave the Inquisition full jurisdiction over the Jews of Rome in all matters including heresy, possession of forbidden books and the employment of Christian servants or nurses.

1656: The Jews of New Amsterdam are allowed to practice their religion, after reminding the Dutch West India Company that Jews "in quietness" were allowed to practice in Holland and other Dutch colonies.

1764:  The Sejm abolished the Council of the Four Lands.  Supposedly this was not an act aimed to harm the Jews.  Rather it was part of a plan to re-organize the tax system.

1790: Birthdate of Rabbi Solomon Judah Löb Rapoport, the native of Lemberg who was one of the founders of the  Wissenschaft des Judentums movement and author of several biographies including one Saadia Gaon.

1775: Abraham Solomon “enlisted in Col. John Glover’s Regiment, known as the Marbleheaders, to take part in the glorious Battle of Bunker Hill. Later he was shifted with his company to Cambridge. When the soldiers received their pay, they had to sign for it on the company’s muster roll. Solomon’s fellow soldiers, many of whom could not write, were allowed to make their Xs. But Solomon could write — just not in English — so he was allowed to sign his name in Hebrew. It is believed that this is the only Revolutionary War muster roll to be signed in Hebrew.”

1789(7thof Sivan, 5549): 2nd day of Shavuot

1790: Birthdate of Solomon Judah Löb Rapoport the Galacian born rabbi and scholar.

1792:  Kentucky admitted as the 15th state of the United States. Benjamin Gratz, one of the son’s of the famous Michael Gratz family of Philadelphia, who was a lawyer and veteran of the American Revolution was one of the earliest Jewish settlers of Kentucky,  Louisville, Kentucky would become home to the state’s first congregation, Adath Israel which was incorporated in 1842.  While serving as a delegate from Kentucky at the Republican Convention, Louis Naphtali Dembitz was one three who placed Lincoln’s name in nomination.  He was the uncle of Kentucky’s most famous Jew, Supreme Court Justice Louis Dembitz Brandeis.

1796: Tennessee admitted as the 16th state of the United States. The first Jews settled in upper East Tennessee in the 1770s and to Middle Tennessee by the 1820s. The Nashville Jewish community dates from the 1790’s with enough Jews living there to hold services in the 1840’s and establish a burial society in the decade before the Civil War.

1808(6thof Sivan, 5568): Shavuot

1828(19th of Sivan, 5588): Raphael Meldola passed away. Born in Leghorn in 1754, he was one of the most prominent members of the Meldola family. He received a thorough university training, both in theological and in secular branches, and displayed such remarkable talents that when only fifteen years old he was permitted to take his seat in the rabbinical college. He was preacher in Leghorn for some years, and in 1803 he obtained the title of rabbi. In 1805 Meldola was elected haham of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews of Great Britain, and proved a worthy successor of Sasportas and Nieto. His name will ever be indissolubly associated with that of Bevis Marks Synagogue. Possessed of a remarkably virile mind, he was a dominant factor in the British Jewry of his generation. He was the author of Korban Minhah, Kuppat Hatanim (1796), and Derekh Emunah, published by his son after his death. He left several other works in manuscript. His scholarship attracted around him a circle in which were many of the most distinguished men of his day, including Benjamin Disraeli and Isaac Disraeli and it is noteworthy that he opposed the policy which produced the famous rupture between the latter and the mahamad. He maintained a literary correspondence with many of the most prominent Christian clergymen and scholars of his time; and his acquaintance with the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Canon of Windsor led to his being received by King George III. Meldola married Stella Bolaffi (Abulafia), by whom he had four sons and four daughters.

1845: Birthdate of Caroline von Gomperz-Bettelheim “a Hungarian-Austrian court singer and member of the Royal Opera, Vienna” who was the older sister of Anton Bettelheim.

1846(7thof Sivan, 5606): Second Day of Shavuot, Yizkor

1853: The New York Times describes an attack by Greek on the Jews of Smyrna during Easter.  Russian agents may have incited the violence which was put down by the Turks.

1853: The New York Times reported that the issue of Jewish Disabilities continues to be a problem in Parliament. In response to a question from Mr. Milner Gibson on this topic, Lord Russell responded that he did not think a measure that dealt only with this and that he would be submitting a measure that would dealt with the general question of Oaths to be taken by Members of Parliament.

1857: Isaac Jackson who was either 17 or 18 years old was shot and killed today by Charles Jones.  Jackson is one of four Jewish brothers who own a stored in Westfield, MA.  Young Jackson was driving a wagon of merchandize on the road between Westfield and Russell when he was attacked.

1865(7th of Sivan, 5625): President Andrew Johnson designated today, the second day of Shavuot when Jews recite Yizkor, as a national day for memorial services to be held in honor of Abraham Lincoln.

1865: Rabbi Sabato Morais delivered a special sermon at Mikve Israel in Philadelphia on “the day appoint appointed for fasting, humiliation and prayer for the untimely death of the late lamented President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln” in which he said :

If the essence of religion is what the great Hillel taught us, then I unhesitatingly say that the breast of our lamented President was ever kindled with that divine spark. "To forbear doing unto others what would displease us" . . . is the maxim he illustrated in the immortal document of emancipation that bears his honorable signature. It is that which he exemplified by his numerous acts of clemency ...We must bear his name with a blessing upon our lips. (As reported by the Jewish Virtual Library)

1869:Isidore Loebwas appointed secretary of the Alliance Israélite Universelle, a position he held until his death.”

1870: As a sign of his improving health, Prime Minister Disraeli was able to visit the Foreign Ministry today.

1873(6th of Sivan, 5633): Shavuot

1873: In an article published today entitled Whitsuntide: A Hebrew and a Christian Festival - Curious Customs and Interesting Ceremonies, the author compares the Jewish festival of Pentecost with the Christian Whitsuntide. Pentecost, signifying the fiftieth, is the second of the great festivals of the Hebrews, held fifty days after the Passover, or feast of the unleavened bread. The time of the festival is calculated from the second day of the Passover, the 16th of Nisan.

1879: An article entitled “Can’t You Wait?” published today reminds the reader of two famous examples of” hasty identification” that turned out be erroneous. First was the case of a papyrus that surfaced at Leyden which contained a “report of a scribe” sent to his superior serving King Ramses II that said “he had ‘distributed the rations among the soldiers and likewise among the Apuirui, or Aperiu, who carry the stones to the great city of King Ramses.’” While most Egyptologists thought this referred to “the Hebrews who built…the City of Ramses” Dr. Heinrich Brugsh, showed “clearly that these Aperiu were not Hebrews but an “Erythraean people…mentioned long before in an inscription of Thutmes III as cavalry in the Kings Service.” The second example took place when a picture found in one of the tombs at Beni-Hassan (an ancient Egyptian cemetery) was first identified as being representional “of the arrival of the children of Israel” until the same Dr. Brugsh set the record straight. [Were these really errors or was this an example of a German Egyptologist who had difficulty acknowledging the antiquity of the Jewish people?]

1881: It was reported today that according to a recent study conducted by the Opthamological Society in Great Britain, “Jew are more color-blid than any other nationality, and their defects are usually of the most pronounced kind.”  Oddly, the Quakers also show the same propensity for this malady.

1881: In “Birthday of Old Rome” published today it was reported that  no Jew will pass under the Arch of Titus with its depiction of the seven-branched candle labrum being carried in triumph by those who have sacked the Temple because it is a monument of shame.

1882: Birthdate of Jacob Billikopf the native of Vilna who gained fame in the United States for his career in social work, “Jewish philanthropy and labor arbitration.”

1883: It was reported today that an anti-Semitic riot that had begun in Rostov has been quelled. Violence broke out when Jew was accused of killing a Russian.  Fifteen rioters were arrested after they had destroyed 130 homes belonging to the Jews of the town.

1885: It was reported to today that a Hebrew manuscript that appears to be quite old has been found in the Sutro Library in San Francisco CA.  Copies are being sent to scholars in the United States and Europe to ascertain its importance.

1885: Anti-Semitic riots have broken out again in Vienna.  At least forty Jews have been injured in the attacks which have led to the destruction of several Jewish businesses.  The riots appear to have been brought on by the current elections which have seen the defeat of Leopoldstadt Schnieder the anti-Semitic candidate who lost by six thousand votes.

1885: It was reported that Benjamin Hirschberg delivered the opening address at yesterday’s celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Hebrew Free School Association.  Other youthful speakers included Michael Schaap, Annie Nathelson and “ten year old Simon Noot” who “referred to General Grant as the ‘Winner off battles and the savior of civilization.’”

1886: Deadline for Jewish troops who had served in Finland to leave the Grand Duchy, by order of the Czar.

1899: Today marks the end of the 23 year tenure of Dr. Herman Baar as superintendent of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum.  Dr. Baar had  tendered his resignation which was due to “old age” at the May meeting of the officers but had stayed on until the first of June so that a suitable replacement might be found.

1889: It was reported today that the Sanitarium for Hebrew Children has just issued its 11thannual report.  The primary mission of the organization has been to provide summer-time excursions for Jewish children and their parents.  Last year the organization hosted ten outings that served a total of almost seven thousand babies and children as well as over 3,600 mothers.  The society is seeking contributions for the purchase of a barge that will allow it to provide daily trips.

1890: Rabbi Kaufmann Kohler will officiate at the confirmation exercises for the students of the Hebrew Free Schools which will be held this afternoon at Temple Beth El.

1890: The Ladies of the Hebrew Benevolent and Orphan Asylum Society host their second “annual reception” the first one having been held on Decoration Day.

1890: Rabbi Henry S. Jacobs, Morris S. Wise, Joseph Jacobs, and Julius Lipman were among the dignitaries who attended today’s annual reception for the Religious School of Congregation B’nai Jeshurun.

1890: Rabbi Gustav Gottheil presided over today’s closing exercises of the Temple Emanu-El Sabbath School for Religious Instruction

1890: The two Jewish congregations at Rondout, NY, will hold meetings today for the purpose of rasing money to bring to justice the murders of Samuel Hotz, a Jewish peddler whose body was found on the first day of Shavuot in an old mining shaft at Wurtsborough, NY

1891: It was reported today that the in Russia, “the government is about to subject Hebrew elementary and religious schools to more stringent control.”

1891: “Jewish Exodus From Russia” published today described the movement of Jewish immigrants from Russia through Germany to Paris, London and/or the United States.  According to the Jewish Relief Committee in Berlin, about 600 Jews pass through Charlottenburg Station every day.  The Russian Jews are not permitted to enter Berlin and must spend the night in the station before taking the trains to the West.

1891: The Viedmostireported today that the Jewish Emigration Society has hired four Baltic steamers for the sole purposed of providing transportation for Russian Jews who have been forced to leave the country.  The 60,000 immigrants are primarily Lithuanian and Polish Jews.

1892(6th of Sivan, 5652): Shavuot, “which is also the season chosen for the confirmation of the pupils attending the religious schools attach to the” synagogues and temples of the Jews.

1892: In Clinton, NY, students at Hamilton College will compete for the Clark Prize for original oratory including Gregory Rosenblum from Novgorod, Russia whose topic is “The Jews of Russia.”

1892: A duel was fought today between Monsieur Drumont, the editor of La Libre Parol and Captain Cremieuz Foa, a Jewish officer in the French Army.

1893: The U.S. Senate Committee which is investigating the immigrant station on Ellis Island, which seems to be showing a special interest in the arrival of Jewish immigrants from Russia is scheduled to resume its meetings today.

1893: “Jews Driven From Poland” published today provides confirmation of reports that the Russian persecution of the Jews has been extended to Poland.  In the Ronda-Gonzowski district 480 families have been expelled  in a manner where they were forced to abandon all of their real estate and businesses.

1894: In Rochester, NY, Congregation Berith Kodesh dedicated its new house of worship. The building which cost $130,000 “was designed by Leon Stern, a member of the congregation and was built on the corner of Gibbs and Grove streets

1897(1st of Sivan, 5657): Rosh Chodesh Sivan

1897: Between now and October 1 the Sanitarium for Hebrew Children of the City of New York will proivd 35 excursions for underprivileged Jewish children and their mothers at no charge.

1898: Birthdate of actress Molly Picon.  Two of her more famous roles were in “Milk & Honey” and “Fiddler on the Roof.”

1899: Birthdate of Mary Phagan whose murder in 1913 would lead to the lynching of Leo Frank.

1903(6th of Sivan, 5663): First Day of Shavuot

1903(6th of Sivan, 5663): Montifore Isaacs, “one of the best known and most popular bachelors in New York Society” and the nephew of Sir Moses Montefiore passed away.

1904: Three French Army Officers are arrested in connection with the Dreyfus Affair.  However, the verdict would not be overturned for two more years when Dreyfus would finally be released from prison.

1905: Carl Jung discharged Sabina Spielrein, who had been his first patient, today.

1905(27th of Iyar): Isaac Hirsch Weiss, author of Dor Dor Ve-Dorshav passed away 

1906: In Trier, Italy, after the Jews were attacked by a mob and threatened with death, Bishop Egelbert offered to save those who were willing to be baptized . Most chose to drown themselves instead.

1906: A pogrom broke out in Bialystok, Russia.

1910: During a debate Turkish Minister of Interior Talaat Bey stated, "Some deputies have spoken on behalf of Muslim, Greek and Armenian hospitals, but I note with regret no one has a word for the Jewish hospital, which renders great services. It admits all persons sent to it by the police without distinction of race and religion."

1911: Birthdate of Bernard Rothman better known as Benny Rothman a UK political activist, most famous for his leading role in the Mass trespass of Kinder Scout in 1932.  He passed away in 2002.

1914(7thof Sivan, 5674): 2nd day of Shavuot

1916:The nomination of Louis D. Brandeis of Boston to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States was confirmed by the Senate in executive session this afternoon by a vote of 47 to 22. Only one Democrat voted against confirmation.

1917: A memorandum is published describing the distress of the Jews in Belgrade. According to the document, “communities are destroyed, thousands are ruined and compelled to leave their homes.”

1918: The Ninth annual convention of the Kehillah opens at Carnegie Hall in Manhattan.

1920: Birthdate of David Samuilovich Kaufman, “one of the most important Russian poets of the post-World War II era.”

1926:Benny Leonard is the chairman of a committee sponsoring tonight’s scheduled  testimonial dinner being given in honor of the Hakoah Soccer team at the Pennsylvania Hotel, on the eve of the team's departure from the United States. (As reported by JTA)

.1926:Bernard Flexner, President of the Palestine Economic Corporation, announced that the organization’s primary activity will be to help provide financing for the hydroelectric station on the Jordan River and the necessary transmission lines to connect the existing Diesel engine power stations at Tel-Aviv, Haifa and Tiberias. The Palestine Economic Corporation was organized in February, 1925.

1926: Bertha Solomon “was admitted to the Johannesburg Bar, becoming one of the first practicing women advocates in South Africa and the first woman to plead a case before the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in Bloemfontein.”

1928: Attorney General Albert Ottinger’s investigation of complaints by the Hebrew Religious Protective Association against certain cemeteries was resumed today when Assistant Attorney General Robert S. Conklin questioned Philip Gresner, Superintendent of the Baron Hirsch Cemetery at Port Richmond, Staten Island, about complaints by plot owners that charges were increased without warning and that even “funeral processions had been halted to demand payment in arrears.:

1926: Birthdate of actress Marilyn Monroe. Born Norma Jean Baker, Monroe converted to Judaism before she married playwright Arthur Miller.

1930: Birthdate of Jo Amar.Jo Amar, a Moroccan-born Jewish singer whose melding of Andalusian and Israeli musical influences would make him a star in Israel and a popular performer in Jewish communities around the world.  He passed away in 2009 at the age of 79.

1933(7th of Sivan, 5693): Second Day of Shavuot

1933: The League of Nations approves The Bernheim petition which is a protest aimed at Nazi anti-Jewish legislation in German Upper Silesia.

1933:Germany introduces the Law for Reduction of Unemployment, which provides for marriage loans and other incentives to genetically “fit” Germans. (Jewish Virtual Library)

1933:American modernist writer Gertrude Stein published her autobiography, ironically titled The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas,

1936(11th of Sivan, 5696): As Arab attacks continue, snipers fired on two buses near Jerusalem, killing one Jewish rider and wounding two others.  In the evening, a Jewish constable in Givat Shaoul was shot at by unknown assailants.  This is the same district of Jerusalem where another Jews was killed yesterday.

1936: Leaders of the current Arab uprising reportedly have sent letters to wealthy Arabs “threatening their lives and homes unless they” provide economic support for the uprising.  In response, the targets of the demands are “fleeing to Egypt, Lebanon and Europe.

1937: Birthdate of Yisrael Meir Lau, the Polish born rabbi whose father died at Treblinka, who became the Chairman of Yad Vashem and Chief Rabbi of Tel Avi.

1938: Superman created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian artist Joe Shuster made his first appearance in D.C. Comics’ Action Comics Series issue #1 which sold for 10 cents.

1940: It was reported today that the Jewish Institute of Religion plans on conferring an honorary degree of Doctor Hebrew Letters on Rabbi Moses Schorr who is currently being held in a Soviet prison

1941: In Baghdad, Pro Axis Rashid Ali, began his revolution against the British by attacking the Jewish community. Approximately 150 Jews were murdered and 800 injured during two day of rioting. British troops stationed outside the city did not intervene. The pogrom is known as the Farhood.

1941: The Battle of Crete comes to an end with German victory.  There were fewer than four hundred Jews living in Crete at this time. “It was not until June of 1944, and almost as an afterthought, that the Jews of Crete were arrested and sent to Herakleion, where they were put on the ship Tanais, together with some 600 Greek and Italian prisoners. For some years the details of the last hours of the Tanais and the fate of its crew and human cargo was not clear. What was known is that the ship had been sunk and that all had perished. Evidence has now appeared through the Foreign Office in London that in fact the Tanais had been sighted by a British U-Boat and was given two torpedo broadsides and sank within 15 minutes.”

1941: The deportation of Bosnian Jews to regional concentration camps begins.  By November, 14,000 Jews will have been deported to these camps.

1941: Birthdate of Dr. Stanley I. Greenspan, a psychiatrist who invented an influential approach to teaching children with autism and other developmental problems. (As reported by David Corcoran)

1942: The story of a young Jew, Emanuel Ringelblum, (who escaped from the Chelmno death camp after being forced to bury bodies as they were thrown out of the gas vans), was published in the underground Polish Socialist newspaper Liberty Brigade. The West now knew the "bloodcurdling news ... about the slaughter of Jews," and it had a name-Chelmno.

1942: The World Jewish Congress, based in New York, announces at a press conference that Eastern Europe is being turned into "a vast slaughterhouse for Jews."  As with the Sudan and Dafur sixty years later, the world “does not hear.”

1942: Between today and June 30 more than 23,000 Jews will be gassed at the Belzec and Sobibór death camps

1942: During June, Auschwitz is ravaged by an epidemic of typhus.

1942(16th of Sivan, 5702): Germans invade Jewish hospitals in Sosnowiec, Poland, murdering newborns and tearing patients from operating tables. Ambulatory patients are sent to Auschwitz and gassed.

1942: A young Sosnowiec Jew named Harry Blumenfrucht is captured and endures two weeks of Nazi torture.  He refuses to name his co-conspirators in a scheme to steal weapons. His suffering ends when he is hanged.

1942 (16th of Sivan, 5702): Jews from Dabrowa Tarnowska, Poland, led by Rabbi Isaac and gathered in a Jewish cemetery, defy their Nazi captors when they hold hands, dance, and drink "to life." The enraged Germans shoot and disembowel the entire group.

1942: At Lutsk, Ukraine, Jewish resistance is led by Joel Szczerbat

1942: Starting in the first week of June, three thousand Jews at Pilica, Poland, are deported to Belzec, but several hundred manage to escape before the journey is complete

1942: In Norway, Jews are given identity cards stamped with the letter "J."

1942(16th of Sivan, 5702): Mordecai Gebirtig, a Kraków carpenter whose songs of freedom are sung throughout Poland, is executed at Belzec.

1942: During the first week in June, Polish Jews are deported from Hrubieszów to the Sobibór death camp. Another 500 will be deported the following week

1942: Starting in June, Warsaw's underground newspaper, Liberty Barricade, published by the Polish Socialist Party, reveals Nazi gassing activity at the Chelmno death camp

1942: I.G. Farben's Buna-Monowitz synthetic-rubber and oil works opens near Auschwitz

1942(16th of Sivan, 5702): Between today and the 7th of June  seven thousand Jews from Kraków, Poland, are murdered at the Belzec extermination camp.

1942: First mention ever in the press, in this case the underground Warsaw newspaper "Liberty", of the ‘bloodcurdling news coming out of Chelmno.' Seven Thousand Jews were sent from Cracow to Belzec. On this day tracks began to be built connecting to a new death camp, Treblinka. Treblinka had been prepared for the Jews of central Poland.

1943(27th of Iyar, 5703):  Jews of Dalmatia, Serbia, are transferred to the island of Rab, which is off the coast of Croatia.

1943(27th of Iyar, 5703):  Starting today and lasting throughout the first two weeks in June 10,000 Jews from Lvov lose their lives in a combination of street assaults and killings at Janówska, Ukraine,

1943(27th of Iyar, 5703):  During liquidation of the ghetto at Sosnowiec, Poland, which began on June 1 and ended on June 6, a spirited resistance is led by Zvi Dunski. Ill-armed Jews fight back as deportations proceed

1943(27th of Iyar, 5703):  The liquidation of the Jewish ghetto at Buczacz, Ukraine begins. It will end on June 6.  Some Jews resist and escape

1943(27th of Iyar, 5703):  Actor Leslie Howard dies when the civilian plane he is flying on from Lisbon to England is shot down by German fighters.  The reason for the attack remains shrouded in the cloak and dagger world of W.W.II.  Born Leslie Howard Stainer in 1893, Howard’s parents were Hungarian Jews.  He served in WW I and gained fame in both English and American films.  He is best remembered for his portrayal of Ashley Wilkes, the classic cavalier in “Gone With the Wind.”

1943(27thof Iyar, 5703): Just five weeks short of his 44th birthday, Wilfried B. Israel, a Berlin born businessman who worked to rescue children from the Nazis, died aboard BOAC Flight 777, the same plane that was carrying Leslie Howard.

1944: An American public opinion poll indicates that 57 percent of Americans anticipate "a widespread campaign in this country" against Jews.

1944: From today through June 30, 13,500 Jews are deported from Miskolc, Hungary, to Auschwitz.

 1944:  With 55,000 unused United States quota slots from Occupied Europe, President Franklin Roosevelt agrees to allow only 1000 Jewish refugees into the United States. They will be housed at Fort Ontario in Oswego, New York

1944: After having been arrested on May 27, Mrs. Joel Brand and Rudolf Kastner are released by the Arrow Cross.

1945: Displaced Jews at Buchenwald, Germany establish Kibbutz Buchenwald, an agricultural training center designed to help young Jews succeed at kibbutz(communal) life

1945: Public-opinion polls taken during June indicate that Americans consider Jews a far greater threat to America than they consider German or Japanese Americans.

1945: Kibbutz Nili is established on the former estate of Nazi big-wig Julius Streicher, near Pleikershof, Germany, to train Jewish displaced persons in agriculture and provide schooling for Jewish boys and girls.

1946: Following the murder of two Jews in Biala Podlaska, Poland, the town's remaining Jews began leaving the country during June.

1946: Ion Antonescu, the anti-Semitic former dictator of Romania, is executed after being convicted of war crimes.

1948: The Arab states and Israel agreed to a cease-fire. After two weeks of fighting, the Arabs realized that pushing the Jews into the sea would not be such an easy matter after all. 

1953(18th of Sivan, 5713):Rabbi Shmuel Yitzchak Hillman, a native of Kovno who served as Dayan of the London Beth Din for 20 years, passed away today in Jerusalem.

1960(6thof Sivan, 5720): As JFK tries to nail down enough delegates to win the Democratic Party nomination for President, Jews observe Shavuot.

1962: Leo Frederick Rayfiel, who has served on the federal bench for the last 15 years, appeared as witness today in the trial of State Supreme court Justice J. Vincent Keogh and former assistant U.S. attorney Elliot Kahaner who are charged with having attempted to fix a case being heard by Judge Rayfiel.

1964: Estelle Sommers got her start in the dance world when she transformed her first husband's Cincinnati piece-goods retail store into a dancewear specialty shop.

1967: Having seen its plans to organize an international flotilla to break the blockade of the Straits of Tiran come to naught, the United States government shifts its policy.  Previously, President Johnson cautioned Israel not to fire the first shot in even of war.  On this day, when Secretary of State Rusk was asked if the U.S. would restrain Israel from taking precipitate actions, he replied, “ I do not think it is our business to restrain anybody.”  On this same date, Abba Eban realized that diplomacy would not work and that war looked like the only viable option.  However, the months of diplomatic negotiation had earned Israel the support of the U.S. government, support it would need in the coming weeks when the Soviet Union sought to reverse Israel’s military successes.

1967:  In response to the mounting tensions and popular demand, Prime Minister Levi Eshkol forms a government of national unity with membership from the total spectrum of Israeli political.  Moshe Dyan is named Defense Minister and meets with Chief of Staff Rabin who outlines the military’s plans.  Dyan approves that which had already been prepared.

1968:  Simon & Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson", theme for the hit movie “The Graduate,” was number one on the charts.

1979(6th of Sivan, 5739): First Day of Shavuot

1980: Actress and singer Barbra Streisand appeared at an ACLU Benefit in California

1981(28thof Iyar, 5741): As Israelis celebrate Yom Yerushalayim they contemplate what kind of friend the newly inaugurated Ronal Regan will make for Israel.

1984: Susan Weidman Schneider published Jewish and Female: Choices and Changes in Our Lives Today

1987: Meir Rosenne ends his term as Israeli Ambassador to Washington.

1997: The New York Times featured reviews of books by Jewish authors and/or of special interest to Jewish readers including The Rothschild Gardens by Miriam Rothschild, Kate Garton and Lionel de Rothschild, and the recently released paperback edition of Hitler’s Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust by Daniel Jonah Goldhagen.

1998(7thof Sivan, 5758): Second Day of Shavuot

2005: "Celebrated Piano Instructor Kaplinsky Counts Student as Cliburn Finalist".



2005: Moshe "Bogie" Ya'alon completed his term as Chief of Staff of the IDF.

2005:Dan Halutz “was officially appointed the eighteenth Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces and was awarded the rank of Rav-Aluf (Lieutenant General). It is the second time in the history of the Israel Defense Forces that a former IAF commander became the head of the entire military.”

2005:The Jewish Family Service (JFS) of Los Angeles holds its annual gala. The honorees are CAA agent Rick Kurtzman; his brother, Fox business affairs executive Howard Kurtzman; and their brother-in-law, William Morris Agent David Lonner (married to their sister Janet).

2006:At a commencement address he delivered at Queens College today, Alan “Hevesi told his audience that Senator Charles Schumer was so tough he would "put a bullet between the President's eyes if he could get away with it." Several hours after his remarks, Hevesi apologized for his comments, calling them "beyond dumb," "remarkably stupid," and "incredibly moronic\.”

2006: Archaeologists Ofer Bar-Yosef of Harvard University and Mordechai E. Kislev and Anat Hartmann of Bar-Ilan University report that they have found evidence that ancient people grew fig trees some 11,400 years ago, making the fruit the earliest domesticated crop.Remains of the ancient fruits were found at Gilgal I, a village site in the Jordan Valley north of ancient Jericho,. Gilgal was abandoned more than 11,000 years ago. Figs that are edible do not produce seeds and are propagated by planting shoots.Bar-Yosef said that ''In this intentional act of planting a specific variant of fig tree, we can see the beginnings of agriculture. This edible fig would not have survived if not for human intervention.''

2006: The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation, in conjunction with the Instituto Cervantes and the Spanish Consulate in New York paid tribute to Diplomat and Savior of the Holocaust, Eduardo Propper de Callejón at the Instituto Cervantes in New York City.

2007:The Metropoline company joined the Egged Bus Cooperative in providing bus service to Arad.

2007:Hadassah national president June Walker’s appointment to head the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations goes into effect. The Presidents' Conference is the umbrella group that represents 50 American Jewish organizations on issues of national and international concern.

2007:Michel Graber, the magistrate who has been overseeing the investigation into the fire that damaged Geneva’s largest synagogue on May 24 said that it was a criminal act which he described as arson.

2007: On the same day when three more Kassam rockets struck Israel, the IAF killed a member of an Islamic Jihad Kassam cell in an air strike.

2008: Washington, D.C,. Manhattan, NYC and Boston all host celebrations honoring Israel at Sixty.

2008: Mrs. Jacob (Betty) Levin gathers with her family and friends for the unveiling of the Matzevah of Dr. Jacob Levin (of blessed memory).  Of course, his real Matzevah is impact he made on the lives of his loving family and devoted friends.

2008: In Chicago, the Spertus sponsors a book signing for  Louis Zukofsky The Modernist Poet as Jew” by Dr. Mark Scroggins.  

2008: The Chicago Sun Times features a review of “The Dream” by ninety-eight year old Harry Bernstein.  The Dream”follows “The Invisible Wall” as the second in a trilogy that traces the life of the immigrant son of Yankel and Ada Bernstein.

2008: The Washington Post features a review of “1948: A History of the First Arab-Israeli War” by Benny Morris as well as listings for “Defending Identity: Its Indispensable Role in Protecting Democracy”, by Natan Sharansky, “Golda” by Elinor Burkett,” A History of Palestine: From the Ottoman Conquest to the Founding of the State of Israel by Gudrun Krämer,  Jerusalem: City of Longing” by Simon Goldhill and The Story of Israel: From Theodor Herzl to the Roadmap for Peaceby Martin Gilbert.

2008(27th of Iyar, 5768):Yosef (Tommy) Lapid passed away at the age of 76.  Born in Yugoslavia in 1931, Lapid and his mother (his father died in the Holocaust) made Aliyah in 1948 where he became a successful journalist and political leader.

2008(27th of Iyyar, 5768):In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Penny Binger a student of Chasidic Judaism and devote of Shlomo Carlbach passed away.

2008: In front page article entitled “Baghdad Jews Have Become a Fearful Few” The New York Times describes the plight of one of  the world’s oldest Jewish communities.


2009: Final showing of Sol LeWitt’s “Wall Drawing #260(1975)” at New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

2009: Sports Illustrated magazine features a review of Bill Russell’s “Red and Me” which focuses on the close, unique relationship between the all-star center and coach and Red Auerbach, Russell’s coach and mentor. Between the two of them, they changed the game and made a unique social statement. “Russell writes that they were drawn together by a mutual hardheadedness, united y the ‘tribulation of our tribes’: Russell was an African American who grew up in the Jim Crow South and the Oakland projects, Auerbach a street-savvy urban Jews.” While everybody knows about the alliance between African-Americans and Jews that helped to make the Civil Rights Revolution, fewer people are aware of this unique Black-Jewish Alliance which created its own revolution.

2009: During “Turning Point 3” the government’s emergency headquarters will discuss coordination measures

2009:Security forces uprooted the outpost of Nahalat Yosef today and arrested several activists who protested the destruction. Among those arrested was MK Michael Ben-Ari. Following those events, security forces converged on Ramat Gilad, where residents are concerned at the prospect of a confrontation but say they will resist any attempts to evict them from the area.

2009:Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak began a round of meetings with top U.S. officials today in a bid to head off an increasingly sharp dispute between the United States and Israel over the expansion of Jewish settlements in Palestinian territory.

2009: The Saul Steinberg: Illuminations travelling exhibition, which displays original Steinberg works comes to a close in Hamburg, Germany.  

2010: Mothers Circle, an education and support group for non-Jewish women raising Jewish children is scheduled to have its first meeting for the summer at the Historic Sixth & I Street Synagogue.

2010: In the wake of naval action off the coast of Gaza, Prime Minister Netanyahu does not meet with President Obama as originally scheduled.

2010:An Islamic militant group in the Gaza Strip said three of its members had been killed in an Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza.

2011: The Masada, Dead Sea and Jerusalem Opera Festival is scheduled to begin.

2011: Final session of Hebrew Literacy: Aleph, Bet, and Beyond is scheduled to take place today at the Historic Sixth & Synagogue in Washington, DC

2011: In Washington, DC, Adas Israel is scheduled to hold its Annual Meeting and honor the 2011 Yad Kakavod recipient, David Bickart.

2011(28thof Iyar, 5771):  Yom Yerushalayim – Jerusalem Reunification Day

2011:President Shimon Peres said today that peace could be achieved in Jerusalem in "our time", declaring that Israel has replaced the divisions that once wracked the holy city by offering freedom to all faiths and creeds.

2011: The American Jewish Committee lauded the Obama administration today for its decision not to take part in the upcoming United Nations’ Commemoration of the Durban World Conference Against Racism, set to take place in September in New York.
 
2011: In Helsinki, Ben Zyskowicz, a member of the National Coalition Party who was recently appointed speaker of the Finnish parliament, was attacked by a middle-aged man shouting a racial epithet against Jews.

2011:Attorneys for Howard Ackerman, an Orthodox Jewish prisoner in Carson City, Nev., filed a lawsuit against the state. The suit claimed that the state's corrections department intended to stop serving kosher meals to inmates within a week, thus violating their client’s freedom to practice his religion. Attorneys representing the state prison system filed court papers saying new menus are being considered, but that there are no plans to discontinue the kosher meal program.

2012: Cellist Yoed Nir is scheduled to perform tonight at Town Hall in New York

2012: Larry and Mindy Fogel are scheduled to perform a musical salute to the Carpenters in Kfar Vradim.
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2012: The Kühn Choir of Prague is scheduled to give an a-capella concert at the Henry Crown Concert Hall as part of the Israel Festival being held in Jerusalem.

2012: Jennifer Herren is scheduled to begin her Bat Mitzvah weekend in Cedar Rapids, Iowa by helping to lead Shabbat Eve services which will include a special appearance by singers and musicians of Shir Yehuda.

2012: Early this morning memebers of the 12th Batallion of the famed Golani Brigade thwarted a border crossing which appears to have been the prelude to a major terrorist infiltration.  Planes from the IAF followed up with targeted attacks on Gaza.

2012(11thof Sivan, 5772): Eighty-one year Marion Sandler, the wife of Herbert Sandler, passed away today. (As reported by Michael J. De La Merced


2012(11thof Sivan, 5772): Twenty-one year old Golani Staff-Sergeant Netanel Moshiashvil, from Ashkelon, was killed today while stopping a terrorist infiltrator attempting to cross into Israel from Gaza.

2013: A children’s adaption of “As You Like It “ is scheduled to be performed as part of the Israel Festival in Jerusalem.

2013: Professor Krzysztof Jasiewicz , a Polish Historian, is scheduled to lose his position as head of the Department of Analysis of Eastern Issues following an interview in which he partly blamed the Jews for the Holocaust. (As reported by JTA and Times of Israel)

2013:For its first pavilion at the prestigious Venice Biennale international art festival which is scheduled to open today, the Vatican is presenting an exhibit inspired by the first book of the Torah, rather than by a New Testament theme. Called “Creation, Un-Creation, Re-Creation,” the three-part show in the Vatican’s pavilion will draw on the first 11 chapters of Genesis, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, told reporters Tuesday at a news conference presenting the concept.” (As reported by JTA)

 

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