Salute to the Heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto Last month the English-Speaking Division of the Workmen's Circle marked the first anniversary of the uprising of the Jews in the Warsaw ghetto with a fitting memorial. To a responsive audience the young people of the Workmen's Circle presented a "Salute to the Heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto" in a pageant depicting the events that led up to the revolt. It was a dramatic and poignant reminder of what our brothers in Europe are suffering, and how oppression and suffering will not crush men who are free spirits — men who have no love of war and its evils, men who have been forever under the heel of oppression and who are forever rising from the depths to sing again the songs of, and to fight for, freedom and liberation. The pageant was written by Jacob Pat and beautifully directed by Jacob Rothbaum, of the Folksbine. It took us through the events leading up to the fighting against the Nazis, up to the barricades on which so many valiant Jews gave their lives so that the world might know of their plight. We had a glimpse of the feelings of Szmul Zygelboim before he took his life in protest against the indifference of the world, of the meeting of the Jewish Council at which it was decided not to give in to the Nazi decrees, and of the heart-rending situation of the Jews in the ghettos.
Solomon Mendelson, representative of the Polish Labor Bund spoke movingly of the conditions in Europe, and we know he spoke for everyone present when he pledged that we would do all in our power to see that vengeance is wreaked upon the Nazis for everything they have done to the innocents of the world. Mark Starr, Educational Director of the I.L.G.W.U., reiterated in his talk the feelings of all Americans who have looked upon the horrors perpetrated by the Nazis. The earlier part of the program was devoted to a presentation by Corinne Chochem and her Rikkud Ami dance group, of Yitgadal Veyitgadash, the story of a refugee girl who relives in dreams the life she has had to leave in her flight from her home. An interesting dance presentation of El Maleh Rachmin closed this part of the program. The musical portion of the evening was ably filled by the Workmen's Circle chorus under the direction of Lazar Weiner, and several fine selections by Mishel Piastro, violinist. The chorus performed beautifully in its accustomed manner, a variety of numbers. The young people who took part in the presentation are to be lauded for their fine work and for the touching performance they gave. Israel Knox served as chairman for the evening.
The pages of the Workers Circle's digitized archive, The Call, www.thecall.org, capture the memories of members and ghetto survivors, and record the commemorative programs we held each year.
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