American chaplain Rabbi Hershel Schaecter conducts Shavuot services for Buchenwald survivors shortly after liberation
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With Your Students
Date
May 18, 1945
Description
American chaplain Rabbi Hershel Schaecter conducts Shavuot services for Buchenwald survivors shortly after liberation. Pictured in the first row, fifth from the right is Samuel Izek Stall, wearing a striped pants and a black jacket. Also seated in the first row, wearing shorts, is Robert Buechler, while the youth sitting in front of the lecturn, looking back at the camera, is Stefan Jakubowicz. Seated with his back to the camera (next to the boy in the camp uniform) is Heinz Oster. Israel Meir Lau is pictured sitting third from left, in the first row, between two American soldiers. Seated in the second row are Jakub Chojt (left side, wearing a white shirt) and brothers, Yosl Bekiermaszyn, now Baker, (middle of the row, wearing a black jacket) and Boruch Bekiermaszyn (two to the right of him). Seated in the front row (sixth from the right, wearing dark coat) is Izak Farbman. On the left side of the photograph, standing next to an American soldier, wearing a white t-shirt under a dark jacket is Henry Kinast. The Shavuot service commemorates the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. The previous month, Rabbi Schachter had also led a Second Passover service since the survivors did not have a chance to celebrate Passover on its actual date. The day after this Shavuot service was held, a group of Jewish children were repatriated to their homes in Czechoslovakia
Type
Photograph
Region
Global
Era
The Great Depression and WW II
Topic
Community, Genocide, Global History and Geography, Jewish History, World War II
Repository
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Identifier
26278
Source
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration, College Park
Rights
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