Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/917841
62 December 21 • 2017 jn Temple Beth El, Woodward and Gladstone in 1960. Students are learning with Rabbi Harold Hahn, standing. Note the stained-glass windows in the back of the classroom that are now at the current Beth El in Bloomfield Township. • looking back Courtesy of the Rabbi Leo M. Franklin Archives at Temple Beth El. T he headline for the Dec. 18, 1942, issue of the JN was anoth- er headline regarding the growing recognition of the extent and scale of German war crimes: "Democracies Strike Back at Nazi Massacres." Now, to be sure, the JN had reported about such atrocities almost from its first issue in March 1942, and it had been a steadfast voice in Detroit and nationally for the victims of such crimes. This is before the Holocaust became a proper noun, as we know it now. What is interesting is that it was apparent by this point that, eventually (there were still over two years to go before Germany and Japan were finally defeated), the Nazis and the Axis Powers were going to lose World War II. There were two articles in this issue of the JN that spoke to historic events after the war. In short, momentum was building to deal with two critical issues, both related to world Jewry. One article, on page 7, was about a meeting between a Jewish delegation and President Franklin Roosevelt, where it was acknowledged that 2 million Jews had been killed by the Nazis, and that another 5 million were at risk of being executed. Of course, these are, sadly, fairly accurate statistics. But, it was good to read that President Roosevelt pledged retribution for these vic- tims of inhuman crimes. The second article, on page 6, addressed the issue of land for Jews in Palestine. This is one piece of the post-war puzzle that led to the establishment of the State of Israel three years later. I bring one other item to your attention — a eulogy from Rabbi Leo Franklin of Temple Beth El for the recently deceased architect Albert Kahn. It is a very fine piece of prose about one of Detroit's most successful Jews from one of Detroit's most famous rabbis. • Want to learn more? Go to the DJN Foundation archives, available for free at www.djnfoundation.org. From the DJN Davidson Digital Archive Historic photos are curated by the Jewish Historical Society of Michigan. Mike Smith Detroit Jewish News Foundation Archivist