Setting Aside a Moment for the Uprising

Thinking of Warsaw in New York: Dr. Joseph Thon speaks into the microiphone as Mayor La Guardia (left) listens. To the right of Dr. Thon is M.I. Nurenberger, Editor of the Canadian Jewish News, to his right is Senator Rabbi Isaac Rubinstein, former Chief Rabbi of Vilnius. Diagonally behind La Guardia is Yiddish writer Sholem Asch and next to him is Polish Jewish poet Julian Tuwim. Image by Forward Association

By Forward Staff April 22, 2016

Because the first night of Passover in 1943 was also the first night of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, many Seder observers set time aside the first night to commemorate its heroic martyrs.

Although it’s a tradition that has passed out of fashion, it still remains strong within the Yiddish community. As we celebrate a festival of liberation, it’s a mark of identification with those who were not able to be liberated.

Read how the Forverts covered the memorialization of the critical event at the time and listen to WNYC’s broadcast of speakers at the first ever NYC commemoration and march.