In Honor of President Dwight D. Eisenhower

President Dwight D. Eisenhower was the guest of honor at Park Avenue Synagogue on May 28, 1965 for a Friday evening service commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps by the Allied forces. At the end of WWII, Rabbi Judah Nadich had been the senior Jewish chaplain in the European theater of operations and was appointed by then General Eisenhower to serve as his first advisor on Jewish affairs.

As stated in the May 1965 PAS Bulletin:

As a result of the decisions made by General Eisenhower during the fateful months of 1945, tens of thousands of Jews were restored to health and human dignity and given a fresh opportunity to begin life anew in other lands."

As a token of his leadership in the historic work of the rescue, rehabilitation and transportation of the Jewish survivors found in the Nazi concentration camps, Park Avenue Synagogue will present to General Eisenhower a Jerusalem Bible bound in silver with an inscription upon it expressing the sentiments of the occasion.

On the Shabbat after President Eisenhower's passing in March 1969, Rabbi Nadich reflected on their personal relationship and the important role Eisenhower played in aiding Jewish survivors of WWII:

We hope you enjoy this important piece of PAS history. Please email your comments or questions: shapiroarchive@pasyn.org.