Religious Life

The revival of religious life within the camps began shortly after liberation. Rabbis played a key role in organizing religion in the camps, and religious services were conducted as early as October 1945. Synagogues and Talmud Torahs (religious schools) were established, and kosher kitchens could be found in the majority of DP camps by the end of 1945. Various religious organizations ranging from religious Zionists to Ultra-Orthodox flourished in the camps.

 

Baking matzah at a bakery in Frankfurt that escaped destruction by the Nazis.
Solomon Waksc, the prize singer of the Children's Center School, lights a Hannukah menorah during a holiday celebration in the Zeilsheim displaced persons' camp in 1945.
The interior of a synagogue in Hanau, Germany in 1945.
DP children perform a dance at a Hanukkah celebration at the Warburg children's home for Jewish orphans liberated from the concentration camps.
Personalized Jewish New Year's card sent by Josef Lipnicki, a Jewish DP living in the Bergen-Belsen displaced persons camp.
video interview