May 1 In History
305: Due to age and ill health and a desire to provide stability for the Roman Empire Diocletian resigned as Emperor of Rome. Relatively speaking, Diocletian’s reign was a positive period for the Jews. Diocletian was not overly concerned with his Jewish subjects since he was much concerned about controlling the Christians whom he regarded as a source of major instability in the Empire. From his point of view their contempt for Roman state religion and zealous proselytizing made them enemies of the empire. The Jews posed no such threat. Therefore, he exempted them from the requirement to include national sacrifices in their services. The decrees of Diocletian are actually recorded in the Talmud. According to some Diocletian lived in Palestine as a youth and was a swineherd. As Emperor he visited Palestine at which time enemies of the Jews told him that he was mocked by the Jews for working with pigs. When confronted with this, the Jewish leaders allegedly told him that while they may have made jokes about swineherds (something they regretted) they never made jokes about an Emperor. This must have assuaged Diocletian’s anger because no reprisals were taken against the Jews. It should be noted that Palestine suffered economically during this time, but that was as a result of the general impoverishment of the region and not as a result of anti-Jewish policies. Diocletian looks especially good when you remember that the reign of Constantine is just over the horizon.
1160: Bishop William of Beziers, France, who was appalled by the custom of beating of Jews during Palm Sunday, issued an order excommunicating Priests who did so. Beziers was the home to many Albigensians and was one of the more liberal, open cities in France. The Albigensians would be labeled heretics by the Roman Catholic Church. Some times during the Middle Ages, areas that were hospitable to those quarreling with
Rome
provided some sort of comfort for Jews who might have otherwise been subject to persecution.
1218: Birthdate of King Rudolf I whose subjects included Meir of Rothenburg who was born three years before the monarch and who bring additional persecution to the Jews of his realm.
1339: A party that included John of Marignola, who would report on his conversations with Jews in China, stopped in Constantinople before going on to The Middle Kingdom.”
1707: The Act of Union joins the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. While Jews had been expelled from England in 1290 and readmitted under Cromwell in the middle of the 17th century, Jews had been living in Scotland without interruption, possibly since Roman Times, but certainly since the 12th century. According Jewish-Scottish scholar David Daiches “ there are grounds for saying that Scotland is the only European country which has no history of state persecution of Jews.” By the time that the Act of Union became law, Jews were attending and teaching at Edinburg University. Within a decade and a half after the Act of Union, there were 20,000 Jews living in Glassgow.
1769: Birthdate of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. Wellington’s claim to fame is his victory over the French. It was in this role that he found the Jews most helpful since Nathan Rothschild had provided the financial backing for the Iron Duke’s campaign against the French in Spain at a time when nobody else would risk the funds. Few people remember that the Duke, like other war heroes entered politics, serving as Prime Minister in the 1820’s and 1830’s. It was here that betrayed those Jews who had supported him by defeating the attempts at Jewish emancipation first when he served in the House of Commons and then, even more viciously when he served in the House of Lords. The Duke had been able to support a bill emancipating seven million English Roman Catholics but he could not bring himself to do the same for thirty thousand English Jews.
1732: George Frideric Handel’s “Esther” which was based on the Biblical heroine and was the first English oratorio premiered at King’s Theatre in London. Handel drew on Biblical tales for many of his oratorios.
1799: In Prussia, Alexander Wolff and his wife gave birth to their second son, Michael, who would become Michael Solomon Alexander, the convert who became the first Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem.
1808: Birthdate of Sir Henry Francis Goldsmid, who "after receiving careful instruction, was called to the Bar in Hilary term, 1833 making him the first Jew who ever obtained that distinction in Great Britain.”
1849(9th of Iyar, 5609): Isaac Bernays, Chief Rabbi in Hambrug, passed away. Born in 1792 at Mayence he completed his studies at the University of Würzburg, where he had been also a disciple of the well-known Talmudist R. Abraham Bing. Then he went to Munich as private tutor in the house of Herr von Hirsch, and afterward lived at Mayence as a private scholar. In 1821 he was elected chief rabbi of the German-Jewish community in Hamburg, to fill a position where a man of strictly Orthodox views but of modern education was wanted as head of the congregation. After personal negotiations with Lazarus Riesser (father of Gabriel Riesser), who went to see him in Mayence, Bernays accepted the office on characteristic terms; namely, that all the religious and educational institutions of the community were to be placed under his personal direction; he wanted to be responsible to the government only. Besides this he required a fixed salary, independent of incidental revenues, and wished to be called "clerical functionary" or "ḥakam," as the usual titles, "moreh ẓedeḳ" or "rabbi" did not seem to him highly esteemed at that time. (Based on an article in the Jewish Encylopedia)
1852: In Great Britain, the Court Exchequer fined Mr. Salomons, the elected Member of Parliament from Greenwich, was fined for voting against the law that excluded the Jews from sitting in the House of Commons. Apparently he was found guilty of three separate violations since the court imposed three separate fines, of 500 pounds each.
1853: Birthdate of Jacob Michailovitch Gordin “a Russian-born American playwright active in the early years of Yiddish theater” who was “known for introducing realism and naturalism into Yiddish theater.”
1855: The New York Times reported that the American Hebrew Christian Assoication had issued a public invitation to all converted Jews to attend a meeting at the Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church in Manhattan on the evening of May 10th.
1855: Students at the Union Theological Seminary began taking their final exams today. One of the subjects in which they will be tested during the next week is the Hebrew Language.
1858: According to reports published today the Jews of Philadelphia have established a Permanent Hebrew Relief Association.
1860: Today’s “City Intelligence” column reported that Giacomo Meyerbeer is a favorite of New York opera goers. His principal works have been received with enthusiasm, and although inordinately expensive to produce -- when compared with others of the Italian repertoire equally celebrated -- have never failed to pay a handsome dividend to the enterprising manager who produced them.” Meyerbeer was German-Jewish opera composer.
1860: Today’s “City Intelligence” column described the performance of Fromental Halévy’s “La Juive” (The Jewess) at the Winter Garden Theatre. After providing a detailed description of each act the reviewer concluded “It is seldom that a work of such pretension receives fair treatment on a first night, and we do not assert unqualifiedly that even in this instance it did so, but there cannot be a doubt that in all the essentials of good management and liberal desire to praise, there was successful effort, and a most cordial response. If incessant applause means anything, it surely guarantees a long run for the "Jewess." A triumph more complete, in all that makes a triumph pleasing, has never been put on record.”
1863:In common with the rest of their fellow-citizens, the Israelites assembled in their respective places of worship and carried out the precepts of the President's Proclamation. Most of the Synagogues were opened and the Psalms appointed to be read on penitential days, read on the occasion.
A very eloquent address was delivered by Rabbi Morris J. Raphal, at the Greene-street Synagogue. He remarked that it was a curious coincidence that on this, a fast day appointed by their own religious observances, they met in compliance with the Proclamation of the President of the United States, to fast and pray. He had been in this country fourteen years. During the first ten years no public proclamation had ever directed their thoughts and feelings to humiliation and fasting. Once in every year the highest functionary in every State proclaimed a day of general thanksgiving, and with that the debt of national gratitude was supposed to be paid. But now the rulers of the nation come year after year and call upon the people to weary Heaven with fruitless professions of a penitence they did not feel, and of a humility they did not practice. These proclamations fast days, on which no one fasts, are but the repetition of those so strongly reproved by the prophet Isaiah; and, though the people dare not put his questions, "Wherefore do we fast and Thou seest it not? Afflict our souls and Thou will not notice it!" -- since in reality the people do neither -- still the answer would stand good. "Because while you profess humiliation, you persist in your arrogance and your extortions do not cease." If ever a people needed to humble itself before God -- if ever fasting and prayer, sack cloth and ashes were to be worn -- it was by the people of these United States. Like our fathers, the Israelites of old, for whom pious Nekeiniah made such fervent supplication, the people of this country are justly amenable to his confession made for Israel: "In their dominions, in all the great prosperity Thou didst bestow upon them, and throughout the large and rich land which Thou gavest unto them, they did not serve Thee, neither turned they from their evil deeds." The preacher then drew a parallel between the sins of the Israelites, which called forth the reproof of the preacher, and the past conduct of this nation, which was equally amenable to the words of the inspired prophet.
What were they to say for the citizens of the United States who already and so long possess the two greatest earthly blessings, Education and Freedom, and yet make so bad a use of both. Education should be the guardian of freedom and of virtue, it was the birthright of every American, bestowed on all and withheld from none. But what principles did it actually inculcate -what virtues did it really teach? Did it inculcate respect for free institutions? Answer, ye place-hunters, ye ballot-box stuffers, ye shoulder-hitters, who reduce self-government to a disgusting farce. Did it teach patriotism? Answer, ye spoils-men, ye office-teekers and holders, who cement party lines with the cohesive force of public plunder. Did it teach common honesty? Answer, ye peculators and speculators, who fatten on the blood of the hard-worked masses, and who dignify roguery by the name of smartness. His heart ached as he spoke to them of the effects of perverted education; it would ache still more were he to direct attention to the bitter fruits of abused freedom. He need not remind them that while the best men North and South had long been driven aloof from the affairs of the country, demagogues, fanatics and a party Press had so managed matters that they found themselves in the third year of a destructive but needless sectional war, which has armed brother against brother, consigned hundreds of thousands to an untimely grave, and to ruin and devastation tens of thousands of square miles of flourishing and happy land; and what was worse than all this, while humanity weeps we must suppress our sympathy. However, our hearts may yearn for peace and brotherly love, our reason convinces us that the present is not the time to expect, or even to hope for the cessation of blood. On the contrary, though we may detest the cause and course of events, it is our duty loyally to stand by our section of the country, to maintain her quarrel and defend her rights, while we have the consolation to know that our side did not begin the fray, and that the cause of Union was the worthiest in the field.
"The preacher concluded his address with a fervent prayer.
1864: Joseph Seligman and his brothers founded J & W Seligman & Co.
1864: In an article entitled, “The City Cars and General Goods Delivery,” the author’s complaints about the about the crowded, smelly conditions on the city’s public include the statement that “immediate contact with a huge pile of superannuated Hebrew clothing stock is not desirable at any time: it is most undesirable in overheated and overcrowded cars.” The author then goes on to compare the aroma with that found in packages of partially dried codfish and, strangely enough, joints of half cured pork.
1869: In a classic American success story, J & W Seligman & Co was admitted to the New York Stock Exchange. Joseph Seligman, the founder of the firm had arrived from Bavaria in 1837 “with $100 dollars in the lining of his trousers. By 1860, he and his brothers, who started as itinerant peddlers” had entered the investment banking business. During the Civil War, they played a leading role in selling United States Government securities to Europeans which helped to finance the Union victory. By the end of the decade, the Seligman’s had branches in London, Paris, Frankfort, New Orleans and San Francisco. The brothers would take a leading role in financing the boom in railroads and in supporting Jewish charitable endeavors.
1870: It was reported today that the late Dr. George Frick, a resident of Baltimore, bequeathed $1,000.00 to the Hebrew Society of Baltimore.
1870: According to a report published today, Michael Isaacs and Isaac Goldstein, two Jewish packpeddlers who had been indicted on charges of rape were found guilty and sentenced to ten years in prison by the Suffolk County court in New York.
1876: Establishment of Children of Israel Synagogue in the eastern part of Des Moines, Iowa.
1879: Birthdate of David M. Bressler, the son of Julius and Sarah Rothenberg Bressler, who attended City College, JTS and the New York Law School. He was widely known for his activities in Jewish, State and municipal relief and in charity organizations. His work with the Removal Office was aimed at diverting the flow of Jewish immigrants from eastern cities to areas in the South and the Mid-West and providing them funds and training to acclimate them to their new homes.
1880: During the fiscal year ending today, the United Hebrew Charities had raised over $58, 00 of which almost $47,000 was spent in meeting the needs of 27,915 applicants for service.
1880: While visiting Freiburg, Germany, Texas banker Morris Lasker and Nettie Davis Lasker gave birth to Albert Davis Lasker who would leave his mark on the world of advertising as a partner of Lord & Thomas.
1880: According to a report from a Berlin correspondent, “all the Jews of foreign birth” have been given six hours to leave St. Petersburg, the Russian capital.
1881: It was reported today that the “Alliance Israelite Universelle” is extending its work among the Jews of the Orient. In the past six months, Alliance has opened 9 schools in the Ottoman Empire. All told the Alliance is supporting 33 schools serving a total of 6,300 pupils. Sixty-eight thousand francs have been raised towards the establishment of primary and professional schools in Palestine.
1881: The funeral of Isaac Hendricks, a member of the prominent Hendricks family, is scheduled to take place today at the New York home of his brother-in-law, H.S. Henry.
1882: “Beaconsfield’s Birthday” published today described British reaction to the anniversary of the birth of Lord Beaconsfield who passed away last year. Admirers wore the primrose, the favorite flower of the late Benjamin Disraeli.
1882: It was reported today that General Nicholai Ignatief has issued a denial of claims that the anti-Jewish violence is the result of a lack of action by the government. Furthermore, the violence has been limited to Balta and was started by the Jews who were seeking “revenge for an insult to a Jew by a Christian child.”
1882: Amid reports that Jews are living Vilna en mass, two hundred families are to leave for America today.
1882(12thof Iyar, 5642): Anglo-Jewish architect David Mocatta passed away. Born in 1806, he designed the Montefiore Synagogue, the Brighton Regency Synagogue and the stations for the London and Brighton Railway.
1883: Israel Lewy who had succeeded David Joël as "Seminarrabbiner" began serving as chair of Talmudic Literature at Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau
1884: The Hebrew Technical Institute moved from 206 East Broadway to 129 Crosby Street. The Institute had occupied the Broadway facility since January of 1884 when it opened with 24 pupils.
1885: It was reported today that the late Isaac Vogel had made bequests of $1,000 each to the Young Men’s Hebrew Association, the United Hebrew Charities, the Montefiore Home for Chronic Invalids, Mount Sinai Hospital, the Hebrew Orphan Asylum and the Hebrew Free School Association.
1886: The Moses Montefiore Congregation bought property at 160 East One Hundred and Sixteenth Street which was the site of a Baptist Church. Plans to use the structure for a synagogue came to naught when it was determined that the building was unsuitable for that purpose and that it would be too small for the number of congregants who would be using the synagogue.
1886: The American Federation of Labor, led by it’s newly elected President, Samuel Gompers, strikes on a nationwide basis in an attempt to secure an eight hour day.
1887: Birthdate of Felix Rosenblüth, who as Pinchas Rosen was Israel’s first Minister of Justice.
1889(30th of Nisan, 5649): Rosh Chodesh Iyar
1890: The United Hebrew Trades Union is one of several organizations taking part in today’s march sponsored by the American Federation of Labor in support of an 8 hour work day.
1890: Following a fortnight of attacks on Jewish shops in outlying provinces, Austrian authorities fear that there will be a May Day attacks on Jews throughout the empire including Vienna.
1890: An unnamed anarchist has called for May Day attacks in Paris including the assassination of the Rothschilds.
1890: The old Hebrew Orphan Asylum building on 77th street is going to converted into a public school that should accommodate 1,200 children.
1890: Members of the American Federation of Labor, the union organization headed by Samuel Gompers will be taking part in a large demonstration this evening in support of the eight work day.
1891: The International Cloak Makers Union of America was founded today. Among the delegates attending the meeting was Benjamin Schlesinger, a delegate from Chicago who would become the business manager of Local 5 in Chicago.
1891: Oscar Hammerstein held a reception for newspaper men in which he discussed his plans to builed a new opera house in New York.
1891: Approximately 4,000 Jewish who work in the clothing trades held a pro-union parade on the east side of New York.
1892: “Young Hebrew Gymnasts” published today described a demonstration of physical skills by members of the Young Men’s Hebrew Association and the Young Woman’s Hebrew Association, the latter of whom showed their skills with dumbbells. The youngsters were coached by Professor Herman Weber.
1892: “Art and Literature Abroad” published today included the note that “the result of Mr. Joseph Pennell’s visit to Russia will be published under the title The Jew At Home: Impression of a Summer and Winter Spent With Him.
1892: “For A New Clubhouse” published today described the plans of the Columbia Club, the lead Jewish social organization in Harlem to build a new facility on 127thStreet and 5th Avenue. The club paid $50,000 for this new location.
1893: “As A German Knows Bismarck” published today verified “Prince Bismarck’s statement that he was never a friend of the Jews” and that as Junker, he was “an enemy of everything that was liberal” which meant that he “disliked Catholics and workmen.”
1893: Among the books that will be published Putnam and Sons is The Jews of Angevin England by Joseph Jacobs
1897: “Turks Still Advancing” published today described the Ottoman capture of Larissa from the Greeks. The Jews had remained at Larissa since they expected to be protected by the Turks.
1897: “Home For Working Girls” published today described the establishment of the Clara de Hirsch Home for Working Girls. The home is the first manifestation of aid for Russian Jews in America by possible by the $2,000,000 bequest from the Hirsch family.
1898: Joseph Baroness, the socialist leader and the Grand Marshall of last night’s proposed parade surprised authorities by agreeing to call of the parade to avoid the threat of violence. He also said that he never intended to criticize the United States for the war with Spain. He said that it was “a just war and if there is anyone who sympathizes with Spain we don’t want him in our parade.
1899: Myer S. Isaacs, President of the Hirsch Fund has read about the bequest of the late Baroness Hirsch in the newspapers but has received no official communication on this matter.
1899: Dr. Lee K. Frankel of Philadelphia, PA, is scheduled to officially assume his duties as the manager of the United Hebrew Charities in New York. A native of Philadelphia who holds both a B.S. and a Ph. D. from the University of Pennsylvania, Frankel is secretary of Rodef Shalom, Vice President of the Baron de Hirsch Committee and Director of the Jewish Chautauqua Society.
1899: After twenty-three years of service, Dr. Herman Baar will be stepping down as superintendent of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum effective June, 1.
1900: In Konitz, a county in the province of Prussia, Germany, a blood accusation occurred after the death of a local student. Wolf Israelski was accused and arrested, while Count Plucker promoted riots against the Jews. After Israelski was proven innocent, two others, Adolf Levy and Rosenthal, were arrested on the same charge. Rosenthal was acquitted and Lewy sentenced on a perjury charge to four years.
1900: Dutch Zionist leader Jacobus Kann resigns as director of the Bank designed to finance the purchase of land in Eretz
Israel
and help settlers make Aliyah.
1903: In his poem "Tale of the Slaughter," the famous Jewish poet Chiam Nachman Bialik chastised the Jews for not defending themselves in the Pogrom at Kishinev that had taken place in April, 1903. Herzl was also affected by the massacre and he decided to visit
Russia
and give consideration to the Uganda Plan. The
Uganda
plan would be rejected but it would cause a painful split in the infant Zionist movement. The massacre also provided the impetus in
America
to lay the groundwork for the American Jewish Committee, casting American Jewry into international prominence. There would be another pogrom in
Kishinev
in 1905 with more loss of life.
1905: Birthdate of movie director Henry Koster. A refugee from Nazi Germany, Koster directed numerous famous films. But he is best remembered as the man who discovered Abbott & Costello. He saw their comedy act and convinced Universal Studios to sign them to a contract. He directed their first film in which all of
America
heard the “Who’s On First” routine for the first time.
1909: “During a worker’s demonstration in Buenos Aires, a Jewish anarchist murdered a local police chief. Rioters responded by attacking and sacking the city’s predominately Jewish small retail business quarter.”
1909: The Jewish anarchist, Simon Radowitzki, attempted to assassinate Ramon Falcon, the Argentinean chief of police.
1910: The Sunday New York Times published “‘Icy Italy As Seen: by Israel Zangwill’ the fourth in a series of ‘Italian Fantasies’ written by this well known author.”
1913: Birthdate of comic Louis Nye. Born Louis Neistat to Yiddish speaking immigrant parents, Nye was one of a stable of comedians who first gained national notice on the “Steve Allen Show.”
1913: Birthdate of Czech born British conductor Jay Walter Susskind.
1913: As the investigation into the death of Mary Phagan continues, E.F. Holloway, the pencil factory’s day watchman saw Jim Conley, the pencil factory’s janitor washing a dirty shirt. At first Conley tried to hide the shirt and then claimed the stains were rust from the overhead pipe on which he had hung the shirt. Detectives examined it for blood, found none and returned it. [Conley would later testify against Leo Frank. Decades later, Conley would be exposed as the person who had murder Mary Phagan.]
1914: Nissim Mazliach is appointed to the Turkish Chamber for Smyrna.
1914: In Cincinnati, Ohio, founding of the Mizrachi Organization of America
1916: Labor activist Bessie Abramowitz and Amalgamated president Sidney Hillman announced their engagement while marching at the head of the clothing workers' contingent of the Chicago May Day Parade.
1919: The rabbis of Palestine hold a first conference. Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak HaCohen Kook is asked to serve as chief rabbi.
1920: Young anarchist Mollie Steimer began a 15-year prison term for distributing leaflets opposing American intervention in the Russian Revolution. She was later deported.
1921: Not for the first or last time, Arabs resort to violence to try and stop the growth of the Jewish community. In this case riots began in Jaffe resulting in the death of forty Jews and the wounding two hundred others. The riots soon spread to Tel Aviv, Petah Tikva, Kfar Saba, Hadera and Rehovot. Though casualties were relatively light, the British decided to appease the Arabs and "redefined" the borders of the Balfour Declaration. This was neither the first time nor the last time that the British would violation the terms of the Mandate. It was also one of the many examples in which the British sought to curry favor with the Arabs, even if it meant betraying the Jews.
1923: Birthdate of author Joseph Heller who created Catch-22, the literary masterpiece that gained additional fame as a film.
1928: A large number of workers in Palestine heeded the call of the Worker’s Councils for a general strike. In other May Day activities, Arab and Jewish workers held mass meetings in several towns including Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, where police dispersed the gatherings after arresting several demonstrators some of whom would later be labeled as “communists.”
1928(11thof Iyar, 5688): Fifty-eight year old Joseph Solomon Wallenstein, the son of Solomon and Esther Wallenstein, passed away today.
1932: According to reports by John Martin published today, famed ballerina Belle Didjah has set sail from New York to begin her European Tour which will include performances in Tel Aviv and other communities in Palestine. The performances are being sponsored by the Cultural Committee of Histadruth.
1934: Julius Streicher's Nazi periodical, Der Stürmer--one of
Germany
's most popular periodicals and a favorite of Hitler--reminded its readers that during the Middle Ages, the Jews were accused of committing ritual murder of Christian children and of using their blood for religious ritual purposes
1934: The Rassenpolitisches Amt der NSDAP(Racial Policy Office of the National Socialist German Workers Party) was established by Hitler's friend and secretary, Rudolph Hess
1938: Following the Anschluss, Austrians forced Jewish men and women to scrub the streets with small brushes and with the women's fur coats.
1939: In Hungary, discriminatory laws were passed against Jews engaged in law and medicine. Jewish participation in the economy was restricted to six percent.
1940: Birthdate of Colette Avital, the Bucharest native who made Aliyah in 1950 and developed a career as a diplomat and political leader.
1940: Polish and Baltic-area Jews began to escape across the
Soviet Union
to
Japan
, the
Dutch East Indies
,
Australia
,
Canada
, the
United States
and, in a few instances to Eretz
Israel
. In all, only a few thousand Jews from the region manage to escape.
1940: The Lodz Ghetto is closed. At the outbreak of the war, Lodz was the second largest Jewish community in Europe, Warsaw being the largest. When the Ghetto was sealed, it imprisoned over 230,000. Those who did not die of starvation, pestilence, etc. ended up being transported to the Chelmno death camp. There were less than 900 Jews left alive when the Soviets liberated the ghetto in January, 1945.
1940(23rd of Nisan, 5700): One hundred forty Palestinian Jews died as German planes bombed their ship
1940: Rudolf Höss, adjutant at the Sachsenhausen,
Germany
, concentration camp, was ordered to turn the former Polish army barracks at
Auschwitz
,
Poland
, into an extermination camp.
1940: From today through December 1940 thousands of Polish Jews are sent eastward as forced laborers to construct fortifications along the new Soviet frontier.
1941: Thousands of Jews who had fought in the French Foreign Legion against
Germany
in 1940 are deported to slave-labor camps in the
Sahara
to build railroads.
1941(4th of Iyar, 5701): In Bucharest, Romania 120 Jews are slain in the streets during anti-Semitic violence
1941: Jewish cemeteries, synagogues, and businesses in
Zagreb
,
Yugoslavia
, are destroyed
1941: A concentration camp is established at
Natzweiler
,
Alsace
,
Germany
.
1941: Gross-Rosen, formerly a satellite camp of
Sachsenhausen
,
Germany
, becomes an independent camp.
1942: From today through the 31st of the month, more than 3600 Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto die of starvation. Nazis force their way into Jewish apartments in
Warsaw
, shoot and club the residents, and throw the bodies from windows.
1942: During May a slave-labor camp opens near
Minsk
,
Belorussia
.
1942: During May small groups of Jewish youths manage to escape into the woods outside Lida and Stolpce, towns in
Belorussia
.
1942: During May, in the
Eastern Galicia
region of
Poland
, Jews aged 14 to 60 are driven to isolated spots and killed by hand grenades and machine guns after being forced to dig their own graves. Other victims of this Aktion include orphans, residents of old-age homes, and women in the streets.
1942: During May inmates at Auschwitz-Birkenau are put to work as slave laborers at the camp itself and at a synthetic-oil and rubber plant at nearby Monowitz.
1942: During May, Jewish women at Auschwitz-Birkenau are selected for medical experiments. A Jewish inmate at a labor camp at
Schwenningen
,
Germany
, is buried in earth up to his shoulders as punishment for having an attack of diarrhea outside a barracks; after more than ten hours in the ground, the man dies.
1942: During May, a slave-labor camp opens at Maly Trostinets,
Byelorussia
1942: During May in
Holland
, a collaborationist auxiliary police unit, Vrijwillige Hulp-Politie (Volunteer Auxiliary Police), is established. It is charged with the roundup of Dutch Jews for deportation to the East.
1942: During May, Communist Jews in
Paris
initiate organized armed resistance to the Nazi occupiers.
1942: During May, The Bund (Jewish Labor Organization of Poland) appeals to the Polish government-in-exile in
London
to persuade the Allied governments to warn the German government about the consequences of the murder of the Polish Jews. The Bund's appeal contains detailed information concerning the systematic mass murder of Jews. It reports that 700,000 Polish Jews have already been executed.
1942: In early May, 260
Luxembourg
Jews, some of whom who had converted to Christianity, are sent to Chelmno.
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