Observance of Anniversary of Warsaw Ghetto Revolt Starts Today in U.S.

Observance of the 20th anniversary of the Jewish revolt in the Warsaw Ghetto against the German Army will take place throughout the United States this weekend, in response to a special proclamation issued by President Kennedy–on the basis of a joint resolution by Congress–urging the people in this country to observe the anniversary “with appropriate ceremonies.”

In New York, famed Times Square will be renamed tomorrow “Warsaw Ghetto Square” in a ceremony arranged by the Zionist Organization of America. The commemorative name will remain in effect for a full week. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, in a message delivered to Adolph Held, national chairman of the Jewish Labor Committee, to be read at a commemorative meeting of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising at the Statler-Hilton Hotel tomorrow night, said: “April 19th is a date that will live in history because it will forever remain the symbol of the human spirit that cannot be crushed by physical repression.”

New York’s observation was marked by a special proclamation issued by Mayor Robert F. Wagner today. The Mayor fixed Sunday as the city’s official “Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Day.” He called on all citizens to observe the day and “to draw inspiration from the gallant, magnificent behavior of those heroic peoples of Warsaw of 20 years ago.”

(In Warsaw itself, many thousands started Ghetto observation ceremonies today, with the participation of Jewish and non-Jewish delegations from many countries, including Israel The Warsaw Ghetto rebellion opened on the eve of Passover on April 19, 1943, and culminated in the complete destruction of the Ghetto by the Nazi army and the almost total annihilation of the 70,000 Jews who participated in the revolt.)

Thirty major national Jewish organizations will join in commemorative meeting to be held Sunday at Carnegie Hall under the chairmanship of former Senator Herbert H. Lehman. Throughout the weekend, beginning tomorrow, Radio Free Europe will beam, from its European transmitters, a special series of Warsaw Ghetto commemorative programs to listerners inlands behind the Iron Curtain. An exhibit commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising at the Yivo Institute for Jewish Research will be officially opened on Sunday at 4 p.m. to an invited audience. Taking part in the opening ceremonies will be Philip M. Klutznick, former U. S. Ambassador to the United Nations, who will serve as chairman, and Senator Javits.

TEXT OF PRESIDENT KENNEDY’S PROCLAMATION ON THE GHETTO UPRISING

President Kennedy’s document, co-signed by Secretary of State Dean Rusk, entitled “A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America,” declared:

“Of the more than 400,000 Jews whom the Nazis had previously walled into the Warsaw Ghetto, only about 70,000 remained in April 1943. With deadly efficiency, most of the other inhabitants had been transported by the Nazis to concentration camps and had there been exterminated. The surviving Jews, suffering from malnutrition and disease, with pitifully few weapons and virtually no hope of assistance from any source, determined to sell their lives as dearly as possible. They engaged the Nazis in battle.

“The result was known by the Jews to be foredoomed. Yet, though they lacked both military resources and a military tradition, they were able to conduct their struggle against the overwhelming forces of the Nazi occupiers for more than three weeks, thereby providing a chapter in the annals of human heroism, an inspiration to the peace-loving people of the world and a warning to would-be oppressors which will long be remembered.

“Now, therefore, I. John F. Kennedy, President of the United States of America, in consonance with the joint resolution of Congress approved August 28, 1962 (76 Stat. 407), do hereby invite the people of the United States to observe the twentieth anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, April 21, 1963, with appropriate ceremonies and activities.