{"id":31748,"date":"2015-06-12T00:12:30","date_gmt":"2015-06-12T03:12:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/?p=31748"},"modified":"2016-11-25T00:04:41","modified_gmt":"2016-11-25T03:04:41","slug":"world-war-ii-pow-held-jewish-services-in-pow-camp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christianfighterpilot.com\/blog\/2015\/06\/12\/world-war-ii-pow-held-jewish-services-in-pow-camp\/","title":{"rendered":"World War II POW Held Jewish Services in POW Camp"},"content":{"rendered":"

A local article<\/a> recalls the story of then-Army Lieutenant Henry Levine, a B-17 navigator who was shot down over Nazi Germany and captured in February 1944. While in Stalag Luft 1,<\/p>\n

he led secret Jewish religious services for fellow POWs, right under the noses of their Nazi captors.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany people risk their lives to pray to their god,\u201d his son Ron Levine, of Cedar Rapids, says. \u201cHe was one of them.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The article reveals the Nazis technically permitted “Jewish church” for appearances, though actual Jewish rites weren’t permitted. As a result, with the assistance of non-Jewish POWs, Levine led real services in secret:<\/p>\n

Bernie Levine recalled the worship, held in a different barracks for each session. POWs entered two at a time to avoid detection, and non-Jewish POWs stood watch, to alert them if guards were coming. There were about 300 Jewish POWs in the camp of more than 10,000 prisoners.<\/p>\n

For Passover, an Anglican chaplain who had received hundreds of communion wafers from the Red Cross donated them to the Jewsih POWs, so they could have unleavened bread.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"Read more of the fascinating story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Photo: Courtesy Levine family via the Gazette<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Repeated at the Stars and Stripes<\/a>.<\/span>.<\/p>\n

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ADVERTISEMENT<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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