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Jewish Homeland

Among the North Dakota soldiers fighting somewhere in France, were a number of young men of Jewish faith.  Sam Rigler, from Taylor, North Dakota, trusted in his faith to survive life in the trenches.  He was quoted in the newspaper as saying, “There I was huddled up against the side of a trench...  I silently offered prayers to God and asked for divine guidance and protection.” In a letter to his brother, he stated: “The word was passed around that we were going over the top at 5 AM.  Just before daybreak we climbed over, packs thrown away, but rifles loaded and bayonets fixed… The battle was raging, shells cracking, hissing and exploding but a few feet away… we crept along close to the ground.  Dawn was setting in and the explosion of the shells lighted up the sky.  There we were, out there in No Man’s Land and only the will of God could save us.”

He noted that food was difficult to obtain at the front, and after having meals of raw potatoes, a cooked dinner was a precious commodity.  On one occasion, a German shell exploded a short distance away, knocking the food and coffee from his hands. He flattened out close to the ground while the dirt and rock showered down on him, but he never lost sight of his bread, bacon and potatoes.  When the barrage lifted, the food was hurriedly gathered in his empty coffee cup and quickly devoured in a nearby trench.

Sam Rigler entered the trenches on the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah, and on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year, he was lying in the hospital, having been slightly gassed. Meanwhile, back in North Dakota, the service flag of the Fargo Synagogue displayed thirty stars representing Jewish soldiers from the community serving at the front.  The Reverend J. Klitzner prayed for those Jewish boys in the trenches who were unable to perform their New Year’s obligations.  He announced that they were now fighting for a greater ideal, the restoration of the Jews to the land of their fathers, for it was on this date in 1918 that local newspapers revealed that Great Brittan, France and Italy had declared that Palestine, once liberated, would be used to create a Jewish homeland.  Chapters of the Zionist Organization of America were formed in Grand Forks, Fargo and other cities to assist with the Palestine movement.  Harry Lashkowitz of Fargo believed that it was the ardent desire for every Jew to fight to the utmost and make this a safe world for them to live in.

Dakota Datebook by Jim Davis

Sources:

Taylor Recorder, September 25, 1918

Fargo Forum, August 5, 1918

Grand Forks Herald, September 5, 1918

Bismarck Tribune, September 10, 1918

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