Life in the DP Camps

Circumcision at Schlachtensee DP Camp, 1946-1947 Chaplain Mayer Abramowitz holds the baby while a DP rabbi performs a circumcision.

Life in the DP Camps The chaplains worked day and night to deliver material and spiritual sustenance to the Displaced Persons living in camps operated by the United States Army in Germany. From obtaining kosher food to encouraging political organization to conducting weddings and britim milah, the chaplains helped "rekindle the flame" of Jewish life in the camps.

The problem of morale increases daily [in the DP camps]. ? The longer the Jew is compelled to be imprisoned in endless waiting, the more difficult will be the problem [of] designing his life to fit the pattern of normal living.

Chaplain Abraham Klausner, August 1945

Photo, top: USHMM, Courtesy Mayer and Rachel Abramowitz

Photo, bottom: USHMM, Courtesy Dr. David Dalin