Weird photo...

[Ludwig]

or?

[EvaB1945]

Would they be Jewish? It seems odd that there seem to be two what looks like Jewish Flags then the massive Swastika flag behind them...

I can't say I've seen the inside of a synagogue so it could be in a church?

Eva

[Br. James]

All three men appear to be Jewish, all wearing the tallit prayer scarf and the one on the left is holding a Torah Scroll which they will place in the Tabernacle with the open doors behind the person leading the service in the center of the photo. Two men appear to be in US Army uniforms and perhaps the central person is, as well. All three could be chaplains.

But the occasion for this service and this photo is the real question: what's going on here? Has their unit just captured this building which was once a synagogue, and are they 're-consecrating' it for religious use? It does seem odd that they would leave the Nazi banner in place during such a service, when it could easily have been torn down...??

Br. James

[Sepp45]

Pfc. Abraham Mirmelstein of Newport News, Virginia, holds the Holy Scroll as Capt. Manuel M. Poliakoff, and Cpl. Martin Willen, of Baltimore, Maryland, conduct services in Schloss Rheydt, former residence of Dr. Joseph Paul Goebbels, Nazi propaganda minister, in Münchengladbach, Germany on March 18, 1945. They were the first Jewish services held east of the Rur River and were offered in memory of soldiers of the faith who were lost by the 29th Division, U.S. 9th Army

Original caption from http://www.theatlantic.com/photo/201.../100166/#img24

[oldflagswanted]

WW2 US Army Chaplain's flag in use...

Top flag showing in photo is a U.S. Army Chaplain's
Jewish Faith version flag in the size used in the field.
OFW
(below) Flag size: ~2' at the hoist by 3' on the fly, dark
blue with insignia in white, flag marks the chaplain's location
when divine services are held in the field. Flag for the Christian
faith has a white cross, for the Jewish faith a Jewish insignia.
WW2 design had two tablets of the Ten Commandments, using
Roman numerals to indicate the commandments, with a small
six-pointed Jewish star on top of the tablets. This would remain
the insignia for Jewish chaplains until 1981, when the navy changed
to insignia to include the first ten letters of the Hebrew alphabet
to replace the Roman numerals, and both the army and air force
followed suit. While the official change to Hebrew letters became
official November 9, 1981 Jewish chaplains were not required to
make the uniform change until January 1, 1983.

[crowback]

Thanks! This explains it.

Original caption from http://www.theatlantic.com/photo/201.../100166/#img24

[Ludwig]

Thanks, guys! Mission accomplished!

[Br. James]

Thanks for the further details, friends. Very helpful. Given the photo caption shared with us by Sepp45, it remains a mystery to me why those involved with putting this service together permitted the swastika banner to be displayed there. The banner appears not to be originally mounted in that spot, since it doesn't fit the section of the wall it's displayed on, so I am assuming that the banner was placed there on purpose... I get it that this was one of Goebbels' houses, but the presence of the swaz seems to overshadow the significance of the religious service that was being performed there.

Maybe it's just me...??

Br. James