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Synagogues at Institutions, etc.
Provision of Jewish Chaplains The following is a statement made by Rev. Dr. Isaac Levy, Senior Jewish Chaplain to the British forces, in an interview with The Jewish Chronicle on 9 July 1954: Royal Army Chaplains' Department: the number of Jewish Chaplains appointed is calculated on the basis of official establishment, without consideration for the geographical distribution of serving personnel. The result is that our present numbers permit of only three commissioned Chaplains, who enlist, for a Short-Service Commission of three years duration. These Chaplains (two Army, one R.A.F.) are assisted by a number of civilian ministers, who bear the designation of Officiating Chaplains. The latter undertake to visit camps in the vicinity of their congregations and receive no payment for their services. In overseas stations the position is somewhat different from that of the U.K. Only one Chaplain is available for full-time service, and he is stationed in Germany. His task is to cater for all the needs of the men in the B.A.O.R., and, in addition to constant tours of that Command, he is responsible for all the administrative which that difficult Zone entails. The men serving in the Middle East receive a visit from a Chaplain twice a year Constant contact is maintained with the communities of Gibraltar, Malta, Singapore, and Hong Kong, and even with an individual Jew living in Malaya, so that invitations may be issued to local troops to spend the Sabbaths and festivals in a Jewish atmosphere.
The Jewish prison population in 1906 Report in The Jewish Chronicle of 11 May 1906 from a return showing "the declared Religious Creeds and Denominations of the Prisoners in each of His Majesty's Prisons in England, Wales and Scotland, on the 28th day of March, 1906": it appears that 267 Jews were among those incarcerated....The Jewish prisoners in England and Wales were distributed as follows: 4 at Aylesbury; 1 at Bristol; 11 at Brixton; 2 at Derby; 7 at Holloway; 3 at Hull; 2 at Knutsford; 12 at Leeds; 15 at Lewes; 9 at Liverpool; 14 at Manchester; 1 at Newcastle upon Tyne; 1 at Nottingham; 47 at Parkhurst; 60 at Pentonville; 1 at Portsmouth; 1 at Reading; 2 at Stafford; 1 at Usk; 1 at Wandsworth; and 62 at Wormwood Scrubs. In Scottish prisons, there was one Jew in an Edinburgh gaol; three in Glasgow; and one at Peterhead. The Prisoners' Aid Society The United Synagogue paid for boys on training-ships, and kept a minister at Parkhurst Prison. The prisoners' aid movement was a most important one, not only for the unfortunate people to whose help they came, but also for the good of the Jewish community of London. The Prisoners' Aid Society was founded a short time ago because of the outcry against the increase in the number of Jewish prisoners....The establishment of the Jewish Prisoners' Aid Society had already had the effect of reducing Jewish crime in the metropolis. Last year the Society dealt with 274 male prisoners, and of these 37 were repatriated - he was not prepared to sav that repatriation to Russia was for the good of the prisoner, but he thought they were justified in assisting them, if they desired it, to go back to Russia. Several of the prisoners came to the conclusion that, miserable as life was in Russia, it was not more miserable than life in a London prison. (Laughter.) (The Jewish Chronicle of 10 March 1905)
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