In the weeks following V-E Day, the Allied powers were faced with the daunting task of governing Germany and all formerly Nazi-controlled territories. Hitler was dead, the Third Reich had fallen, and it was now up to the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and France to rebuild the continent following the devastation of the war in Europe – all while the war in the Pacific continued to rage on. With Europe in ruins, the Allied nations began the work to restore systems of law, rebuild the economy, and lead the re-education of the German people.

Throughout World War II, more than 1,000 American rabbis volunteered to serve their country through chaplaincy service, with more than 300 American Jewish chaplains entering active duty. After the war, sixty of these rabbis remained in Europe and beyond, and were among the first witnesses to the true extent of the atrocities committed by the Nazis in pursuit of “the final solution.” The work was arduous, and oftentimes at odds with American military policy, which deemed all those displaced persons who were stateless, including Jewish victims who had survived the Holocaust, “enemies of the state.” It was through advocacy, determination, and great personal risk that the rabbis were able to help displaced persons find new lives in the United States and other nations.