Deliverance Will Come

Rabbi Stephen S. Wise’s address was delivered as a radio broadcast in New York City on July 22, 1942, on the eve of Tisha B’Av, a date historically associated with mourning the destruction of Jewish communities. Wise urgently demanded the Allied rescue of European Jewry, while simultaneously arguing for the necessity of a Jewish homeland. The speech was delivered just weeks before he received the Riegner Telegram out of London, which provided the first official confirmation of Nazi plans for the “Final Solution,” the extermination of Europe’s Jews. At the time of the speech, Wise was aware of mass killings but not of the full scope of the planned genocide. Although “Deliverance Will Come” contained elements of hope, the tone of Wise’s public messaging changed markedly later that year. Though asked by the U.S. State Department to keep the information secret, he finally broke the news to the American public in late November 1942. Wise then shifted his focus toward a campaign for international intervention and the rescue of those facing genocide.