A rabbi who went down with his torpedoed warship in 1943 will not forgotten

February 10, 2023

Rabbi Alexander D. Goode and a view of the Dorchester, which was requisitioned by the army during World War II. The ship was sunk by a German torpedo on Feb. 3, 1943.

(JTA) - Mark Auerbach was not yet 5 years old when he noticed an unusual stamp in his father's dresser. The well-worn three-cent stamp featured a drawing of a small group of men and a sinking ship, with the words "The Immortal Chaplains... Interfaith in action." It piqued his interest, so he asked his father about it.

"Our cousin is on that," Auerbach, who grew up in Brooklyn, recalls him saying, searching for an age-appropriate explanation. "He said he was a rabbi who died during World War II when his boat was torpedoed by the Germans. He made me promise to make sure that the story is neve...

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