ABOUT FACE: Jewish Refugees In The Armed Forces

By Ben Kane
“About Face: Jewish Refugees in the Armed Forces,” is a documentary that tells the stories of Jewish men and women who left their homes and families to flee the persecution of the Nazi government. These immigrants then went on to join the military in their new homes, both to prove they could be good citizens to their new country, and to restore peace to their homelands.

The film begins by describing life for the average Jew under the Nazi regime. The film does an excellent job exploring life before the Holocaust. It shows that the number of dead was massive, but the dead were more than just a number. Those who were left behind were people. People like us, with fears, aspirations, and people who loved them. It explores how neighbors became enemies, and how the state used divisive rhetoric to split the country apart. Its usage of primary source documents including interviews with service members, recorded speeches from Holocaust survivors, as well as an interview with Holocaust scholar Michael Berenbaum, makes it a solid educational resource.

One anecdote that stands out involves a Jewish family accosted by Nazi brownshirts at a park. The family told the inquiring Nazis they were Jewish, as was required, and so the family was harassed, brought to the Danube, told to face the river, and told that anyone who turned around would be shot. The Nazis then left. This mock execution, understandably, did a fairly good job convincing those caught up in them to leave Germany. But leaving was not so simple.

The film then briefly mentions the prerequisite in some countries that in order to relocate individuals needed a relative to vouch for their character and agree to take them in. Those who tried to leave also faced an exorbitant tax. Fleeing Germany would have meant they had to start life in their homeland nearly destitute. Those who were able to leave had to consider their futures carefully. Many chose to pursue professions that could be useful anywhere, like plumbers, cooks, and carpenters.

In November 1938, Kristallnacht took place, marking a turning point in Nazi policy towards Jews. Previously, the Germans mainly sent political prisoners to concentration camps, but that changed with the arrest and imprisonment of 30,000 Jews during Kristallnacht. Jews could only leave if their families began the paperwork to flee the country, leaving their money, their home, and their former lives behind. Many fled to Israel, then British-owned Palestine, inspired by the possibility of creating their own country.

The documentary mentions the often overlooked, but historically interesting Evian Conference. The Evian Conference was a gathering of the future allied powers to determine which countries would agree to take in more Jewish refugees. Only the Dominican Republic agreed to raise their quota. The governments of the world knew of the plight of the Jews, but virtually none of them cared enough to act in any meaningful way in defense of the oppressed.

War broke out shortly thereafter and prevented many from fleeing the country. Those who fled Germany for a nearby country sometimes found themselves back in the Reich, as their new homes were invaded and captured within a matter of months or a few years.

“About Face” does not shy away from death, nor should it. It shows the corpses in concentration camps and an example of an execution of a group of Jews. It’s not detrimental, but it is something for educators to keep in mind when showing this to their students.

The documentary goes on to explain how immigrants were labeled in their new countries as enemy aliens and possible spies. The United States interned many immigrants, including Jews who fled persecution.

Once the war broke out, immigrants were allowed to enlist. They looked forward to combat, to avenging their homelands, to be placed on the fast track towards citizenship, and to prove to their new homes they would be dedicated to their country. One interviewee made the poignant remark that he joined the fight because he knew someone would take his place if he didn’t sign up, and that person could be married or otherwise important, and could be killed, and so shouldn’t go.

Joining the military did not free Jewish service members from anti-Semitism. Jews were often placed only in certain jobs, and received criticism when they tried to place themselves away from the so-called “Jewish Army”. Interestingly, a Captain who made a disparaging remark to a Jewish immigrant service member apologized for it that same day, a rare occurrence. One commanding officer, unaware of the misery of being a Jew in Germany, pulled aside one of the service members to ask for an honest answer to a “tough” question- “would they be willing to fight against the country of their birth?” The question was answered, to the CO’s surprise, with laughter.

Some immigrant service members were required to change their European identities to prevent needless harm if captured, especially if they were going to be dressed as Germans and sent behind enemy lines. Some would try and hold on to their family heritage in their own ways, but argued little against shedding the things that had and would continue to make them targets of persecution.

Towards the end, “About Face” recounts the heroic amphibious invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944, in which Jewish immigrants fought alongside non-Jews, with many dying on the beaches on their way to liberate their homelands. Jewish immigrant service members made good use of their knowledge of the local languages, often providing invaluable information as translators, interrogators, and spies.

Lastly, the film explores the liberation of the concentration camps. Holocaust survivor Gerda Weissman Klein recounts the beautiful moment that unfolded between her and her liberator. Instinctively, she informed her rescuer that she was Jewish, expecting some form of hostility in return. To her surprise, he paused to collect his thoughts, then said “I am too.”

It’s these anecdotes that perfectly relay the crucial role Jewish immigrant service members played during World War II. This documentary can be enjoyed by any WWII buff, and would also serve as a good resource for educators to use to explore the impact of Jewish immigrant service members on the war effort.

“About Face” will be released later this year.

Volume 74. Number 3. 2020

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Blind Bombing: How Microwave Radar Brought the Allies to D-Day and Victory in WWII

By Sheldon Goldberg, Ph.D.

Since the beginning of time, war has fostered technological innovation and inventions that changed the nature of combat: gunpowder in the ninth century; artillery and firearms in the 13th; the ironclad and the machine gun in the 19th; and the airplane, tank, radar, and atom bomb in the 20th. The marriage of the airplane and radar just prior to the British and U.S. involvement in World War II is the subject of this well-written history by Norman Fine.

This marriage, the result of a small British invention made on the eve of the war, the resonant cavity magnetron, an item so small it can be held in the palm of one’s hand, was the key that unlocked the promise of the primitive radar of the time. The beginnings of radar in Britain go back to 1915 when Robert Watson-Watt, a recent electrical engineering graduate employed by the British Meteorological Office, found a way to use radio waves to detect storms in order to warn pilots of approaching bad weather. His next assignment involved investigating the feasibility of using radio waves to destroy an aircraft in flight, which he found not only impractical but dangerous to the operator, so he proposed focusing on aircraft detection. This led to the development of the “Chain Home” system of radars placed along the English Channel coast of Great Britain and used by the British throughout WWII to give advanced warning of the approach of German aircraft. Fine explains how a series of mishaps on both the German and British side led to the failure of the Germans to figure out how it worked and possibly the RAF’s victory in the Battle of Britain.

Fine’s easy-to-read narrative describes the research in both Great Britain and the United States to seek ways to move to higher frequencies although the American efforts were stymied without the new British invention. Scientists knew that higher frequencies produced a shorter wavelength, thus requiring a smaller antenna and smaller, lighter, and more mobile equipment. Shorter wavelengths also could detect smaller targets with greater detail.

Fine’s story continues on an afternoon in 1939, when two University of Birmingham scientists with no experience in generating high frequency power sketched out a new type of magnetron which would generate microwave frequencies at power levels never seen before. While American systems were limited to 20 watts of power at the 10-centimeter wavelength, tests on the new British magnetron generated 50,000 watts at the same 10-centimeter wavelength.

The Lend-Lease Act, signed in 1941, signaled greater cooperation between the then neutral U.S. and Great Britain. The British, under bombardment and anticipating a Nazi invasion from occupied northern France, decided to disclose to the U.S. a number of their highly secret technological advances, including jet engine technology and the resonant cavity magnetron. From this point on, the author ably describes the testing and development by physicists on both sides of the Atlantic to operationalize this powerful energy source, initially toward the successful detection of German U-boats from the air with 10-centimeter radar and then to develop a three-centimeter radar (H2X) used in United States Army Air Forces B-17 Pathfinders and the 10-centimeter radar (H2S) used by the Royal Air Force. Each could continuously bomb German military and industrial targets day and night regardless of the weather. Fine notes however, that the H2X radar system was used primarily as a backup to visual bombing using the Norden bombsight by the U.S. Army Air Forces. On average, visual bombing was possible only nine days a month at best.

Interspersed throughout the book the author describes the wartime career of his uncle, Stanley Fine. Initially drafted into the Army, he applied for Aviation Cadets and subsequently became a U.S. Army Air Forces navigator. Stanley’s nephew, the author, only serendipitously learned that his uncle was in the very first group of 10 navigators to be formally trained on the newly developed H2X radar system, nicknamed Mickey, and set out to interview him. As a result, the reader gets a first-hand insight into the training of these men and how they ran a radar, or pathfinder mission. The reader also learns of problems the initially uninterested Air Force leadership had in integrating both the men and the system, and the changing combat tactics needed to arrive at a place where they finally recognized the value. Lt. Stanley Fine, who brought the first production model of the H2X to Britain, carried out 32 missions, received two Distinguished Flying Crosses, and a promotion to Captain. He subsequently served as the Special Purpose Mickey Navigator for the 401st Bomb Group until the war in Europe ended.

As a former Vietnam/Cold War era navigator/bombardier, I was fascinated to learn the not well-known history and development of the system that eventually became what I was trained on and used with such precision during my Air Force career. “Blind Bombing” will be just as fascinating to military historians, historians of science and technology, aviation buffs, and those interested in history in general.

Volume 74. Number 3. 2020

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A Closer Look at “Still”

By Rebecca Bender
At a 70th anniversary commemoration of the D-Day invasion at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, I read excerpts from a book my father and I wrote together. My father, Kenneth Bender, participated in the D-Day invasion, and received both a Silver Star and Purple Heart during World War II.
“Still” is a book about five generations of my family, the Benders. It covers more than 150 years during which the family migrated from Odessa, Russia, to North Dakota, and eventually Minnesota. Included in the story is my father’s recollections about himself and his war service as just one of more than half a million Jewish servicemen and women in World War II.

Near Cardiff, Wales, June 1944
It was two a.m. when Kenneth heard an unexpected knock on the door of his barracks. “Captain Bender, Sir!” There was some urgency in the messenger’s voice.

Captain Bender had been training in Newry, Northern Ireland, with the two hundred men in his unit for a few months. Company B’s barracks were on the second floor of an old abandoned concrete mill. The men practiced hand-to-hand combat drills in a greyhound dog racing enclosure and hiked up and down Camlough Mountain, where even the big rocks they walked on sank into the boggy ground with just one step. They were continuing their preparation to invade Norway…

Bender’s focus and the focus of the men under his command had been Norway for almost two years… Then the plans abruptly changed… and the entire division had been relocated to Wales. Bender had been told of the new mission — training for an amphibious invasion of Europe to fight the Nazis on the ground. He had been informed of the timetable and the plan to leave for Omaha Beach within the week, but the knock on the door of the barracks woke him with a start. “Captain Bender, Sir!” said the messenger again. “I have a message from headquarters… “Sir, you and all the men in your unit who are Hebrews are supposed to get dressed and come to the officers’ tent in fifteen minutes.”
“Thank you, private,” said Captain Bender.
Bender quickly dressed, grabbed the list of two hundred soldiers under his command, and walked swiftly to the enlisted men’s barracks. He walked in and yelled, “Attention!” The men all stood by their bunks at attention. Captain Bender continued, “I will now call out names of some men, and I want you to get dressed and meet me outside the officers’ tent in ten minutes.” He started calling out the names of the Jewish soldiers. “The rest of you can go back to sleep. That is all.”

Captain Bender went to the officers’ tent and waited outside for his men. Standing in the coolness of the Welsh night, he thought back about telling his family that he knew volunteering as a private in the infantry was the right thing to do, even though he had graduated from law school just two years before and was working as a lawyer in Rapid City. But why were the Jewish soldiers in his unit being singled out…

The Jewish men of his unit had lined up silently behind Captain Bender. The Captain led them into the tent. “Captain Bender reporting, Sir.”
“At ease, men,” said the officer. The officer broke the anxious silence:

Gentlemen, we have been sent by Company Commander, Captain Keith Schmedeman. Captain Schmedeman has learned reliable information from the front lines, in North Africa and Italy, about how Hebrews, people of the Jewish faith, are being treated by the enemy once they are captured. The Axis are not taking the Hebrews as prisoners of war. They are shooting them on the spot. This has come down from high up. If they see that your dog tags have an “H” for Hebrew, they will kill you or torture you until you die.

The Lieutenant here has a machine that can change your dog tags — you can either switch them from H, to P for Protestant or C for Catholic. When you change your dog tags, you will have a better chance of surviving the war. Now, line up behind Captain Bender to get your dog tags changed. Captain Bender, tell the Lieutenant if you want a C or a P on your tags. Once you have completed this process, you are dismissed.

Captain Bender moved up across from the Lieutenant sitting with the machine, who had his hand out to take the Captain’s dog tags. Kenneth’s twenty-eight years of life passed before him, as is supposed to happen when you see a car heading straight towards you on the road. But Kenneth Bender didn’t see headlights. He saw his Grandma Becky’s face — stern, wise, and warm all at once. “You are born a Jew, and you will die a Jew.” He knew what she meant. No matter what happens in between, once you are born as a Jew, you are who you are. You carry the joys and responsibilities of your religion. You carry the history of your people.

Each soldier had two metal tags around his neck, listing next of kin and religion. One of the tags had tape on it, so the enemy could not hear the American soldiers approaching due to the clanging of the two tags. If a soldier was killed, one tag would be removed and the other would remain with the body. …

“P or C ?” The Lieutenant’s words brought him back to the mo¬ment. In the quiet of the tent, Captain Bender felt his words come from deep inside of himself, calm and confident.

“Sir, I will not make the change.” Captain Bender then told the men assembled that they had the option to do as they wished, and he started to walk towards the exit of the tent. That’s when he heard Private Feldman, “Sir, I will not make the change”; then Private First Class Skurmann, “Sir, I will not make the change”; and on and on, like a rolling echo in a tent covered with burlap, that would not naturally lead to the phenomenon of an echo. These were man-made echoes. These were echoes that came from thousands of years of faith.

Volume 74. Number 2. 2020

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How to Fight Anti-Semitism

By Harrison Heller

“How to Fight Anti-Semitism” is a must read. Whether you are Jewish or not, this recounting of anti-Semitism and how to fight back is essential. In today’s America, where we thought anti-Semitism was an afterthought until Charlottesville and Pittsburgh, author Bari Weiss gives a chilling and thought-provoking look at this thought virus.

Before diving in to the book, it’s important to understand the meaning of anti-Semitism. According to Merriam-Webster, anti-Semitism is “hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious, ethnic, or racial group.” This is the correct definition, but in her book, Weiss describes anti-Semitism as “not even a solid idea or singular theory. It is a shape-shifting worldview that slithers away just as you think you have it pinned down and, in so doing, stays several steps ahead of anyone trying to clobber it.” We should also define Judaism. Is Judaism a religion? An ethnicity? A way of life? Weiss says, “Judaism is not merely a religion, and it is not merely an ethnicity. Judaism is a people. More specifically, it is a people with a language, a culture, a literature, and a particular set of ideas, beliefs, texts, and legal practices.”

Many Americans put anti-Semitism and racism in the same basket. Is anti-Semitism the same as racism or is it a subset of racism? In American society, Jews are considered white. However Weiss asks, “Were there laws in Maryland saying that Jews couldn’t hold public office? Yes. Was that the same as human beings in the Old Line State being bought and sold as property? Absolutely not.” She continues, “Are Jews barred from country clubs? Yes. But are Jews singled out and discriminated against, not least by law enforcement, because of an immutable physical characteristic? Most definitely not.” According Weiss, if anti-Semitism is a subset of racism, it whitewashes the Jewish people. The majority of Israel’s Jewish population is of Mizrahi decent (Middle Eastern and North African heritage) and 12-15 percent of America’s Jewish population is comprised of people of color. She explains the difference between anti-Semitism and anti-Jewish prejudice. One example she gives is that of a gentile father who prefers his daughter not marry a Jew. This is anti-Jewish prejudice. However, this man does not hold the belief that the Jews hold a secret control over the government. That belief would be anti-Semitic. Weiss closes her definition of anti-Semitism by stating, “In the eyes of the racist, the person of color is inferior. In the eyes of the misogynist, the woman is something less than human. In the eyes of the anti-Semite, the Jew is… everything. He is whatever the anti-Semite needs him to be.”

One area frequently discussed is whether anti-Semitism is unique to the left or to the right. The answer is simple – it has found a home on both extreme ends of the political spectrum.

Weiss notes that on the extreme left, anti-Semitism exploits the moral fear within people. They place sole blame for the continued conflict between Israelis and Palestinians on the Jewish State. This moral fear causes some Jews to downplay their sympathies, or entirely abandon their support for Israel. The Boycott, Divest, and Sanction (BDS) Movement, focuses on getting governments around the world pull their support of Israel. The group does not protest Israeli policies, but they wish to isolate and pressure Israel until the Jewish State collapses. Omar Barghouti, co-founder of BDS said, “We oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine… [only] a sellout Palestinian would accept a Jewish state in Palestine.” Some far-left groups also use the extreme end of victimhood to shame Jewish business owners and academic leaders of their Jewishness and their support for Israel.

Those on the far-right use tactics such as fear, neo-fascism, and Nazi ideology to instill fear in the community. George Lincoln Rockwell, a U.S. Navy veteran who served during World War II and the Korean War, founded the American Nazi Party in 1959. Inspired by Black Muslims, those on the far-right started to merge religion with white supremacy, and thus gave rise to such Christian Identity groups as The Order and America’s Promise Ministries. Today, these groups have merged and found a home in what is now called “The Alt-Right.” These groups instill fear by promoting the conspiracy theory that the Jews control the government and Hollywood. Far-right white nationalist groups are starting to find homes on college campuses across the country.

On both extreme ends of the political spectrum, it is the lack of knowledge and compassion that led people down these various paths. While these sound like different paths, they are one in the same.

As far as how to fight back against anti-Semitism, I don’t wish to include any spoilers in this review, but simply encourage you to read Weiss’ book.

Volume 74. Number 1. 2020

 

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REVIEW: Soviet Jews in World War II: Fighting, Witnessing, Remembering

By Sheldon A. Goldberg, Ph.D.

Before the remodeling of the National Museum of American Jewish Military History several years ago, an exhibit called “The Liberators” featured American GI’s who came in contact with the effects of the Holocaust as they marched across Nazi Germany. Unfortunately all that remains of that exhibit are several recordings made by a few of the liberators describing what they saw and experienced. This confrontation with the Holocaust, even for those Jewish GI’s who saw the horrors inflicted on the dead and those who survived, was for the most part a foreign and impersonal experience.
The approximately 300,000-500,000 Soviet Jews who served in the Red Army felt a personal connection to the ravages of the Holocaust they encountered. These soldiers saw their homes, towns, and villages destroyed, as well as the murders of their families, friends, and relatives. It engendered in them a deep hated of the Nazis, and a desire for revenge at all costs. Furthermore, their contact with the results of the Holocaust undermined the Soviet propaganda that there was no such thing as a Jewish nation, nor could there be.

This change of attitude became evident to many of them, including those who had no Jewish or religious upbringing. It became evident as they experienced anti-Semitism at the front, and in the ruined towns and villages they liberated from the Nazis, where surviving neighbors looted homes after Jewish families were taken away and murdered. They saw the remnants of Jewish books and scrolls, pages that were filled with what one Russian historian called “square letters,” used to wrap produce and other items for sale or disposal. It was these “square letters” that drew thousands of Jewish Red Army soldiers together, many of whom had no knowledge of the Hebrew alphabet, as they became symbols of Jews murdered by the Nazis.

These are only a small portion of what one learns from this book, which contains a collection of essays that was presented at a conference sponsored by the U.S. Holocaust Museum, the Blatavnik Foundation, and the Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at New York University. Contributors to this volume describe the participation of Soviet Jews as soldiers, journalists, and propagandists combatting the Nazis during what the Russians call the Great Patriotic War (June, 22, 1941-May 9, 1945). The essays include newly discovered and previously neglected oral testimony, poetry, cinema, diaries, memoirs, newspapers, and archives. The importance of these sources lies in the fact that except for poets and writers, Red Army soldiers were forbidden to keep dairies or take notes of what they saw and experienced during the war.

The book is divided into two parts. The first part includes a chapter on the writing and personal thoughts of Russia’s most famous journalist, Ilya Ehrenburg. Part two includes conference papers that analyze the works of various Soviet Jewish poets, including Boris Slutskii and Il’ia Sel’vinskii, the film “The Unvanquished,” the work of Russia’s best known photojournalist, Evgenii Khaldei, and several memoirs. The excellent essays by the various authors presented in the volume do not necessarily portray a unified vision of the Soviet Red Army Jews. It does however, take the reader on an emotional journey through the eyes of the Russian Jews who lived and died during the Great Patriotic War.

Soviet Jews in World War II: Fighting,
Witnessing, Remembering
Edited by Harriet Murav and Gennady Estraikh
Brighton MA: Academic Studies Press, 2014
214 pages with index
Available at the NMAJMH online store

Volume 73. Number 3. 2019

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A Night at the Garden

By Ben Kane

The date was February 20, 1939. It was George Washington’s birthday, and the occasion was being celebrated at a Madison Square Garden event in a way that the event planners thought President Washington would approve of. 20,000 attendees packed the building and eagerly awaited the event’s music, the marching, the flags, and the message of the “Pro American Rally.” Behind the stand where the speech was to be made hung a colossal depiction of Washington. Four American flags of equal size flanked him, but in between these flags, there was no empty space.

In between them were flags featuring a prominent swastika emerging from the letters “AV”, an abbreviation of Amerikadeutscher Volksbund–the German American Bund. A Night at the Garden, the Oscar-nominated short video directed by Marshall Curry, depicts a Nazi rally in America. This “Pro-American Rally” was a celebration of Nazi Germany, of Fascism, and of the wanton destruction of innocent lives. Hiding violent, misplaced hatred behind the thin veneer of patriotism, a Fascist tradition, Bund leader and native German Fritz Kuhn spoke following the Pledge of Allegiance. Several noteworthy lines from his speech are shown in the video:

“Ladies and Gentlemen, fellow Americans, American patriots… You all have heard of me through the Jewish controlled press as a creature with horns, a cloven hoof, and a long tail… We, with American ideals, demand that our government shall be returned to the American people who founded it… if you ask what we are actively fighting for under our charter: first, a socially just, white, Gentile ruled United States; second: Gentile-controlled labor unions, free from Jewish Moscow-directed domination.”
Then, a pause, followed by shouts and fists. A plumber from Brooklyn named Isadore Greenbaum rushes the stage to attack Kuhn but is stopped before reaching him by a group of American Nazis who beat and restrain Greenbaum until the police arrive to take him away. Greenbaum, like a true American patriot, joined the Navy to fight against the forces of evil when Germany declared war on the U.S.

The beating of Greenbaum took place in front of the youths assembled on the stage behind Kuhn, the impressionable teenagers, children, who The camera zooms in on the youths as Greenbaum is taken away, and one of the children dances with glee at the violent spectacle. The parents taught their children to hate through these rallies and through youth camps like the Hitler Youth summer camps in Germany, who then likely taught that hatred to their children, and so on and so forth.

A Night at the Garden demonstrates the depth of depravity that unbridled jingoism and xenophobia invariably lead to. It is worth noting that airtime for a 30 second advertisement for the video was requested during a commercial break on Sean Hannity’s show on the FOX News channel, and the request was denied because the content of A Night at the Garden was considered inappropriate for their audience. There are several positive aspects of the film like the high production quality, the tasteful, unobtrusive music and text, and its historical significance, that warrant a positive review. However, it being scorned by FOX News is reason enough to recommend this to anyone interested in learning of the efforts of Fascists to gain traction and power in America once before.

Volume 73. Number 1. 2019

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Must See Docuseries on Netflix: Medal of Honor

Medal of Honor. Photo Credit: Netflix.

by Harrison Heller, Membership Coordinator

On November 9, Netflix premiered its new docuseries entitled Medal of Honor. The series shares the stories of eight veterans who served from World War II to the Global War on Terror. For season one, Medal of Honor features the stories of: SGT. Sylvester Antolak (WW2), SSGT. Clint Romesha (Afghanistan), SFC. Edward Carter (WW2), SSGT. Hiroshi “Hershey” Miyamura (Korea), MSG. Vito Bertoldo (WW2), CPL. Joseph Vittori (Korea), CMSGT. Richard L. Etchberger (Vietnam) and SSGT. Ty M. Carter (Afghanistan).

Each episode is an individual story and details “the worst day of their lives”. The stories are re-enacted and told by military historians, witnesses, and sometimes even the recipient. Medal of Honor shares some amazing stories about some of our nation’s bravest heroes. The stories of Staff Sergeants Clint Romesha and Ty Carter are from the same battle, a Taliban assault on Combat Outpost Keating. This is the first time since Vietnam that the Medal of Honor was awarded to two survivors of the same battle. Medal of Honor is a must watch and a must binge.

One story that truly stood out to me was that of Staff Sergeant Edward Carter, Jr. The child of an African American father and East Indian mother, Carter was raised in India and Shanghai, China. Carter’s parents were missionaries and were constantly on the move. Edward Carter was a born soldier. In 1932 he ran away from home to serve with the Chinese Nationalist Army. After it was discovered that he was only 15, he was forced to leave the Nationalist Army. A short time later, he found his way to Europe and served in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. The Lincoln Brigade was a group of American volunteers who served in the Spanish Civil War, which fought against the regime of General Francisco Franco.

In 1941, Edward Carter entered the Army. Due to his previous combat experience, Carter stood out among the other recruits and in less than year, he achieved the rank of staff sergeant. In 1944, he was deployed to Europe and was assigned to supply duties. General Eisenhower ran short of combat-arms replacements in December 1944 and instituted the volunteer Ground Force Replacement Command for rear-echelon soldiers of all races. At the height of Carter’s career, he served as one of General George S. Patton’s guards.

After months of volunteering, Carter’s platoon made it to the frontlines and was assigned to the “Mystery Division”. When Carter was assigned to this unit, he went from staff sergeant to a private. This was because his superiors would not allow an African American to command white troops. One thing to keep in mind, America was fighting one of the most racist regimes in world history, Nazi Germany, yet our own military was still segregated.

On March 23, 1945, while scouting with his platoon, the tank that was carrying Carter was hit by bazooka fire. Carter quickly dismounted,confronted his superior officer and asked to go across and examine a nearby open field, where he noticed a mortar crew and 2 machine gun nests. The officer first told him no, due to his rank. Carter replied that he held the rank of staff sergeant before going to the frontlines.

Carter entered the open field with three other African American troops. In the field, Carter was able to get a better view of the situation. He told his troops to run back and that he will continue forward. Two of his troops were killed and one was severely wounded. Carter continued deeper into the open field alone. He was wounded five times before taking cover. As eight German soldiers scan the field in an attempt to capture Carter, he sprung up and killed six Germans and captured two. While limping and using the two captured Germans as a shield, he was able to interrogate them. The Germans gave Carter valuable information on enemy-troop positions. For this Carter was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. He was also awarded the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, American Defense Service Medal, Combat Infantry Badge, and many other citations and awards.

In 1949 Edward Carter tried to re-enlist in the Army. Due to unfounded allegations, as a result of his time serving with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, he was denied. They believed that he had communist contacts and allegiances. Carter died of lung cancer on January 30, 1963, attributed to shrapnel remaining in his neck. He was 47 years old. He was buried in Sawtelle National Cemetery in Los Angeles.

In 1992, John Shannon, Secretary of the Army, commissioned an independent study to identify unrecognized African American heroes from World War II. The study was completed in 1996, under the name “The Exclusion of Black Soldiers from the Medal of Honor in World War II.” On January 13, 1997, SSgt Edward Allen Carter, Jr’s Distinguished Service Cross was upgraded to the Medal of Honor by President Bill Clinton at a White House ceremony. SSgt Carter’s body was exhumed and relocated to Arlington National Cemetery, where he was laid to rest with full honors.

As part of the new Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture, there is a hall dedicated to the many African Americans who served in the American armed forces from the American Revolution to current War on Terror. There is a section dedicated to African Americans who were awarded the Medal of Honor. On your next trip to Washington, DC, we recommend that you a make a stop at the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture. If you bring your Military ID, you can skip the line and enter without a reservation.

As the series Medal of Honor grows, it is the hope of the Jewish War Veterans that they include the stories of our Jewish heroes who were awarded this highest honor.

Volume 72. Number 4. Winter 2018

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Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1

Screenshot from film. Photo Credit: HBO.

By Sabrina Fine, Communications Intern

Crisis Hotline: Veteran Press 1 is a HBO documentary film in association with Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) that chronicles veteran crisis line counselors.   It gives insight to day and night conversations with veterans on the verge of suicide or having suicidal thoughts.   The only Veterans Crisis Line (VCL) Center is in Canandaigua, New York.

The documentary produced by Dana Perry and directed by Ellen Goosenberg Kent is both educational and tear-jerking.  The fact that 22 veterans take their own life each day makes the counselor’s job matters of life and death.  The counselors are at the frontline of the battle of saving veterans from suicide.  VCL counselors are seen in the opening of the documentary with either hands pressed against their foreheads or stoic and professional as they recite words such as “I know you said you have a knife nearby you. Do you agree to not use that knife while I put you on hold?”  Another counselor says “putting a gun in your mouth is not an option we want to discuss today, sir.”  The call center receives more than 22,000 calls a month.

“You have five children, you have a wife and you have a lot to live for,” says one counselor named Darlene. Her voice is calm, but her eyes are fearful as she speaks with a former Marine who says he is a weapon to himself and suffers from recurring nightmares and having flashbacks.   “I am not going to leave you; I am not going to go anyway.”  Eventually a wellness check is sent to his home and Darlene briefly speaks with the Marine’s wife before she is abruptly hung up on.

The documentary is hard to watch yet it feels like a significant insight to the extreme suffering that some veterans feel.   To fully comprehend the documentary, you can watch it on HBO.  JWV supports IAVA in their continued campaigns that battle the veteran suicide rates.

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EICHMANN CAPTURED! TRIED! EXECUTED! Operation Finale Film Review

Ben Kinsley Playing Adolf Eichmann, Photo Credit – MGM Pictues

By Harrison Heller, Membership Coordinator

WASHINGTON – On June 1, 1962 Adolf Eichmann was hanged in Ramla, Israel. His body was later cremated, and his ashes were spread at sea, so there would be no memorial. But how did this happen? How did a Nazi get to Israel to be tried by the people he so wanted to destroy? The film Operation Finale tells this incredible story.

To understand the film, you must understand Eichmann’s past and how he got to Argentina. Eichmann was born in Germany on Mach 19, 1906 to a blue-collar family. Eichmann was not the strongest student while attending school, so he eventually dropped-out and began working in his father’s mining company in Austria. In 1932 he joined the Nazi Party and the SS, where he rapidly rose through the ranks.

In 1933, Eichmann was recalled to Germany where he was appointed the head of the Department of Jewish Affairs. His primary focus was emigration, he arranged for Jews to leave Germany and the German Reich. To ensure this, he finalized the “taxes” that the Jews and their families had to pay. This money went straight into his pocket. In September 1939, he drew up the plans for the organized ghettos across the major cities of Europe. His hopes were to build a Jewish reservation in Far East Russia and in Madagascar. He wanted to have the main transportation center in Nisko (southeast Poland). These plans were to never be carried out.

From The Jewish Veteran in December 1960.

After the invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, representatives from several Nazi government ministries arrived for a meeting, known as the Wannsee Conference on January 20, 1942. Reinhard Heydrich and his new lieutenant, Adolf Eichmann, shared their new plan for solving the “Jewish problem”. They laid out their plans for “The Final Solution”, organized railroads that lead to extermination camps, where death was manufactured. Eichmann was credited for designing the railway network and gas chambers. He noted that the gas chambers would make it easier for the troops to carry out their “orders” of mass murder. At the height of the Holocaust, the commandant of Auschwitz-Birkenau said, “He was sending more human freight than I can kill.”

May 1945, World War II was over. Eichmann was captured by American forces. Using forged documents, he went under the identity of Otto Eckmann. Realizing that SS officers had tattoos under their arms, he had his forcibly removed before escaping. He fled to Austria where he hid in relative safety for five years, before fleeing to Argentina. 1950’s Argentina was a safe haven for many Nazi war criminals, due to the fascist sympathetic government of President Juan Perón. (1997: a DAIA, Delegación de Asociaciones Israelitas Argentinas, investigation discovers 22,000 documents that proves a “network” managed by Rodolfo Freude, advisor to the President. Freude had an office in the Casa Rosada (the President’s official residence) and was close to Eva Perón’s (Evita) brother, Juan Duarte). Operation Finale picks-up ten years after Eichmann’s arrival in Buenos Aires.

Sightings of Eichmann in Argentina began as early as 1958. Messages were being sent to Mossad, and they were being paid very little attention to, as Mossad was paying more attention to future matters. As more sightings came in, they saw the urgency to capture the fugitive war criminal. In May 1960, a plan was hatched to smuggle Eichmann out of Argentina. Israel knew going in that the Perón government would not extradite Eichmann for a trial in Israel. Coincidently, this was also the time of Argentina’s 150th anniversary of their revolution against Spain. Tourists were coming in from all over the world. Mossad agents snuck into Buenos Aires and began monitoring Eichmann at his home on Garibaldi Street in San Fernando (about 20 miles north of Buenos Aires). They took notes of the neighborhood and his commute to and from his work at a Mercedes-Benz factory. On May 11, the agents posed as stranded tourists with a broken-down car. They see Eichmann exiting a bus and making his way towards them. One of the agents bumps him and asks him for a cigarette. 3 agents tackle Eichmann to the ground and subdue him. Once arriving at a safe house, the Mossad agents ask for his name, and he replies “Roberto Clement”. An agent asks him in German, “Wie heifsen Sie?” Eichmann says, “Ich bin Adolf Eichmann” (“I am Adolf Eichmann”).

The agents had to wait another 9 days before smuggling Eichmann out. During this time, they had to get a sworn statement from him saying that he is willing to stand trial in Israel. On multiple occasions he refused. One of the agents was able to work with Eichmann and got him to sign. Upon signing, they dressed Eichmann up in an El-Al pilot’s uniform and drugged him, to appear drunk after a night out in Buenos Aires. On May 23, 1960, Prime Minister David Ben Gurion announces to the world that Israel has captured Adolf Eichmann.

April 11, 1961 the trial of Adolf Eichmann begins, and becomes the first trial to be televised in history. He was charged with 15 crimes, which include: crimes against humanity, crimes against the Jewish people, and various war crimes. On December 15 he was found guilty on all counts and was sentenced to death. On May 31, 1962 Eichmann was hanged and cremated in a custom oven. His ashes were thrown to sea.

Operation Finale was a great film. There are some parts of the story where Hollywood took their liberties, but it was to help the pacing of the film. The film features a great young actor in Oscar Isaac and comedian Nick Kroll. Sir Ben Kingsley picks up the roll of Adolf Eichmann. Kingsley, known for such roles as Ghandi, Otto Frank, Yitzhak Stern, tells the Associated Press, “… didn’t portray Adolf Eichmann out of love or admiration. Rather, he wanted to ‘nail him to the gates of Auschwitz.’”

Volume 72. Number 3. Fall 2018

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Infinity War and the Jewish Military Hero that Made It All Possible

By Harrison Heller, Membership Coordinator

It has been ten years since the start of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which puts together the world’s mightiest superheroes. It all began with the introduction of Iron Man and now has culminated with the largest collection of superheroes on the big screen.  It was definitely worth the wait.

One of the founders of Marvel Comics, Jack Kirby, is considered to be “The King of Comics,” and he created a lot of the characters that fans have come to admire. However, most people do not know about Kirby’s Jewish military past:

Kirby was born Jacob Kurtzberg in 1917 to Austrian Jewish immigrants.  Growing up during the Great Depression on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Kirby’s life was rough to say the least.  Street fights were common, but he found relief in reading the colorful pages of comic books.  He was also a gifted storyteller by all accounts, which is probably something he got from listening to his parent’s stories growing up.  He had all the makings of a great comic book creator.

After a few stints drawing comic strips for newspapers, Kirby finally landed a big-time job at Timely Comics, which would eventually turn into the Marvel Comics we have all come to love.  At Timely, Kirby was already rolling up his sleeves and fighting with American Nazis that came to the building looking for Jews to beat up.  This fighting spirit of his carried over to his work.  On the first cover of Captain America, “Cap” is punching Hitler right in the face.  Throughout the early issues of Captain America, you can see Cap fighting time and time again with Hitler as the central villain.

On June 7, 1943, Jack Kirby was called away from the drawing board and drafted into the Army to fight Hitler off the page.  After doing his time in basic training, Kirby was sent to Europe on the front lines.  On arriving there, Kirby’s Lieutenant learned who he was, and he asked Kirby if he was the creator of Captain America.  Kirby enthusiastically responded “Yes sir. I drew Captain America,” and he made Kirby a Scout on the spot, telling him “You go into these towns that we don’t have and see if there is anybody there. Draw maps and pictures of what you see and come back and tell us if you find anything.”

His time overseas deeply affected him.  Being a scout, Kirby saw the worst humanity had to offer.  The time that affected him the most was his experience liberating a concentration camp.  Kirby recalled, “There were mostly women and some men; they looked like they hadn’t eaten for I don’t know how long. They were scrawny. Their clothes were all tattered and dirty. The Germans didn’t give a s*** for anything. They just left the place; just like leaving a dog behind to starve. I was standing there for a long time just watching thinking to myself, ‘What do I do?’ Just thinking about it makes my stomach turn. All I could say was, ‘Oh, God.’”

There are various rumors on whether this was the actual occasion that Kirby finally punched a Nazi in the face.  What is known is that you can see the themes fascism and the Holocaust throughout his works.  One great example of this influence is in the X-Men character Magneto.  Magneto’s origins as a Holocaust survivor as well as the civil rights issues his character presents throughout the series clearly came from Kirby’s experiences during World War II.  Most of his villains embody some sort of fascism and are hell-bent on “perfecting” this world at whatever cost, which brings us back to Infinity War.

Avengers: Infinity War was released April 27, 2018 to huge fanfare. The film tells the story of Thanos and his quest for the Infinity Stones, six stones that date back to the creation of the universe. The stones include the Space Stone, Time Stone, Soul Stone, Power Stone, Mind Stone, and Reality Stone. If Thanos collects all six stones, he has the power to eliminate half of the life in the universe with a snap of his fingers. He believes that this plan will lead to a higher quality of life for those who survived.

The movie starts off with the members of the Avengers divided, due to the events of the film Captain America: Civil War (currently available on Netflix). When the Black Order arrives and attempts to collect the Mind Stone from Vision and the Time Stone from Dr. Strange, the Avengers unite to take on Thanos and his army. The film concludes with the Battle of Wakanda where Thanos collects the sixth and final Infinity Stone, the Mind Stone. Thanos escapes and snaps his fingers. As people are dying, they turn to ash.  Keeping in mind that most the characters featured were created by Jack Kirby, this is just another example of how the themes of the Holocaust and fascism were written into his work.

The film does a phenomenal job of pairing the characters where their personalities work well with one another. You have Captain America, The Winter Soldier, Hulk/Bruce Banner, Black Panther, Scarlet Witch, Vision, and Black Widow in Wakanda, a fictionalized African country. Rocket Racoon and Groot, of The Guardians of the Galaxy, with Thor getting Stormbreaker, Thor’s new hammer. Star Lord, Mantis, and Drax, of The Guardians of the Galaxy, with Iron Man/Tony Stark, Spiderman, and Dr. Strange on Titan preparing for the first encounter with Thanos.

Avengers Infinity War is a must see and is the epitome of a summer blockbuster. When the movie starts, it steps on the gas and never lets up. In honor of the late Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, I give this movie 2 thumbs way up.  Nevertheless, we at the Jewish War Veterans know this movie would have not been possible without Kirby’s Jewish military experiences, and to that, we tip our hat to you Mr. Kirby.

Volume 72. Number 2. Summer 2018

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