Loyal Sons

Appelbaum, Peter

During World War I, approximately 100,000 Jews served in the German army, of whom around 80,000 fought on the Front and 12,500 were killed, died, or went missing in action. About 35,000 were decorated, 23,000 promoted, and more than 2,000 became officers. Using excerpted diaries and memoirs of soldiers from all branches of the army, this book describes their war experiences on the Western, Eastern, Balkan, and Ottoman Fronts. It also looks at the impressions of other nationalities and their varied feelings about anti-Semitism in the army. Historiographical details, as well as religious and other details, are provided, and, in the process, a look inside the vanished world of Eastern European Jewry is given by the soldiers who served there. The book also contains an extensive analysis of the Judenzahlung (Jewish census) of October 1916 - a pivotal event in the post-war development of German anti-Semitism. Loyal Sons closes with a few examples of the fate of these veterans, whose Fatherland 'thanked them' for their loyal service less than two decades later with all the horrors of the Holocaust. *** ...Appelbaum's well-written study probes the wide range of experiences of Jewish soldiers, sailors, and airmen on Germany's four different battle fronts in WW I. Recommended. All levels/libraries. -- Choice, Vol. 52, No. 10, June 2015 *** ...an important source of the condition of Jews in Germany, and especially during WWI, presenting their life and thoughts. -- AJL Reviews, May/June 2015 *** Loyal Sons is the first book-length English language account of Jewish soldiers in Kaiser Wilhelm's military. One of the great strengths of the book is that we hear the voices of these men in their own words... -- The NYMAS Review, Summer 2015 *** ...Appelbaum is very good at fleshing out the obscure and forgotten but often quite remarkable human beings whose vivid recollections of barracks life, infantry attacks, and operating rooms he uses to evoke the triumphs and hardships of Jewish service. -- H-Net Reviews in the Humanities & Social Sciences, H-War, October 2015 [Subject: History, Military Studies, Jewish Studies, German Studies, World War I]

382 pages

Copyright: 9/25/2014