Loyal Sons : Jews in the German Army in the Great War / Peter C. Appelbaum.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Appelbaum, Peter C.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Jewish soldiers.

History.

Jews, German.

Germany.

Jewish soldiers / Germany / History / 20th century.

World War, 1914-1918--Participation, Jewish--Anecdotes.

World War, 1914-1918.

Jews, German--History--20th century.

Jewish soldiers--Germany--History--20th century.

Local Subjects:

Jewish soldiers / Germany / History / 20th century.

Genre:

Anecdotes.

Physical Description:

XXV, 347 pages : illustrations ; cm

Place of Publication:

London : Mitchell, 2014.

Summary:

Loyal Sons describes, for the first time in English, the experiences of Jews in the German army during the First World War. First comes a description of Jews in the armies of Prussia and the other German states from 1813 (when they were first allowed to serve) through the three Bismarckian wars. During the Great War 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. About 35,000 were decorated. 23,000 promoted, and more than 2,000 became officers. The book traces the effect of the outbreak of war on the Jews of Germany. Excerpted diaries and memoirs of soldiers from all ranks of the army describe their war experiences on the Western, Eastern, Balkan and Ottoman Fronts, impressions of other nationalities, and their varied feelings about anti-Semitism in the army. The experiences of those Jews who played a significant part in the nascent Luftwaffe are also provided. Rich annotation provides historiographical as well as religious and other details, and in the process a look inside the vanished world of Eastern European Jewry is provided by soldiers serving there. The chapter on the German medical corps is particularly interesting (being written from a medical perspective), as is the extensive analysis of the Judenzählung (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 those veterans. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Jews in the German Military 1813-1914: Patriotism, Discrimination and Disappointment 1

2 In the Beginning: Mobilization and German-Jewish Attitudes 47

3 Julius Marx versus Herbert Sulzbach: Two Opposing Views of the War 57

4 Other Snapshots from the Front: Diaries and Memoirs 111

5 Jews in the First World War German Medical Corps 159

6 Flyboys: Jewish Knights of the Air 207

7 The Judenzählung of 1916: A Seminal Event 239

8 The End: Analysis and Epilogue 285.

ISBN:

9780853039389

0853039380

OCLC:

892563241

Publisher Number:

99959917620