In March of 2001, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency published two articles about a project to comprehensively identify casualties among American Jewish Soldiers of World War One. Coinciding with what was – at the time – my own newly-begun effort to identity casualties among Jewish soldiers of the British Commonwealth for the Great War, these JTA news items inspired me to embark on a similarly-themed project concerning Jewish soldiers of the United States.
By now, I’ve completed much of this project. But, identifying the names of American Jewish WW I military casualties proved to be vastly more daunting (and even more) than my parallel research concerning British (and Australian, Canadian, Irish, New Zealand, Scottish, South African, Welsh, and more…) Jewish WW I soldiers.
The central challenge was also the most obvious: Compilations and lists of Commonwealth Jewish soldiers of World War One already exist, having been collected and / or published during, and after (and some, decades after) the war. The central sources of these names are wartime issues of The Jewish Chronicle, the British Jewry Book of Honour of 1922, and, the Australian Jewry Book of Honour of 1923.
In a similar way, compilations of names of Jewish military casualties in the WW I militaries of France, Germany, and Italy were likewise created and published in the 20s and 30s. (As for the creation of comprehensive lists of the names of Jewish soldiers, fallen or otherwise, in the militaries of Austria-Hungary and Imperial Russia, well, I suppose that history and other factors have rendered such efforts moot, and, irrelevant.)
Comprehensive compilations of the names of fallen and / or decorated American Jewish soldiers were never published, despite the names, biographical records, and veterans’ recollections of these men having been compiled and preserved. The reasons for this retrospective “gap” in Jewish history are alluded to in my prior post about the topic, and I believe had vastly less to do with the availability of scholars or laymen to embark on such a project, challenges in the analysis and interpretation of a mass of historical information, or finally, the simple physical ability to actually publish such works … than with the collective degree of self-confidence and comfort in the self-identity prevalent in the “American Jewish Community” – whether of leaders or laymen – during the 20s and 30s. (Is anything really that different a century later? I wanted to think so, for a time, but I do no longer.)
To be honest, a measure of this information was eventually published. But, this was limited to comparative statistical studies, and, limited to lists of the names of men who received military awards such as the Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Cross, and Silver Star. The result? This information appeared in both volumes (1934, 1941, and, 1934, 1946) of Sydney G. Gumpertz’s The Jewish Legion of Honor. However, the vastly greater number of men who never received military awards – despite having served; despite having been casualties – never appeared in print.
Well, in time, there was one exception to this: In the early 2000s (I think it was the early 2000s…!) the Center For Jewish History made available online the names of men recorded in this research. (Unfortunately, I didn’t record the URL!) This list was limited to a soldier’s first and last names and middle initial; no other information appeared. I think (? – !) these names were actually those acquired by the American Jewish Committee – Office of Jewish War Records, 1918-1921.
So, even if tantalizingly incomplete, that CJA list served as a solid foundation for further research into this topic. And, I looked into it…
My first effort centered around correlating these names to 1) Names listed in records in “Casualties of the AEF By State – World War One” – “WW I Organization Records Office File” at the United States National Archives, in Records Group RG 407, and, 2) names listed in Haulsee, Howe, and Doyle’s Soldiers of the Great War – Memorial Edition. I then matched these names to published compilations of biographical records for a few specific states (well, those compilations that I could find or that at least exist: for Connecticut, Indiana, Maryland, New York, and Ohio) to find further information about these men.
This research eventually led to Ancestry.com (this isn’t a plug for Ancestry, it’s simply the way things worked out!) which in its “Military” category enables access to scans of “Abstract of Military Service” / “Form No, 724-7, A.G.O.” [A.G.O. = Adjutant General’s Office] cards, which were published or standardized on November 22, 1919. These cards provided a standardized format by which information about a soldier’s military service was recorded. (You can read about them here.)
Data fields in these cards comprise:
Name (Surname and Given Name)
Serial / Service Number
Race
Place and date of enlistment or induction
Place of Birth
Age (usually) or Date of Birth (much less often)
Service Organization(s) with Assignment Dates and Transfers
Rank (Grade) with Date of Appointment
Engagements
Whether Wounded in Action (how badly), Killed in Action, or Died of Wounds / Illness (date listed in each case, including for multiple wounds)
Name and address of Next of Kin, or Emergency Contact
Overseas Service Dates
Discharge / Separation Date and Information
Degree of Disability at Discharge
Given the format and content of the information presented in the five above-listed state compilations, I believe the cards were source of information used in the creation of published works covering Connecticut, Indiana, Maryland, New York, and Ohio.
At Ancestry, scans of Abstract cards can be directly accessed for Georgia, New York, Pennsylvania, and Utah, while for other states (such Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, and New Jersey) they can be accessed via websites maintained by those states’ historical or archival agencies.
The Abstract Cards for New York and Pennsylvania are particularly interesting, in that they reveal that a soldier’s casualty status was indicated by the color of the card itself. A pale yellow-orange or tan card indicates a soldier who died in service or was killed in action, while information about wounded or injured soldiers is recorded on gray-ish cards.
Paralleling the Abstract Cards are two other primary sources of information, accessible through Ancestry.com and Fold3.com. These are U.S. World War I Draft Registration Cards for 1917 to 1918, and, U.S. Army Transport Service Arriving and Departing Passenger Lists for 1910 to 1939.
Though Draft Registration Cards by nature don’t include information about a soldier’s military service, they’re utterly invaluable in having genealogical information such as place and date of birth, addresses of residence and employment (at least, on the date when the soon-to-be soldier filled out the card), and trade or profession. The ubiquity and number of these cards (How many are there? – I don’t know!), a “strength” as it were, can renders them an ambiguous sources of information: Some information on them, such as place and date of birth, and residential address, doesn’t necessarily correlate to such information recorded on the Abstract Cards. They don’t typically include the names (names) of a soldier’s next of kin. Also, it’s very easy to find multiple cards with the same listed surname and given name, despite being for entirely different men!
More important for this purpose of this project than the Draft Registration Cards – by far – have been the Transport Service Arriving and Departing Passenger Lists, because the information recorded in these records – a soldier’s military unit, his serial number, residential address, and name of next of kin or emergency contact – has direct and immediate relevance to his military service, and, is central in terms of a soldier’s genealogy and ancestry. (That’s “ancestry” with a small “a”.) It’s been this particular set of documents, when used in conjunction with the CJA soldiers’ name list, that has been really instrumental in identifying Jewish soldiers.
Paralleling this effort (lots of parallels here) was a review of four newspapers – The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Jewish Exponent, and The Jewish Chronicle, the latter of which on rare occasion in 1917 and 1918 include information about Jewish casualties in the United States armed forces.
So, here are the URLs for either historical or archival offices of various states, or, direct links to Ancestry.com, that allow search for Abstract Cards:
Alabama
“World War I Gold Star Database” (Abstract Cards, Photos, and Documents)
California (Ancestry.com: California State Council of Defense. California War History Committee. Records of Californians Who Served in World War I. (Set 2: World War I soldiers deaths.) 18 boxes. California State Library, Sacramento, California. No Abstract Cards, but instead images of newspaper articles.)
Florida
“World War One Service Cards”
Maine (Ancestry.com)
Mississippi
“Mississippi World War I Statement of Service Cards and Indices”
Missouri (Transcribed Data from Abstract Cards)
“Soldiers’ Records: War of 1812 – World War I”
New Jersey
“World War I Deaths: Descriptive Cards, Photographs, and Correspondence”
New Mexico (Ancestry.com: No Abstract cards, but other documents)
North Dakota (Ancestry.com)
Vermont (Ancestry.com: Transcribed Data from Abstract Cards)
And so, what did I find?
In terms of numbers…
…well, while I’ve made a practice at this blog of not listing total numbers of people in “so-and-so” and “such-and-such” category – that becomes tedious, anyway – a comparison of my data from this research, with information released by the American Jewish Committee’s Office of Jewish War Records, in its Third Report, dated 14 November 1920, is revealing. I’ve found that the OJWR’s estimate of 2,800 Jewish war dead is incorrect, and is an overcount of American Jewish servicemen (Army, Navy, and Marine Corps) who lost their lives during the war. However, the total number of casualties I’ve arrived at – comprising soldiers killed in action or died of wounds or illness, plus wounded and survived, plus prisoners of war, – definitely exceeds that above-mentioned OJWR total.
Of interest are the relative proportions of Jewish soldiers serving in the Army and Marine Corps, in terms of men who were casualties (as defined above) … based on place or birth, in terms of country or geographic area. (Ironic that a historical question from 1918 can be so politically and culturally fraught in 2022!)
Running my numbers through Excel reveals that these proportions are, largest to smallest:
Born in the United States: 43%
Born in Belorussia, Russia, and Ukraine (I haven’t disambiguated these records, yet…): 36%
Born in Poland: 7%
Born in Romania: 5%
Born in Lithuania: 4%
Born in Austria-Hungary: 3%
And, born in England: 2%
Plus … soldiers born in:
Bulgaria (Pvt. Israel Silverman)
Canada (several)
Cyprus (PFC Moses M. Steinberg)
France, Germany (Privates Nathan Greenbaum, Adolph Katz, and Julius Meyer Lyons)
Latvia (several)
Lithuania (several)
Scotland (Pvt. Robert E. Ognall)
Sweden (Pvt. Einar Skud)
Turkey (Pvt. Raoul Gerson)
and the Yishuv (Pvt. Ruben Cohen).
Well, being that people are neither “data” nor “percentages”, one way to view this mass of information is to focus on casualties incurred on a single day of battle; a day which by its symbolism and historical significance reflects the sad irony of the Great War, and in effect, all wars:
The day the war ended.
Armistice Day.
The 11th of November, 1918.
The fact that hostilities were to cease on 11 A.M. on November 11 did not at all preclude casualties in the armies of either the Allies or Germany from occurring prior to that moment, as exemplified by the death of Sergeant Henry N. Gunther, of Baltimore, who was killed at 10:59 A.M., one minute before the Armistice was to have gone into effect.
The names of Jewish casualties in the United States Army for the same day, killed and wounded, are listed below. Particularly poignant is the story of thirty year old Jesse Steinthal of Manhattan, concerning whom an illustrated article appeared in the New York Tribune exactly two years and one day before he fell in battle. Well, actually, they’re all poignant each in their own way, Jesse Steinthal’s story moreso – for the purposes of this post – simply because of the fortuitous availability of more-than-usual information about him.
Of course, there inevitably were casualties in the German Army that day as well. In that regard, identifying Jewish casualties in the Deutsches Heer for day was quite straightforward: the names of these men are easily identified in Die Jüdischen Gefallenen Des Deutschen Heeres, Deutschen Marine Und Der Deutschen Schutztruppen 1914-1918 – Ein Gedenkbuch.
Among them is Soldat Herman Tichauer, age forty-five.
Among them is Leutenant Alfred Emil Stettiner, age thirty-seven.
Among them is Sergeant Ernest Schild of Duisberg, an aviator in Schlachtstaffel 5, about whom I’ve been unable to find any further information … though there is a discussion at TheAerodrome which would imply that he was a crew member of a Hannover CL.III aircraft. His name doesn’t appear in Casualties of the German Air Service 1914-1920, and, there is no account of the shooting down of a Hannover in The Sky Their Battlefield.
____________________
In any event…
…given the centrality of Abstract cards to this project, some examples of these documents follow below, all for dates other than November 11, 1918, accompanied by information derived from the card, and, other sources. (This follows the format I’ve been using for records about WW II servicemen.) I’ve made a point of illustrating Abstract cards showing different places of birth: Austria, England, Poland, Russia, the United States, Ukraine, and the Yishuv. Also shown are other documents, and, a few photographs.
And so:
Berman, Benjamin, Pvt., 305,589
Born in Russia: “Rottadum” (?), February 27, 1895
4th Marine Brigade, 6th Marine Regiment, attached to 2nd Infantry Division, US Army
Killed in action September 15, 1918, at Chateau Thierry
Mr. and Mrs. Jacob and Anna Berman (parents), 548 West Pike St. / 2413 North Hollywood St., Philadelphia, Pa.
Tablets of the Missing at Saint Mihiel American Cemetery, Thiaucourt, France
Matzeva (symbolic?) at Mount Sharon Cemetery, Springfield, Pa.
Philadelphia Inquirer Casualty List – October 12, 1918
Name not in Center for Jewish History list.
_____
Private Berman’s symbolic matzeva.
_____
Sixteen years later: The Veteran’s Compensation Application for Private Berman, completed by Jacob and Anna in March of 1934.
__________
Louis Gottes Bernheimer, 1st Lieutenant, Reconnaissance Pilot
Born in the United States: New York, N.Y. – December 5, 1895
United States Army Air Service, 88th Observation Squadron
Survived: Awards included Distinguished Service Cross (for actions on August 11, 1918), Silver Star, and Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster
Mr. and Mrs. Sydney (3/24/75-2/13/70) and Fannie (“Gattis”) (7/16/69-10/6/38) Bernheimer (parents), Leona C. (sister) (5/2/91-_____), 138 East 72nd Street, New York, N.Y.
Yale University Graduate – Class of 1917
Died January 10, 1930, Los Angeles, Ca.
Buried at Salem Fields Cemetery, Brooklyn, N.Y.
The Jewish Legion of Valor – 255
New York Sun January 14, 1930
BERNHEIMER, LOUIS G. (First Award)
First Lieutenant (Air Service), U.S. Army
Pilot, 88th Aero Squadron, Air Service, A.E.F.
Date of Action: August 11, 1918
Citation: The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Louis G. Bernheimer, First Lieutenant (Air Service), U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in action near Fismes, France, August 11, 1918. Together with John W. Jordan, Second Lieutenant, 7th Field Artillery; Observer (severely wounded);
Roger Wolcott Hitchcock, Second Lieutenant, Pilot (uninjured)
and James S.D. Burns, Second Lieutenant, Observer, 101st Field Artillery (KIA)
(control surfaces shot up, but returned);
Philip R. Babcock, First Lieutenant, Pilot (uninjured)
and Joseph A. Palmer, Second Lieutenant, Observer, 15th Field Artillery (uninjured)
Joel H. McClendon, First Lieutenant, Pilot (KIA)
and Charles W. Plummer, Second Lieutenant, Observer, 101st Field Artillery (KIA)
(shot down by Oberleutnant Rittmeister Karl Bolle of Jasta 2; crashed at Ville Savoye)
all attached to the same squadron. Under the protection of three pursuit planes, all carrying a pilot and observer, Lieutenants Bernheimer and Jordan, in charge of a photo plane, carried out successfully a hazardous photographic mission over the enemy’s lines to the River Aisne. The four American ships were attacked by 12 enemy battle planes. [Fokker DVIIs] Lieutenant Bernheimer, by coolly and skillfully maneuvering his ship, and Lieutenant Jordan, by accurate operation of his machine gun, in spite of wounds in the shoulder and leg, aided materially in the victory which came to the American ships, and returned safely with 36 valuable photographs. The pursuit plane operated by Lieutenants Hitchcock and Burns was disabled while these two officers were fighting effectively. Lieutenant Burns was mortally wounded and his body jammed the controls. After a headlong fall of 2,500 meters, Lieutenant Hitchcock succeeded in regaining control of this plane and piloted it back to the airdrome. Lieutenants McClendon and Plummer were shot down and killed after a vigorous combat with five of the enemy planes. Lieutenants Babcock and Palmer, by gallant and skillful fighting, aided in driving off the German planes and were materially responsible for the successful execution of the photographic mission.
General Orders No. 44, W.D., 1919
Birth: New York, NY
Home Town: New York, NY
Other Award: Distinguished Service Cross w/OLC (WWI)
_____
Members of the 88th Observation Squadron stand before one of their squadron’s French designed and built Salmson 2 A.2 reconnaissance planes, in this photo from the flickr photostream of the SDASM (San Diego Air And Space Museum) Archives. In the photo Lt. Bernheimer is four from left in the front row. His observer / gunner on the August 11, 1918 mission, Lt. Jordan, is standing in the plane’s observer’s seat next to twin Lewis guns. Lt. Babcock, one of the pilots in that mission, is second from left in the front row. The names of all the men in the photo are listed here.
_____
Lieutenant Bernheimer died in California on January 10, 1930, at the age of thirty-five. His obituary, which by virtue of its calculated vagueness hints at a very sad conclusion, appeared in The New York Sun four days later. Assuming that he actually was a playwright, none of his writings – if such still exist – can be found at Worldcat, with the exception of an altogether different sort of work, “The trial of Sacco and Vanzetti: A summary of the outstanding testimony”.
LOUIS G. BERNHEIMER
The New York Sun
January 14, 1930
Private funeral services will be held here for Louis G. Bernheimer, 35 years old, well known author, who died in Los Angeles, Cal., on Friday. During the world war Mr. Bernheimer, a member of the air force, was decorated with the Distinguished Service Cross with oak leaf cluster for bravery in action. He was also made Chevalier, Belgian Order of the Crown, by King Albert.
Mr. Bernheimer was born in this city and when here lived with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Bernheimer, at 138 East Seventy-Second Street. He was graduated from Yale in 1917 and entered the first officer’s training camp at Plattsburg. He later joined the air service and went abroad in November, 1917, with the first American air unit. He was commissioned a first lieutenant in January, 1918, and the following month was made flight commander of the Eighty-Eighth Aero Squadron.
Since the war Mr. Bernheimer had devoted most of his time to writing plays. He is survived by his parents and a sister, Miss Leona Bernheimer.
__________
Ruben Cohen, Pvt., 250,447
Born in the Yishuv: Jerusalem – January 8, 1896
United States Army, B Company, 6th Battalion, 20th Engineer Regiment
Killed: Died in sinking of USS Tuscania on February 5, 1918
Mr. Allen Cohen (father), 199 Christopher Ave., Brooklyn, N.Y.
(Also 186 Henry Street, New York, N.Y.)
Tablets of the Missing at Brookwood American Cemetery, Woking, England
Soldiers of the Great War – Not Listed
Name in Center for Jewish History list
__________
Morris Kriderman, Pvt., 3,110,427
Born in Ukraine: City of Slavuta, Khmelnitskiy district, Western Ukraine – March 29, 1895 (See Slavuta, and, Jews of Ukraine)
United States Army, D Company, 315th Infantry Regiment, 79th Infantry Division
Killed in Action November 5, 1918
Mr. Morris Miller (uncle), 3129 Morse St., Philadelphia, Pa.
Mount Lebanon Cemetery, Collingdale, Pa. – Section I, Lot 3189, Grave 2; Buried September 25, 1921
Philadelphia Inquirer Casualty Lists – December 17, 1918 and January 15, 1919
Soldiers of the Great War, Volume III – 146
Name in Center for Jewish History list
Here is Morris’ matzeva, at Mount Lebanon Cemetery in Collingdale, Pa. He was buried on September 25, 1921. Did his parents or any siblings, probably all still in Ukraine at the time of his death, ever emigrate to the United States and have the chance to visit his grave?
__________
Max Masey, Pvt., 2,337,430
Born in Poland: Bialystok – March 13, 1892
United States Army: K Company, 4th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division
Survived: Wounded in Action July 15 and October 1, 1918
Mr. Abraham Masey (father), 108 Forsyth St., New York, N.Y.
__________
Nathan Theodore Nesselson (Nathan Tobiah; “Nate”), Pvt., 1,247,301
Born in United States: Bradford, Pa. – August 31, 1893
Killed in Action: Distinguished Service Cross for actions on August 11, 1918
C Company, 112th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division
Mr. and Mrs. Max (1854-1942) and Bessie Vada (“Ida”) (1862-5/23/98) Nesselson (parents); Miss Etta Helen Nesselson (sister), 5 State St., Bradford, Pa.
Also 72 Kennedy St., Bradford, Pa.
Beth Israel Cemetery, Bradford, Pa.; Buried June, 1921
McKean Democrat June 16, 1921 and May 21, 1925
Bradford Era, November 7, 2020: “Kindness of a child leads to friendship letters with soldier”, by Sally Ryan Costick (see photo below)
Name in Center for Jewish History list
(Only after I created this post did I realize that these records for Pvt. Nesselson, and Lt. Bernheimer, both pertain to August 11, 1918.)
From DSC Citation: “Private Nesselson repeatedly exposed himself to heavy enemy fire in order to deliver messages from his company to the battalion commander. In the performance of this mission it was necessary for him to cross the Vesle River, which was constantly swept by enemy machine-gun fire. He volunteered to carry a message after others had been killed in the attempt and continued to perform this perilous duty until he was mortally wounded.”
From “Missing Report or Details of Death & Burial” card (see below): “It is not exactly known just where Private Nesselson was killed, but the above named [Pvt. Clayton D. Roche] was present when he ran several messages through a terrific machine gun and artillery barrage from Fismette to battalion headquarters at Fismes on August 11th. To deliver and return with these messages he had to cross the Vesle River, the bridge over which, was covered by enemy machine gun fire and the bullets of snipers. Private Nesselson was aware of this and volunteered to deliver the messages. He made two trips that Private Roche knows of and it is presumed that he was struck by a shell. If anyone in any fighting division deserves a D.S.C. Private Nesselson is entitled to one. All soldiers in this company who were in Fismette that day agree to this.”
__________
Israel Rosenberg, Pvt., 2,337,493
Born in England: London – June 2, 1895
United States Army, Headquarters Company, 4th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division
Survived: Wounded in Action July 27 and October 9, 1918
Mrs. Mary Rosenberg (mother), 941 Simpson St., New York, N.Y.
__________
Max Seller, Pvt., 52,861
Born in Austria: Lemberg (…or, Lviv? (Ukrainian), Lvov?? (Russian), or Lwow??? (Polish)…) – 1896
United States Army: B Company, 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division
Survived: Wounded May 26 and September 30, 1918
Mrs. Rose Gluck (sister), 43 West 212th St., New York, N.Y.
____________________
And so, on Armistice Day…
Monday, November 11, 1918
7 Kislev, 5679
.ת.נ.צ.ב.ה.
Tehé Nafshó Tzrurá Bitzrór Haḥayím
May his soul be bound up in the bond of everlasting life.
Killed in Action or Died of Wounds
Altman, Henry, Cpl., 2,255,240
4th Infantry Division, 39th Infantry Regiment, Headquarters Company
Mr. and Mrs. Louis (6/55-3/22/18) and Catherine (“Carrie”) (Lobel) (3/60-11/15/32) Altman (parents)
Emma, Esther, Ira, Joseph, Mark, and Minnie (brothers and sisters)
324 15th Ave., San Francisco, Ca.
Born San Francisco, Ca., 8/1/86
Hills of Eternity Memorial Park, Colma, Ca.
San Francisco Bulletin 12/31/18
San Francisco Call 12/30/18
San Francisco Examiner 12/31/18
Soldiers of the Great War, Volume I – 139
This image of Cpl. Altman’s simple matzeva is by FindAGrave contributor Diane Reich.
____________________
Bloom, Louis, Cpl., 1,697,870
77th Infantry Division, 305th Infantry Regiment, G Company
Mr. and Mrs. Samuel and Mollie (Silverman) (1857-4/7/35) Bloom (parents)
Charles, Harry, Oscar, and Sara (brothers and sister)
230 Riverside Drive, New York, N.Y.
Born New York, N.Y., 4/15/95
Washington Cemetery, Brooklyn, N.Y. – Cemetery 1, Range 7, Plot 72, Row 1, Grave 2; Buried 3/23/21
Soldiers of the Great War, Volume II – 343
The photographer and nature of the occasion are unknown, but this image from FindAGrave, by contributor ColtonlThomas, shows Cpl. Bloom.
____________________
Lipsky, Abraham, PFC, 1,025,275
7th Infantry Division, 34th Infantry Regiment, D Company
Died of Disease / Died of Disease or Other Causes
Mr. and Mrs. David and Katherine Lipsky (parents)
Bessie, Esther, Eva, and Lena (sisters)
459 Washington St., Haverhill, Ma.
Born Massachusetts, 5/13/98
Place of burial unknown
Soldiers of the Great War, Volume II – 35
____________________
Steinthal, Jesse, Pvt., 3,209,817
81st Infantry Division, 321st Infantry Regiment, K Company
Mr. and Mrs. Raphael and Rosalie Steinthal (parents), 697 West End Ave., New York, N.Y.
Born New York, N.Y., 2/16/88
Mount Neboh Cemetery, Glendale, N.Y. – Buried 1921
New York Tribune 11/10/16, 12/9/18, 12/8/19
The Argus 12/12/18
Soldiers of the Great War, Volume II – 356
Two years and one day before the last battle: This remarkable sketch of Jesse Steinthal and his business partner A.F. Windeler, manager (butcher) and grocer at of the Volunteer Food Market at 573 8th Avenue in Manhattan, accompanies an article about retail grocers that appeared in the New York Tribune on November 10, 1916. (Accessed via FultonHistory.) The “A.F. Windeler” mentioned in the article might be Adolph Francis Windeler, who was born in 1856 and died in California in 1941.
Dated June 5, 1917, this is Jesse’s Draft Registration Card.
The intersection of the past and the present: This Oogle Street View from June of 2019 shows the then (relatively) contemporary appearance of 573 Eighth Avenue in New York City, the location now being the site of five adjacent restaurant / take-out establishments. Perusing the web reveals that as of early 2021, the WOK TO WALK restaurant no longer exists at this location. Given that the adjacent and nearby buildings are all multi-story structures (like the Manhattan Hotel at 273 West 38th Street, and, the building directly behind the cluster of five restaurants, while 573 Eight Avenue is a one or two-story building, it seems (?) that the building which housed Jesse Steinthal’s Volunteer Market was demolished in the century between 1916 and 2019.
What will be here a century from now?
This map shows the location of the above intersection, designated by Oogle’s ironic red pointer.
Jesse Steinthal’s simple matzeva at Mount Neboh Cemetery, and, a memorial plaque in his honor, in images by FindAGrave contributor Athanatos.
Died of Wounds
Stern, Jacob, Pvt., 1,704,872
77th Infantry Division, 307th Infantry Regiment, B Company
Mr. Harry Stern (father), 284 East Second St., New York, N.Y.
Also 432 East Houston St., New York, N.Y.
Born Kaspar, Hungary, 1888
Oise-Aisne American Cemetery, Seringes-et-Nesles, France – Plot C, Row 4, Grave 19
Soldiers of the Great War, Volume II – 370
____________________
Vogel, William, Jr., Cpl., 45,695
1st Infantry Division, 18th Infantry Regiment, Machine Gun Company
DOW
Mr. Adolph Vogel (father), 2319 West Taylor St., Chicago, Il.
Also 1439 North Clark St., Chicago, Il.
Born Chicago, Il., 11/18/86
Place of burial unknown; Buried 7/21
Soldiers of the Great War, Volume I – 284
Wounded in Action
Berger, Simon, Pvt., 2,388,750
5th Infantry Division, 61st Infantry Regiment, M Company
Wounded in Action (“shrapnel wound in back of left ear”)
Mrs. Rose (Greenspan) Berger (wife), Clara and Faiga (daughters), 2345 North 26th St., Philadelphia, Pa.
Mr. and Mrs. Joan and Faiga Berger (parents) and Mr. John G. Berger (brother), 2200 Cantrell St., Philadelphia, Pa.
Born “Dombrovan”, Russia, 1/3/92
Philadelphia Inquirer 12/9/18
____________________
Friedman, Abe, Pvt., 2,314,061
28th Infantry Division, 110th Infantry Regiment, C Company
Wounded in Action (Seriously wounded previously, on 10/18/18)
Mrs. Maxine Friedman (wife), Frances and Morton (daughter and son), 4139 Delevan St., Pittsburgh, Pa.
Mrs. Rachel Friedman (mother), 2620 Center Ave., Pittsburgh, Pa.
Born “Bashygolie” / “Bashygoin”, Russia, 4/5/92
Philadelphia Inquirer 10/31/18
____________________
Gershawitz, Abraham J., Pvt., 2,674,265
90th Infantry Division, 357th Infantry Regiment, H Company
Severely wounded in action
Mrs. Rosie Liss (sister), 20 High St., New London, Ct.
Also 67 Blackhall St., New London, Ct.
Born “Peresaska”, Russia, 1890
____________________
Gershowitz, Sam, Saddler, 2,672,037
78th Infantry Division, 308th Field Artillery Regiment, D Battery
Severely wounded in action
Mrs. Fannie / Jennie Braverman (sister), 12 Spring St., Montclair, N.J.
Also 71 Norfolk St., New York, N.Y.
Born “Navelduc”, Russia; 1895
____________________
Hershcovitz, Jacob, Pvt., 1,897,719
82nd Infantry Division, 326th Infantry Regiment, B Company
Severely wounded in action; Severely wounded in action previously; approximately 10/10/18
Mr. Samuel Hershcovitz (brother), 144 Forsyth St., New York, N.Y.
Mr. Leon Hershcovitz (brother), 63 Poplar St., Jersey City, N.J.
Born Romania, 8/23/88
Died 2/7/62
____________________
Kaplan, Barnet, Pvt., 547,873
3rd Infantry Division, 30th Infantry Regiment, K Company
Severely wounded in action; Severely wounded in action previously; approximately 7/15/18
Mr. Sam Kaplan (brother), 326 Washington Ave., New York, N.Y.
Also 307 Dumont Ave., Brooklyn, N.Y.
Born Minsk, Belarus, 3/14/89
____________________
Nadler, Abraham, Pvt., 1,698,221
77th Infantry Division, 305th Infantry Regiment, I Company
Severely wounded in action; Severely wounded in action previously; approximately 8/15/18
Mr. David Nadler (cousin), 74 East 99th St., New York, N.Y.
Also 457 Powell St., Brooklyn, N.Y.
Born Galicia, Austria-Hungary, 1888
____________________
Rabinowitz, Israel S., Pvt., 628,762
58th Coast Artillery Corps, D Battery
Severely wounded in action
Mr. Abe Salt (brother in law), 347 Bristol St., Brooklyn, N.Y.
Also 231 Henry St., New York, N.Y.
Born Russia, 1892
Imperial German Army – Deutsches Heer
.ת.נ.צ.ב.ה.
Tehé Nafshó Tzrurá Bitzrór Haḥayím
May his soul be bound up in the bond of everlasting life.
Blumenhein, Artur, Soldat (Pvt.)
Fussartillerie Bataillon 124, 3rd Kompagnie
Died of wounds Krankenhaus Moabit, Berlin
Born 12/28/93, in Berlin
Mrs. Anna (Kohn) Blumenhein (mother), Berlin
Mrs. Emma (Weiszenberg) Blumenhein (step-mother), Oldenburger Strasze 4, Berlin
Judischen Friedhof zu Weissensee, Berlzu, Germany
Bis der Krieg uns lehrt, was der Friede bedeutet – 58
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 133
____________________
Cohn, Gustav, Gefreiter (L/Cpl.)
Infanterie Regiment 352, 2nd Battalion, 7th Kompagnie
Missing
Born 11/9/96, in Beuthen
Resided Beuthen (O.S.)
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 168
____________________
Eis, Philipp, Soldat (Pvt.)
Infanterie Regiment 116, 2nd Battalion, 5th Kompagnie
Born 1/9/98, in Frankfurt am Main
Resided Frankfurt am Main
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 210
____________________
Lewin, Richard Nathan, Sergeant
Wirtsch. Grp. 29 Mil. Kreisant Wilna.
Born 4/13/77, in Dolzig
Resided Dolzig, Provinz Posen
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 378
____________________
Schild, Ernst, Sergeant, Aviator [Flieger]
Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches, Schlachtstaffel 5
Born 9/8/87, in Duisberg
Resided Duisberg
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – Anhang (Appendix) – 403
____________________
Schwabe, Benno, Gebreiter (L/Cpl.)
Infanterie Regiment 171, 1st Battalion, 1st Kompagnie
Born 10/7/92, in Wolfenbuttel
Resided Gottingen
Kriegsgräberstätte in Vladslo (Belgien), Block 9, Grab 1884
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 229
____________________
Stern, Louis, Soldat (Pvt.)
Bayerisch Reserve Infanterie Regiment 15, 2nd Battalion, 7th Kompagnie
Born 6/7/85, in Schwanfeld
Resided Schwanfeld
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 333
____________________
Stettiner, Alfred Emil, Leutnant (2 Lt.)
Landwehr Infanterie Regiment 111, 3rd Bataillon, 9th Kompagnie
Born 1/18/81 (!), in Stuttgart
Resided Stuttgart
Jüdischer Friedhof im Pragfriedhof Stuttgart – First World War Memorial
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 344
____________________
Tichauer, Hermann, Soldat (Pvt.)
Armee Korps XVII, Ersatz Pferdedepot
Born 7/20/73 (!), in Ptakowitz
Mrs. Ernestine Tichauer (wife)
Mr. and Mrs. Lobl and Ernestine Tichauer (parents), Jakob and Lina (brother and sister)
Resided Lublinitz
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen – 277
This image of Soldat Hermann Tichauer appears in his Geni.com biographical profile, maintained by Ronith Rimmel.
Here are Lots of References
News Articles (Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
Uncle Sparks Search for WWI Soldiers (March 14, 2001)
After Learning About His Uncle, Man Compiling List of WWI Soldiers (March 15, 2001)
Books (…Author Listed…)
Franks, Norman, Bailey, Frank, and Duiven, Rick, Casualties of the German Air Service – 1914-1920, Grub Street, London, 1999
Gumpertz, Sydney G., Capt., The Jewish Legion of Valor – The Story of Jewish Heroes in the Wars of the Republic – And a General History of the Military Exploits of the Jews Through the Ages, Sydney G. Gumpertz, New York, N.Y., 1934, 1941
Gumpertz, Sydney G., Capt., The Jewish Legion of Valor – The Story of Americans of the Jewish Faith Who Distinguished Themselves in the Armed Forces in All the Wars of the Republic – And a General History of the Military Exploits of the Jews Through the Ages, Sydney G. Gumpertz, New York, N.Y., 1934, 1946
Hank, Sabine; Simon, Hermann; Gauding, Daniela, Bis der Krieg uns lehrt, was der Friede bedeutet: das Ehrenfeld für die jüdischen Gefallenen des Weltkrieges auf dem Friedhof der Berliner Jüdischen Gemeinde (“Neue Synagoge Berlin-Centrum Judaicum.”; Militärgeschichtliches Forschungsamt, Schriftenreihe des Centrum Judaicum, Bd. 2.), Hentrich & Hentirch, Teetz, Germany, 2004
Haulsee, William Mitchell; Howe, Frank George; Doyle, Alfred Cyril, Soldiers of the Great War – Memorial Edition: Volume I (Alabama through Maryland), Washington, D.C., Soldiers Record Publishing Association, 1920
Haulsee, William Mitchell; Howe, Frank George; Doyle, Alfred Cyril, Soldiers of the Great War – Memorial Edition: Volume II (Massachusetts through Ohio), Washington, D.C., Soldiers Record Publishing Association, 1920
Haulsee, William Mitchell; Howe, Frank George; Doyle, Alfred Cyril, Soldiers of the Great War – Memorial Edition: Volume III (Oklahoma through Wyoming), Washington, D.C., Soldiers Record Publishing Association, 1920
Henshaw, Trevor, The Sky Their Battlefield – Air Fighting and The Complete List of Allied Air Casulties from Enemy Action in the First War, Grub Street, London, 1995
Sinclair, James J., Captain (Compiler), Final Report of the U.S. Military Mission on American Prisoners of War, U.S. Military Mission, Berlin, Germany, August 10th, 1919
Sterner, C. Douglas, U.S. Army Air Service Recipients of the Distinguished Service Cross Awards – World War I, HomeofHeroes.com, P.O. Box 122, Pueblo, Co., 81005, 2006
Books (…No Specific Author…)
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen Des Deutschen Heeres, Deutschen Marine Und Der Deutschen Schutztruppen 1914-1918 – Ein Gedenkbuch, Reichsbund Jüdischer Frontsoldaten, Forward by Dr. Leo Löwenstein, Berlin, Germany, 1932
The War Record of American Jews – First Report of The Office of War Records, American Jewish Committee, January 1, 1919, The American Jewish Committee, New York, N.Y., 1919
Officers and Enlisted Men of the United States Naval Service Who Died During the World War, From April 6, 1917 to November 11, 1918, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1920
The American Jewish Year Book, Jewish Publication Society of America, Philadelphia, Pa.
5676 (9/9/15-9/27/16)
5677 (9/28/16-9/16/17)
5678 (9/17/17-9/6/18)
5679 (9/7/18-9/20/19)
5680 (9/21/19-9/12/20)
State Compilations of Military Casualties
Connecticut: Connecticut Service Records – Men and Women in the Armed Forces of the United States During the World War 1917-1920 (In Three Volumes), Office of the Adjutant General, Hartford, Ct.
Volume I: pp. 1-1152 (Andover – Hartford)
Volume II: pp. 1153-2336 (Hartford – Plainfield)
Volume III: pp. 2337-3017 (Plainfield – Woodstock)
Indiana: Indiana Gold Star Honor Roll 1914-1918, Indiana Historical Commission, Indianapolis, In., 1921
Maryland: Maryland in the World War 1917-1919 – Military and Naval Service Records (In Two Volumes), Maryland War Records Commission, Baltimore, Md., 1933
North Dakota: Roster of the Men and Women Who Served in the Army or Naval Service (including the Marine Corps) of the United States of its Allies from the State of North Dakota in the World War, 1917-1918, Vol. I-IV. Bismarck, ND, USA: Bismarck Tribune Co., 1931
New York: Roll of Honor – Citizens of the State of New York who died while in the service of the United States during the World War (Albany, N.Y., 1922)
New York – Rochester and Monroe Counties: World War Service Record Rochester and Monroe County, N.Y. (In Two Volumes), The City of Rochester, N.Y., 1924
Volume I: Those Who Died for Us
Volume II: Those Who Went Forth to Serve
Ohio: The Official Roster of Ohio Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines in the World War, 1917-18., Columbus, OH, USA: The F.J. Heer Printing Co., 1926 (Digitized data at Ancestry; Digital Access at HathiTrust)
National Archives and Records Administration
Records Group 407 “Casualties of the AEF By State – World War One” – “WW I Organization Records Office File”, Stack 370, Row 25, Compartment 7, Shelf 5 – Entry 10 (UD)
Newspapers
The Jewish Chronicle
The Jewish Exponent
The New York Times
The Philadelphia Inquirer