Dorot Jewish Division – Excursions in Jewish Military History and Jewish Genealogy

Images From the East: Russian Jewish Soldiers of the First World War, in “The Jewish World”

My post, The World of Soldiers: Images of British Jewish Soldiers in The Jewish World, during the First World War, presents examples of images of soldiers of the British Commonwealth during the First World War that appeared in The Jewish World, a sister publication of The Jewish Chronicle. Though the overwhelming majority of such photographs in the World were of members of Commonwealth Forces, a small but significant number were of other subjects, notably and naturally Jewish soldiers in the armed forces of other Allied nations. First in number among these pictures are images of French Jewish soldiers, while a second, tiny, but notable few are of Jewish soldiers in the army of Imperial Russia.

Six of these photos are shown below.

Significantly, this small group of images date from the early stages of the war; from autumn of 1914 through 1915, with the “last” picture – of prisoner of war Samuel Mlaver – dating from March of 1916. Like most other pictures in the World, these images are captioned; also like most other pictures in the World, neither the photographer’s name nor the source of the image – whether personal or official – is listed.

Though “at six” this sample is rather tiny (!), it seems that the pictures – except for that of the Russian and Turkish border guards – are formal, studio portraits. (Well, this was decades before Brownie cameras and Kodachrome, and a century before the portable electronic panopticons otherwise “smart”-phones.) Perhaps these portraits were provided to the World by family members of these soldiers, who were then citizens of or recently emigrated to England; England; maybe by correspondents of the Chronicle, World, or other news publications or organizations, then stationed in Saint Petersburg.

Like the portraits in The World of Soldiers, I created these images at the New York Public Library, by taking digital SLR photos of 35mm microfilm copies of the World, as viewed through the display screens of reel-to-reel microfilm readers. The quality of the pictures was then enhanced through Photoshopificationology. (Just kidding: Adobe Photoshop.)

The presence of this very small number of images reflects the much larger attention of The Jewish Chronicle, The Jewish World, The Jewish Exponent (Philadelphia, PA), and l’Univers Israelit, towards the experiences of Russian Jewish soldiers, and Eastern European Jewry – particularly that of Poland and Russia – during the Great War. Appearing in these publications especially from from late 1914 through 1916, such topics as the experiences of Jewish soldiers in the armed forces of Imperial Russia; the fate and suffering of Jewish civilians in Poland amidst the ebb and flow of the German and (especially) Russian armies; the military service of recent Jewish immigrants of Russian origin in England, were the topics of not infrequent focus and discussion. Sometimes briefly; sometimes in very great length and detail.

I hope to bring you the full text of these news items (well, those that I’ve discovered) in future posts.

In any event, in the way that “the map is not the territory”; a musical score is not sound; light is not vision, more than the photos as simple images, what about these five men, as people?

Aside from Jacob Dubov (killed in battle), the subsequent life and fate, as it were – to paraphrase Vasiliy S. Grossman – of Bogdanoff, Mlaver, Persitz, and Williamovsky, is unknown.

Did they survive the Great War?

Did they leave Russia during the chaos between 1917 and the consolidation of Soviet power?

Did they remain in the Soviet Union?

Probably in their forties or fifties by June 22, 1941, did they and their families survive the Second World War?

And afterwards…?

All, unknown.

So, on to the photos…

September 9, 1914

September 16, 1914: “On the frontier between Turkish and Russian territory. Both soldiers on guard are Jews.”

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February 17, 1915: “A portrait of the Russian Jewish Volunteer, Bogdanoff, who had been awarded the Order of St. George for bravery.”

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April 28, 1915: “S.R. Persitz, who has been awarded a Military Order for bravery.”

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May 5, 1915: Russo-Jewish Hero: “Jacob Dubov, who received a Russian order for bravery, was killed on the field of battle.”

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June 2, 1915: Head Doctor: “Samuel Williamovsky, who has attained the highest doctor’s rank in the Russian Field Hospitals.”

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March 8, 1916: “Samuel Mlaver, Russian prisoner of war in Wittenberg.

Infantry Against Tanks: A German Jewish Soldier at Cambrai, November, 1917

Stories and depictions of World War One combat, composed both during and after the “Great War”, are abundantly available in print and on the web.

A fascinating source of such accounts – but even moreso a source particularly; poignantly ironic – is the newspaper Der Schild, which was published by the association of German-Jewish war veterans, the “Reichsbundes Jüdischer Frontsoldaten”, from January of 1922 through late 1938, the latter date paralleling the disbandment of the RjF. Der Schild is available as 35mm microfilm at the Dorot Jewish Division of the New York Public Library, and in digital format through Goethe University Frankfurt am Main.

The screen-shot below shows the Goethe University’s catalog entry for Der Schild, which allows for immediate and direct access of the library’s holdings of the newspaper. All years of the publication, with the exception of 1924, are available; all as PDFs.

Of equal (greater?!) importance, accessing digital holdings is as simple as it is intuitive (and easy, too!) In effect and intent, this is a very well designed website! This is shown through this screen-shot, presenting holdings of Der Schild for 1933.

The total digitized holdings of Der Schild in the Goethe University’s collection comprise approximately 530 issues. “Gaps” do exist, with 1922 comprising only four issues (9, 10, 13, and 14) and 1923 comprising three issues (14, 15, and 17). However, holdings for all years commencing with 1925 are – I believe – complete, through the final issue (number 44, published November 4, 1938).

Not unexpectedly, Der Schild’s content shed’s fascinating and retrospectively haunting light on Jewish life in Germany during the 1920s and 1930s; on Jewish genealogy; on the military service of German Jews (not only in the First World War but the Franco-Prussian War as well), often focusing on Jewish religious services at “the Front”, rather than “combat”, per se (see the issue of April 3, 1936, with its cover article “Pesach vor Verdun”); on occasion about Jewish military service in the Allied nations during “The Great War”(1); on Jewish history, literature, and religion; on Jewish life and Jewish news outside of Germany.

There is much to be explored.

While reviewing Der Schild at the New York Public Library, I discovered a front-page article – published less than a year before the newspaper’s final issue – which was particularly striking both in its content and prominence: An account of an infantry battle against British tanks, at Cambrai, France, in November of 1917. Certainly Der Schild carried innumerable articles – lengthy and brief – about the military service of German Jews, but these items were not always so boldly displayed as one might assume. The prominence of this article prompted curiosity and in turn, an attempt at translation. Which, is presented below.

Unlike the letter of Martin Feist, Carl Anker’s article neither carries nor imparts any deep spiritual insights or moral messages.

It is simply an utterly direct story about a battle now almost a century gone by.

Erinnerungen an die
Tankschlacht bei Cambrai

Memories of the
Tank Battle at Cambrai

Der Schild
December 10, 1937

Unser Kam. Carl Anker, Hamburg, überlässt uns freundlicherweise seine interessanten Erinnerungen aus der grossen Durchbruchs-Schlacht bei Cambrai 1917 nach seinen Kriegstagebuch-Aufzeichnungen.

Our comrade, Carl Anker, of Hamburg, kindly leaves his interesting memoirs from the great breakthrough battle at Cambrai in 1917 according to the notes in his war diary.

In der Nacht vom 16 zum 17 November kamen wir, die 8. Komp. I.R. 84, von Noyelles nach vorne auf Wache. Ich hatte einen Unteroffizier-Posten, also mit 6 Mann eine Wache für mich. Um 8 Uhr abends kamen wir an, um 1 Uhr zog ich mit meinen 6 Mann nach __rne in die Feldwache. Drei Löcher, jedes für 2 Mann, in Abständen von ca. 30-40 Schritt, nahmen uns auf. Ich, als Wachthabender, hatte beständig von Loch zu Loch zu patrouillieren; dieses Vergnügen dauerte bis früh um 7 ½ Uhr. Dann wurde es so hell, dass man von hinten Uebersicht über das gesamte Gelände hatte, und wir zogen uns auf ein anderes grösseres Loch, das “Gruppennest” ca. 20 Schritte weiter hinten zurück und blieben dort von früh um 7 ½ bis abends 6 Uhr: – dann wurde es wieder so dunkel, dass die Posten besetzt werden mussten. Vom Greppennest wurde durch einen Mann Posten gestanden; von hier aus ging auch ein Verbindungsgraben nach hinten, – ca. 600 m zur Feldwache -, wo ein tiefer Unterstand mit dem Wachthabenden und der Ablösung lag. Von abends 6 Uhr lagen wir wieder vorne auf Posten,

In the night of the 16th to 17th of November we arrived, the 8th Company, 84th Infantry Regiment, forward on guard from Noyelles. I had a non-commissioned officer’s station, with 6 men on guard duty for me. We arrived at eight o’clock in the evening; at 1 o’clock I went with my 6 men to the field guard. Three holes, each for two men, in intervals of about 30-40 paces, were taken by us. I, [keeping watch], had to patrol constantly from hole to hole; this pleasure lasted until early in the morning at 7:30 hours. Then it was so bright, that we had an overview of the whole terrain from behind, and we moved to another larger hole, the “group nest” about 20 paces farther back, and stayed there from early morning at 7: 30 to 6 o’clock in the evening: – then it was again so dark again, that the posts had to be occupied. A man stood post by the group nest; from here a connecting trench also went to the rear – about 600 meters to the field guard -, where there was a deep dugout with the guard and the detachment. From the evening at 6 o’clock we were again located at the post,

ca. 49 Schritte vom englischen Graben entfernt.

about 49 steps from the English trench.

Nach Einsetzen der Dunkelheit erhielten wir Verpflegung. Um 1 Uhr Nachts kam unsere Ablösung von der Feldwache, nachdem wir also 24 Stunden vorne gewesen.

After darkness we received food. At 1 o’clock in the evening, our detachment came from the field guard, after we had been at the front for 24 hours.

Zwei mal 7 Stunden hintereinander auf Posten, ohne Bewegung, lautlos, in denkbar nächster Nähe des Gegners, am Tage ein Lager auf hartem Brett, in freier Luft, nur ein Stück Wellblech gegen Regen über dem Körper! Nicht rauchen, tagsüber der Qualm, nachts der Feuerschein!

Two times seven hours in a row, without a movement, silently, in the immediate vicinity of the enemy, in the day camping on a hard plank, in the open air, only a piece of corrugated iron over the body against the rain! Do not smoke, smoke during the day, the fire at night!

In der nacht vom 17. zum 18. wurde ich also abgelöst, kam kurz nach 1 Uhr in der Feldwache an und konnte bis früh um 6 Uhr schlafen. Da wurde alles alarmiert. Eine Gewaltspatrouille kam zur Durchführung. Lt. Hegermann, Lt. Störzel, am Tage vorher befordert, und noch einige andere Offiziere leiteten die Sache. Artillerie, Minen- und Granatwerfer riegelten das betreffende englische Grabenstück ab, die Patrouille drang vor, sprengte den Draht und brachte einen Vizefeldwebel und 6 Mann als Gefangene zurück. Wir selbst verloren Lt. Störzel als Toten und mehrere Verwundete. Der Gegner erwiderte unser Feuer sehr lebhaft, und auf einmal kam von vorne der Befehl: “Verstärkung nach vorne, der Feind macht einen Gegenangriff.” Ich musste mit meinen 6 Mann vor, stürmte los, traf aber unterwegs schon die zurückkehrende Patrouille mit den Gefangenen – die Verstärkung sei nicht mehr nötig. Also wieder zurück. Hpt. Soltau verhörte die Gefangenen, die bald nach hinten abgeschoben wurden, und nach einer weiteren Stunde Alarmbereitschaft hatten wir den Tag über wieder Ruhe.

In the night of the 17th to the 18th, I was relieved, came to the field guard shortly after one o’clock, and could sleep until early at 6 o’clock. Everything was alerted. A violent patrol came to pass. Lt. Hegermann, Lt. Störzel, who had been summoned the day before, and still a few other officers lead the affair. Artillery, mines, and mortars cordoned off the English trench, the patrol pushed forward, pulled the wire, and returned with a non-commissioned-officer and six men as prisoners. We ourselves lost Lt. Störzel (2) as dead and several wounded. The enemy repulsed our fire very vigorously, and suddenly the command came from the front: “Reinforcements forward, the enemy is making a counter-attack.” I had to go forward with my 6 men, storm, but on the way I met the returning patrol with the prisoners – the reinforcement was no longer necessary. So back again. Soltau interrogated the prisoners, who were soon shuffled off to the rear, and after a further hour on high alert, we had the rest of the day.

In der Nacht vom 18. zum 19. November musste ich um 1 Uhr nach vorne zur Ablösung. Die Nacht war ruhig, es fiel fast kein Schuss. Am 19. früh 9 Uhr, während wir im Gruppennest standen, bemerkte ich 2 Engländer an ihrem Drahtverhau. Am hellen Tage gingen sie aufrecht herum – für uns unfassbar. Ich beobachtete sie eine Zeitlang und vertrieb sie dann durch ein paar Schüsse.

In the night from the 18th to the 19th of November, I had to move forward at 1 am. The night was quiet, there were almost no shots. On the morning of the 19th, at nine o’clock, while we were standing at the group nest, I noticed two Englishmen at their wire entanglement. In the bright of the day they walked upright – for us incomprehensible. I watched them for a time, and then drove a few shots through them.

Mittags um 12 Ich war unruhig geworden, verliess mich nicht auf meinen Posten, sondern passte selbst auf und sah wieder 5 Mann am Draht herumlaufen. Ob sie die von unserer Patrouille gesprengte Lücke besichtigen oder ausbessern wollten oder was sonst, ich wusste es nicht. Ich alarmierte meine Leute, und wir gaben eine ruhig gezielte Salve ab, worauf sie verschwanden. Ich meldete den Vorfall sofort nach hinten.

At 12 o’clock I was restless, did not leave my post, but took care of myself and saw another five men running around the wire. Whether they wanted to see or repair the gap exploded by our patrol, or what else, I did not know. I alerted my people, and we gave a quiet salvo, whereupon they disappeared. I immediately reported back the incident.

Um 6 Uhr abends am 19. zogen wir wieder auf Posten. Bald kam der Feldwachhabende, Vizef. Sörensen und meldete mir, hinten sei alles

At 6 o’clock in the evening on the 19th, we moved back to the post. Soon came the field guard on duty, Senior NCO Sörensen (3), and told me, that everything behind was

in allerhöchster Alarmbereitschaft.

in very high alertness.

Beobachtungen und die Aussagen der Gefangenen liessen vermuten, dass für den kommenden Morgen ein grosser Angriff bevorstände. Die Gräben seien voll, alle Reserven seien herangezogen, auch alle höheren Stäbe etc. seien weit nach vorne geschoben. Dabei gab er mir gleich Instruktion, bei einem Infanterie-Angriff unbedingt zu halten, bei Artillerie-Feuer mich langsam zurückzuziehen. Na, dachte ich, denn man los! Aber die Nacht auf den 20. verlief wieder absolut ruhig. Um 1 Uhr wurde ich abgelöst und fand die Feldwache dicht an dicht besetzt. Hptm. Christiansen, der unsere Kompagnie übernehmen sollte, Lt. Simon und viele Leute hatten jeden Winkel dicht besetzt. So gut es ging, hockte ich mich mit meinen Leuten irgwendo hin zum Schlafen.

Observations and the statements of the prisoners suggested that a major attack would take place on the coming morning. The trenches were full, all the reserves were drawn up, and all the higher staff, etc., were pushed far forward. At the same time, he gave me the instruction, to hold on to an infantry attack, to retire slowly with artillery fire. Well, I thought, because you go! But the night on the 20th proceeded perfectly quiet again. At 1 o’clock I was relieved and found the field guard closely packed. Captain Christiansen, who was to take over our company, Lt. Simon, and many people had crowded [into] each corner. As best I could, I crouched with my people to sleep.

Am 20. früh 6 Uhr alles raus, gefechtsbereit, Handgranaten, Munition, etc. …

On the morning of the 20th at 6 o’clock everything went out, ready at hand, hand grenades, ammunition, etc. …

Ich arbeitete Schützenstände aus, damit für den Fall eines Angriffs jeder Mann Licht- und Schussfeld habe. Es blieb alles ruhig. Um 7 Uhr hiess es, die Alarmbereitschaft sei zu Ende, die Leute könnon zur Ruhe gehen. Ich sprach mit Vizef. Sörensen, na, nun sei es hell, und es sei nichts mehr zu befürchten, es sei wieder mal blinder Alarm gewesen. Da, mitten im Satze – das werde ich wohl nie vergessen – wie ein einziger dauernder riesiger Blitzschlag in allernächster Nähe ein schlagartiger Angriff riesiger Artilleriemassen. Alle Schüsse sausten über uns hinweg, gingen in unsere vorderste Linie und weiter nach hinten zu unseren Reserven und zur Artillerie. Ich sah nach hinten. Es war, als sei Weltuntergang, ein furchtbares Krachen und Sausen; der ganze Horizont war, trotzdem es schon hell war, blutig rot von den platzenden Granaten, berstenden Schrapnells. Im Nu wurde durch diesen schlagartigen Angriff hinten alles zusammengeschossen, – es feuerte eine Unzahl Geschütze gleichzeitig und so andauernd, wie ich nie vorher gehört. “Aha,” sagt Sörensen, “das ist die Vergeltung.” “Nein,” sage ich, “das ist viel mehr, das ist der Angriff!”

I worked at gunnery stations, so that in the event of an attack every man had light and a shooting area. Everything remained quiet. At 7 o’clock it was said that the alert was over; the people could go to rest. I spoke with Senior NCO Sörensen, well, now it was bright, and there was nothing to fear, it was once again a blind alarm. There, in the middle of the sentence – I shall never forget – like a single giant lightning bolt in the immediate vicinity, a sudden strike of giant artillery. All the shots rushed over us, went into our front-most line, and farther back to our reserves and artillery. I looked back. It was as if there was an end of the world, a terrible crash and a whirl; the whole horizon was still bright, blood-red from the exploding shells, bursting shrapnel. In an instant, this sudden attack brought everything back to the ground, firing an immense number of guns at the same time, as I never heard before. “Ah,” said Sörensen, “that is the retribution.” “No,” I say, “that is much more, that’s the attack!”

Unsere Leute waren von selbst alle heraus und auf ihren Ständen. Das riesige, nicht zu überbietende Trommelfeuer hielt an; aber auf uns, die wir so weit vorne lagen, fiel nicht ein Schuss. Plötzlich liefen von vorn auf uns Leute zu. Unsere M.G.’s setzten mit rasender Schnelligkeit ein. “Halt, halt!”, brüllte ich, “das sind ja unsere!” Unsere Wachtposten von vorne kamen an, Sörensen stoppte unser M.G.-Feuer und die Leute kamen richtig zu uns in den Graben.

Our people were by themselves all out and on their [firing] stands. The huge barrage [drum-fire], which was not to be surpassed, continued; but not a shot fell on us, who were so far ahead. Suddenly people came running towards us. Our machine guns set in with rapid speed. “Stop, stop!” I yelled, “these are ours!” Our guard posts came from the front, Sörensen stopped our machine gun fire and the people came to us right into the trench.

Wir standen und warteten. Nichts als das andauernde ungeheure, fürchterliche Bombardement nach hinten. Ich bereitete mich auf mein Ende vor; denn dass nach dieser kolossalen Vorbereitung ein gewaltiger Stoss erfolgen würde, war mir gewiss. Die 3 Jahre Krieg zogen blitzschnell in Gedanken vorbei, – na, und dann stand ich da: schussbereit, totbereit. Alles war ruhige. Entschlossenheit, kalte Vernunft, zielbewusste Energie.

We stood and waited. Nothing but the protracted, tremendous, terrible bombardment to the rear. I prepared myself for my end; because after this colossal preparation, a tremendous blow would take place, I was certain. The three years of war passed quickly, and then I stood there, ready to shoot, ready to kill. Everything was quiet. Determination, cold reason, purposeful energy.

Das Feuer liess nicht nach, es lag dauernd in unerhörter Stärke hinter uns. Der Engländer musste hunderte Geschütze aufgefahren haben, die ohne Pause das entsetzlichste Trommerlfeuer unterhielten.

The fire did not stop; it was always behind us, in unheard of strength. The Englishman had had to take hundreds of guns, which kept the most terrible barrage fire [drum fire] without pause.

Da tauchte vor uns aus Nebel und Rauch etwas Dunkles auf.

Then darkness, fog and smoke appeared in front of us.

Ich sah etwas Grosses Schwarzes. “Das ist ein Tank” sagt Sörensen so ruhig wie nur was. Wahrhaftig, jetzt erkenne ich es auch. Langsam aber sicher schiebt sich das Ungeheuer feuernd und krachend auf uns zu, entsetzlich wie ein unabwendbares Verhängnis. Unempfindlich gegen Kugeln und Handgranaten, ist es nur durch Artillerie-Volltreffer zu vernichten. Es kommt näher, vielleicht 50 Schritt noch! Ueber uns, ganz, ganz niedrig, kreisen die Flieger und bestreichen uns mit M.G. Hilfe von hinten ist ausgeschlossen -: durch solch ein Sperr- und Vernichtungsfeuer kommt kein Hund lebendig!

I saw something large and black. “This is a tank,” says Sörensen as quiet as that. Now I also truly recognize it. Slowly but surely, the monster is firing and crashing toward us, terrible as an inevitable doom. Immune to bullets and hand grenades, it is only to be destroyed by artillery hits. It comes closer, maybe no more than 50 paces! Above us, all, very low, airplanes circle and spread machine gun fire. Help from behind is impossible -: by such a block and destructive fire no dog comes [out] alive!

Da, jetzt endlich ist es Zeit! In dichten Massen schreiten aufrecht hinter dem Tank, der sie völlig schützt, die Engländer. Aber der geht an uns vorbei, mehr nach links, er geht geradezu seitlich an uns vorbei, so dass wir die Massen dahinter flankierend fassen können. Natürlich, der Tank geht parallel mit unserem Graben direkt auf unsere Hauptstellung zu.

There, now finally it’s time! In dense masses, the British are standing upright behind the tank, which protects them completely. But it goes past us, more to the left; it goes to the side of us, so that the masses behind it can be flanked. Of course, the tank goes directly to our main position parallel to our trench.

Nun, wir schossen, so lange wir Munition hatten. Bald war der Tank links an uns voruber, die englische Infanterie also vor uns. Gruppenweise kamen sie auf uns zu. Ich nahm mir einen ihrer Führer, der sie mit der Hand auf uns zu dirigierte, aufs Korn. Hinter uns lag noch immer das furchtbare Artilleriefeuer, von dem wir glücklicherweise garnichts abbekamen; rechts zog sich der Graben nach unserem Gruppennest. Langsam rückten wir alle in dieser Richtung vor, immer im Graben entlang und feuernd. Neben mir schrien Verwundete auf. Wir bekamen jetzt starkes Infanteriefeuer. Ich liege auf dem Grabenrand, ziele und schiesse dauernd; da fällt neben mir Sörensen herab; Schuss in die Schädeldecke. Kein Ton, kein Laut. Er wird blau im Gesicht, das Haar raucht vom warmen Blut. Nun denke ich, einer nach dem anderen, heraus kommt hier keiner.

Well, we shot as long as we had ammunition. Soon the tank was on our left; the English infantry before us. They came to use in groups. I took [killed] one of their leaders, who directed them to us with his hand. Behind us still lay the terrific artillery-fire, which we were fortunate not to mention; to the right, the trench moved to our group nest. Slowly we all advanced in this direction, always along the trench and firing. Beside me, the wounded cried. We are now given strong infantry fire. I am lying on the edge of the ditch, aiming and shooting; Sörensen falls next to me; shot in the cranium. No sound, no sound. He becomes blue in the face; the hair fumes of the warm blood. Now I think, one by one, no one comes out here.

Bald hatten wir

Soon we had

keine Munition mehr.

no more ammunition.

Vor uns links bewegte sich der Tank vorwärts und ihm nach die Massen des Gegners; hinten lag dauernd das unheimliche Trommelfeuer, vor uns kam der Gegner in Gruppen heran. Wir zogen uns nach rechts, also nach vorne zu, weiter. So kamen wir bis fast ans Gruppennest. Auch hier bereits alles voll vom Gegner. Unsere Munition war ja verschossen. Da, ein Ruck – und ein leichter Schmerz an der rechten Schulter…

In front of us, on the left, the tank moved forward, and after him the masses of the enemy; in the rear was the eerie barrage [drum] fire, before us the enemy came in groups. We moved to the right, so forward. So we came almost to the group nest. Here too, everything is full of the enemy. Our ammunition was gone. There, a jerk – and a slight pain on the right shoulder …

In unserem Löchern sassen Gruppen des Gegners, die uns mit der Pistole in der Hand den Weg in ihren Graben wiesen…

There were groups of our opponents in our holes, who pointed at us with their pistols in their hands…

Ein anderer Kamerad, Dr. Caspary, Stettin, hat die Tankschlacht bei Cambrai beim Inf. Regt. 50 mitgemacht (S. Regt. Gesch. S. 280). Er geriet mit seinen Leuten in die Gewalt der Engländer und wurde in einem der bekannten “Nester” gefangen gehalten, die eine Spezialität der Engländer waren. Kam. Dr. Casparys Plan, mit den Seinen weider Verbindung aufzunehmen, gelang – wie er selbst berichtet – vornehmlich durch die Kaltblütigkeit eines seiner Krankenträger. Zwar war die Situation mehr als schwierig, allein um so schöner der Erfolg, als er ausser der Befreiung noch die Gefangennahme von 3 englischen Offizieren, 46 Mann und 2 Maschinen-Gewehren einbrachte.

Another comrade, Dr. Caspary, Stettin, participated in the tank battles at Cambrai at the 50th Infantry Regiment. He fell into the hands of the British with his men, and was imprisoned in one of the well-known “nests”, which were a specialty of the English. Comrade Dr. Caspary’s plan to connect with his two partners was, as he himself reports, chiefly due to the cold-bloodedness of one of his patients. The situation was more than difficult, but it was all the more successful when, besides the deliverance, he brought in as prisoners three English officers, 46 men, and two machine guns.

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I’ve been unable to find any record “Carl Anker” – or even an approximation of his name – in Yad Vashem’s Central Database of Shoah Victims Names. This would suggest, though not definitively confirm, that he was able to escape Nazi Germany and perhaps German-Occupied Europe, “in time”. To where, and when, is unknown.

What happened to him after 1937?

Notes

(1) See the issue of June 24, 1938, which includes coverage of the Evian Conference (as did three issues in July), and – on the first page – an illustrated article about the commemoration of a memorial to French Jewish soldiers fallen at the Battle or Verdun.

(2) “Lt. Storzel” was probably Leutnant Georg Storzel, who is listed as having been killed on November 18, 1917. He is buried at Kriegsgräberstätte in Neuville-St.Vaast (France), Block 1 Grab 516.

(3) “Sorensen” was probably Offiziersstellvertreter Friedrich Sørensen. He was born in Haderslav, Denmark, on October 25, 1889.

These men were identified from reference works (listed below) available at denstorekrig1914-1918.

The three images of displayed above are scans of photocopies made at the Dorot Jewish Division of the NYPL, Photoshop-“ed” for clarity. Ironically, the quality of these images – derived from a physical media: paper, from a plain ‘ole microfilm photocopier – is better than that of the PDF available via the Goethe University’s Website. Notably, the article is appropriately headed with a sketch of a British Mark I tank (drawn by “Adam Zeichnung” and…simply and aptly labeled as “Englisher Tank ’17”) advancing over the lip of a trench.

Some other German Jewish military casualties on March 20, 1917 include…

– .ת. נ. צ. ב. ה –

Hagedorn, Josef, Soldat, Garde-Schutz Bataillon 2
Born in Padberg 6/28/97 / Resided in Giershagen
Casualty Message (Verlustmeldung) 820
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen des Deutschen Heeres, Deutschen Marine und der Deutschen Schutztruppen 1914-1918 – Ein Gedenkbuch – page 314

Rosenthal, Isak, Soldat, Garde Regiment 11, Bataillon 3, Kompagnie 9
Born in Beuthen (O.S.) 1/7/88 / Resided in Bitschin / Gleiwitz
Casualty Message (Verlustmeldung) 814
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen des Deutschen Heeres, Deutschen Marine und der Deutschen Schutztruppen 1914-1918 – Ein Gedenkbuch – page 169

Simmenauer (first name unknown), Soldat, Garde Regiment 11, Bataillon 3, Kompagnie 9
Born in Breslau 8/4/95 / Resided in Halle / S.
Casualty Message (Verlustmeldung) 814
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen des Deutschen Heeres, Deutschen Marine und der Deutschen Schutztruppen 1914-1918 – Ein Gedenkbuch – page 182

Westheimer, Heinrich, Soldat (Landsturmrekrut), Reserve Infanterie Regiment 263, Bataillon 3, Kompagnie 10
Born in Grosseicholzheim 2/19/81 / Resided in Grosseicholzheim
Kriegsgräberstätte in Neuville-St.Vaast (Frankreich), Block 9, Grab 315
Casualty Message (Verlustmeldung) 851
Die Jüdischen Gefallenen des Deutschen Heeres, Deutschen Marine und der Deutschen Schutztruppen 1914-1918 – Ein Gedenkbuch – page 230

References

Books

Banks, Arthur, A Military Atlas of the First World War, Leo Cooper (Pen & Sword Books), Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England, 2001.

Chamberlain, Peter, and Ellis, Chris, Pictorial History of Tanks of the World 1915-1945, Galahad, Books, Harrisburg, Pa., 1972.

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

Erindringsboger tyske regimenter Udgivet under medvirken af Rigsarkivet – Infanterie-haefte 11 – Infanterie-Regiment von Manstein (Schleswigsches) Nr. 84, Oldenburg i.O/Berlin, 1922 / Dansk udgave: Jørgen Flinthom – 2016 (“Memorial Books of German Regiments, Published under the auspices of the National Archives – Infantry – Record Book 11 – Manstein 84th Infantry Regiment“) (denstorekrig1914-1918.dk/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/IR-84-kampkalender-udvidet.pdf) (at Den Store Krig 1914-1918)

Geschichte des Infanterie-Regiments von Manstein (Schleswigsches) Nr. 84, 1914-1918, in Einzeldarstellungen von Frontkämpfern, Band III – herausgegben von Hülsemann, Oberstleutnant a.D., im felde Hauptmann und Komp.-Chef. 6./84 und Fuhrer des II. Bataillons / Revideret udgave: Jørgen Flinthom – 2011 (“History of the Manstein 84th Infantry Regiment, 1914-1918, Volume 3“) (at Den Store Krig 1914-1918)

Geschichte des Infanterie-Regiments von Manstein (Schleswigsches) Nr. 84, 1914-1918, in Einzeldarstellungen von Frontkämpfern, Band IV – herausgegben von Hülsemann, Oberstleutnant a.D., im felde Hauptmann und Komp.-Chef. 6./84 und Fuhrer des II. Bataillons / Revideret udgave: Jørgen Flinthom – 2011 (“History of the Manstein 84th Infantry Regiment, 1914-1918, Volume 4“) (at den Store Krig 1914-1918)

Sønderyjske Soldatengrave 1914-1918 – Sorteret efter efternavn (“Soldiers’ Graves 1914-1918 – Sorted by Surname“) (at Den Store Krig 1914-1918)

Web

Bund jüdischer Soldaten (Home Page – dead link as of 2025)

Bund jüdischer Soldaten (YouTube Channel)

Den Store Krig 1914-1918 (“Danes in the German Army – 1914-1918”)

Der Schild (digital version) (at Goethe University Frankfurt website)

German War Graves (at Volksbund.de)

Reichsbund jüdischer Frontsoldaten (at Wikipedia)

Vaterländischer Bund jüdischer Frontsoldaten (Patriotic Union of Jewish Front-Line Soldiers”)

Yav Vashem – Central Database of Shoah Victim’s Names (at Yad Vashem)

Thoughts From The Frontier: The Jewish Frontier, 1933-2005

Located in the New York Public Library’s Steven A. Schwarzman Building, the Dorot Jewish Division of the New York Public Library comprises – as very aptly described on the website of the New York Public Library – “…one of the world’s great collections of Hebraica and Judaica.” The geographic, linguistic, ideological, and temporal breadth of the Dorot Division’s holdings allows researchers – whether professional, amateur, or anywhere-in-between – the opportunity to conduct research into most any aspect of the history of the Jewish people, with special emphasis upon the following areas:

Jews in the United States (particularly New York in the age of immigration)
Yiddish Theater
Jews in Israel, through 1948
Jews in early modern Europe, especially Jewish-Gentile relations
Christian Hebraism
antisemitism
…and…
World Jewish newspapers and periodicals of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries

Importantly, are assisted by a highly knowledgeable, accommodating, and congenial staff, in – but of course! – a physical setting and geographic locale of singular historical, cultural, and social significance.

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The image below, from Jerome Ryan’s Travel Photos, shows the reading room of the Dorot Jewish Division.

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The Dorot Divison’s collection of Jewish newspapers and periodicals is an unparalleled resource for researching Jewish history in the dual contexts of Jewish military service, and, genealogy. Researchers are provided with requested items in either original; physical – textual – format, or more often microfilm, the latter especially for periodicals and monographs where the original item is too rare or delicate for manual use. For example, all prior (and hopefully future!) posts on this blog covering items in The Jewish Chronicle and l’Univers Israélite (“The Jewish World”) were based on copies made from 35mm microfilm. In terms of copying, there’s sufficient external and internal illumination in the Dorot Division’s research room for digital photography, while the Milstein Microform Reading Room – in Room 119; quite literally “across the hall” from the Dorot Division in Room 111 – has numerous microfilm viewing / reading machines, which allow the creation of digital copies, with a few some temperamental “older” machines providing conventional photocopies.

One of the periodicals I’ve investigated at the Dorot Jewish Division has been the Jewish Frontier, the monthly magazine of the Labor Zionist Movement, which was published from 1934 through 2005. According to the Dorot Division’s catalog record, the Frontier was published by the Labor League for Palestine from 1933 through April of 1938, and commencing in May of 1938 by the Jewish Frontier Association. The Frontier was founded by Hayim Greenberg (also its first editor), Marie Syrkin, and Dr. Haim Fineman, the latter of Temple University in Philadelphia. Eventually, Marie Syrkin succeeded Hayim Greenberg as editor. As stated at the website of Ameinu (the successor organization to the Labor Zionist Alliance), the Jewish Frontier’s, “mission was to explore, advance, and, where appropriate, reshape the humanistic ideas and progressive values that underlie modern Labor Zionist thought and belief.”

My discovery of the Jewish Frontier was fortuitous. I first learned “about” the publication in the book in Gulie Ne’eman Arad’s America, Its Jews, and the Rise of Nazism (Indiana University Press, 2000). The book reviews the response of American Jewry – particularly that of its leadership – to the persecution of Jews within and by Nazi Germany, prior to America’s actual entry into the Second World War. This is framed in the lengthier context of the historical experience of the Jews in the United States, commencing from the mid-nineteenth century, and shows a community (if that word can be used) – particularly its leaders – trapped between competing desires for acceptance by the larger society on the one hand, and, community solidarity on the other. The book sheds invaluable, illuminating, realistic (and perhaps disillusioning…) light on this period of American Jewish history.

Dr. Arad’s book concludes with an excerpt from an essay by Shlomo Katz from the May, 1940 issue of the Jewish Frontier. Entitled “What Shall We Write?”. Katz’s essay discusses the geographic, social and cultural, and ultimately psychological and cognitive “distance” between the Jews of America – particularly among intellectuals and writers – and those of Europe, prevailing among American Jewry shortly before the start of the Second World War.

The excerpt from Katz’s essay, as presented in Dr. Arad’s book, appears below:

The concept of the Jewish people throughout the world as a unit may not be strange to him ideologically; he may even argue in favor of such a concept where political theories are concerned. But personally he has already lost the feeling of unity with the larger whole to a great extent. Only the slimmest cultural and psychic ties bind him to Jews of Poland, Palestine, Germany or Russia. That is why he cannot feel about the tragic fate of the European Jews in the same distant and detached terms as he feels about the fate of the Chinese people, for example. But at the same time he is too far removed from them to be able to identify himself with Polish or German Jews in a personal manner. The immensity of the tragedy appalls him; he feels directly concerned, but not sufficiently to make him a living part of the drama. Between him and the European scene there lie years, years that count in building up one’s personality, of life in America. These years, with all the cultural baggage that was accumulated in them, he does not share with Europe’s Jews; and they stand between him and them.

This was interesting. This meant something. (This means something, still.) This prompted me to look further.

I reviewed issues of the Jewish Frontier published from 1933 through the early 1950s. What I found was, on a consistent basis, superb, compelling writing. A sense of realism: Authors who confronted and described situations as they were. A tempered, moral urgency. A sense of pride. A sense of the need for action.

I do not know what prompted Greenberg, Syrkin, and Fineman to decide upon the title of “Jewish Frontier” for their periodical, but in retrospect, it was very apropos.

Perhaps it was their perception understanding that pre-1948 Yishuv was – in senses physical, spiritual, and psychological – very much a world of the frontier; on the frontier. Perhaps it was to connote that when Avraham Aveinu left Ur and crossed the Euphrates River en route to (then) Canaan, he had crossed over not only a physical boundary, but accepted borders and assumptions of thought and action, to stand alone in his belief in one God. He was alone and undaunted in his faith, on a “frontier” that was not solely physical.

Perhaps it was both.

Presently, none of the content of The Jewish Frontier appears to ever have been digitized. Worthy of being read and pondered even today, in 2017, I hope to present a few essays and articles in future blog posts

For the moment, an appropriate start is the presentation of the full text of Shlomo Katz’s essay of May, 1940.

References

Ameinu, at
http://www.ameinu.net/

Labor Zionist Alliance, at
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/labor-zionist-alliance

New York Public Library, at
https://www.nypl.org/

New York Public Library, Dorot Jewish Division, at
https://www.nypl.org/locations/divisions/jewish-division

New York Public Library, Dorot Jewish Division, Jewish Frontier Catalog Record, at
Jewish Frontier Catalog Record

New York Public Library – Milstein Division of U.S., Local History and Genealogy, at
https://www.nypl.org/about/divisions/milstein

Jerome Ryan’s Mountains of Travel Photos, at
http://mountainsoftravelphotos.com/index.html

Abraham the Hebrew, at Ohr Hadash, at
http://thetrugmans.com/673/abraham-the-hebrew/

Pacific Pesach: The Guam Haggadah – II

Title Page: SEDER IN THE MARIANAS – PASSOVER – 5705 – 1945

Acknowledgements and Officiating Chaplains

Page 1: Kiddush Blessing

Page 2: Kiddush Blessing (continued); Blessing over Greens (Parsley); Dividing the Matzah (Among 2,700 servicemen, who was the lucky Private First Class who found the afikomen?!)

Page 3: A noteworthy section of the Guam Haggadah – an uneasy if not irresolvable balance between particularism and universalism – is found under the heading “Let My People Go”.

The text obviously, pointedly, and directly address Jewish peoplehood, Zionism (albeit without that word), and a sense of collective pride, through the text, “Men can be enslaved by intolerance. When Jews are forced to give up their Jewish way of life, to abandon their Torah, to neglect their sacred festivals, to leave off rebuilding their ancient homeland – they are slaves. When they must deny that they are Jews in order to get work – they are slaves. When they must live in constant fear of unwarranted hate and prejudice – they are slaves.”

The thrust of that text is curiously counterweighted by setting Pesach in the form of a generalized yearning for “freedom”, but “freedom” defined as an individual, if not philosophical, if not universalistic value of the Enlightenment – rather than a particularistic and covenantal concept – set in the frame of the war effort of the United States, and the Allies, in general.

This is evident in such statements as, “Peoples have suffered, nations have struggled to make this dream come true. Now we dedicate ourselves to the struggle for freedom.” “It means liberation from ail those enslavements that warp the spirit and blight the mind, that destroy the soul even though they leave the flesh alive. For men can be enslaved in more ways than one.” “Pesach calls us to be free, free from the tyranny of our own selves, free from the enslavement of poverty and inequality, free from the corroding hate that eats away the ties which unite mankind.” “Pesach calls upon us to put an end to all slavery! Pesach cries out in the name of God, “Let my people go.” Pesach summons us to freedom.”

Though I do not have access to the 1942 edition of Rabbi Kaplan’s New Haggadah, I wonder if this text – perhaps reflective of the hopes, aspirations, and ambivalence pervasive among early and mid twentieth century American Jewry (and still today?…) – is derived from that work.

Page 4: “Let My People Go” (continued); Art depicting Moshe Rabbenu in the wilderness

Page 5: “Go Down Moses”; Art depicting Moses and Aaron confronting Pharaoh

Page 6: Presentation of Matzah; The Four Questions

Page 7: The Four Questions (continued); Pesach narrative

0-haggadah-08_edited-3

Page 8: Pesach Narrative (continued)

Page 9: Dayenu!

Page 10: Dayenu (continued); “In every generation do men rise up against us, and God delivers us from their hands.”

Page 11: Display of Symbols of Pesach (Shankbone and Matzah)

Page 12: Display of Symbols of Pesach (maror (bitter herbs))

Page 13: Call to Hallel; Hymn “Praise the Lord”

Page 14: Benediction over Matzah; Blessing over Bitter Herbs

Page 15: The Pesach Meal is Served; Opening the Door for Elijah

Page 16: Opening the Door for Elijah (continued); Eliyahu Hanavi

Page 17: Closing Benediction; Singing of America

Back Cover: Printed by 949th Engineer Aviation Topographic Company

Your PDF version of the Guam Haggadah can be found here.

Pacific Pesach: The Guam Haggadah – I

Pesach – Passover – is the most universally observed festival of the Jewish people – regardless of the nature of one’s religious beliefs, level of observance, or political affiliation.

Though Pesach certainly carries a festive air, the holiday is far more than merely “a holiday”; at least, as such days are understood in the conventional sense of the term.

Pesach commemorates – even as it celebrates – the origin of the Jews as a distinct people sharing a national ethos and identity, through the form of a vivid historical narrative suffused with overtones, messages, and commentary – some subtle; some direct – about their identity, ideals, and relationship to God.

While it is obviously true that a central message of Pesach is the moral and practical imperative of freedom from slavery – whether that slavery be physical, intellectual, psychological, or spiritual – the core of the celebration extends beyond “freedom” per se, as a philosophical concept and legal actuality. For, pure and unalloyed “freedom”, if not carefully guarded and consciously guided, can in time revert back into a form of slavery.

In a fuller sense, the message of Pesach is not simply “Let my people go!”, but, “Let My people go that they may worship me in the wilderness.” (Exodus, 7:16) *

The Haggadah – an example of which is the subject of this post – is the central text that serves as both a narrative and guide for the Pesach Seder. Though Haggadot are centered around the central and ordered sequence of elements that comprise the Pesach Seder, the actual text and physical appearance of “a” Haggadah is not solidly fixed. Even the most cursory Internet search for the term “Haggadah” reveals a myriad of images of the text – some simple; some elaborate. Thus, with each new iteration of the Haggadah, its wide variety of forms, formats, and styles are reflective of the cultural conditions and historical forces influencing the long and continuing history of the Jewish people, shedding light on the mindset, values, and beliefs of the community or organization which published the text. In that sense, each new publication can be a sociological, cultural, artistic, and linguistic “window” upon the past. Such is so with the Guam Haggadah.

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The document presented in this post – “Haggadah – Seder in the Marianas : Passover 5705-1945” – is one such example. This Haggadah was published for and used by Jewish soldiers, airmen, and sailors stationed on the Island of Guam – the southernmost island of the Marianas archipelago, in the western part of the North Pacific Ocean – for Pesach services in March of 1945.

One might aptly call it the “Guam Haggadah.”

This Haggadah – in remarkably good condition – is among the holdings of the Dorot Jewish Division of the New York Public Library.

The three men whose names appear on page two of the text – David I. Cedarbaum (Army), and, Philip Lipis and Elihu Rickle (both Navy) – were chaplains serving Jewish military personnel on Guam.

As indicated by the notation on the last page, the text was printed by the 20th Air Force’s 949th Aviation Engineer Topographical Company.

The text of the Guam Haggadah is derived from the revised edition of The New Haggadah, edited by Rabbi Mordechai Kaplan and published by Behrman’s Jewish Book House in 1942. The literary descendant of Kaplan’s 1942 Haggadah exists today as The New American Haggadah, and is available at Berhman’s House.

Mention of the Guam Haggadah is made in “Volume I” of the two-volume 1947 publication American Jews in World War II. In an extensive account of Chaplain Cedarbaum’s service with the 20th Air Force (in a chapter entitled “They Delivered the Atom”) it is stated that, “He had hardly reached his new post when he found himself involved, along with Navy chaplain Philip Lipis, in the organization of an ambitious Passover service on Guam, the first ever held in that part of the Pacific. The ancient Seder services were celebrated on March 28, simultaneously in two large mess halls.

“Twenty-seven hundred soldiers and sailors attended. The Hebrew Haggadah they used had been printed on the Island by 20th AF presses. No doubt to all of them it was the most impressive service of their lives.”

At least one photograph from the Seder is available on the Internet.

At the flickr Photostream of the Center for Jewish History (CJH), an image from the David Cedarbaum papers shows, “Jewish servicemen and women celebrate[ing] Passover together by eating matzo. A caption next to the photo notes that the woman pictured is one of only seven Jewish women stationed in Guam.” The woman in question is an Ensign in the Navy Nurse Corps. Copies of the Guam Haggadah can be seen on the table before both her, and, the happily distracted (!) serviceman to her left.

The next post will show the individual pages of the Guam Haggadah.

* Alternatively, “Send out My people that they may serve Me in the Wilderness.”