Palestine Regiment – Excursions in Jewish Military History and Jewish Genealogy

The Jewish Brigade: A Day With the Jewish Brigade – On Occupation in the City of Tornai, by Georges Blumberg – Aufbau, September 7, 1945

“But they know that they fought for a scattered but living people and a sunny land waiting for them.”

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An the same day of publication as the article “Jüdische Brigade begleitet Palästina-Reisende” (“Jewish Brigade Accompanies Palestine Travelers”) – September 7, 1945 – Aufbau published a much lengthier piece by Georges Blumberg about Jewish Brigade soldiers then stationed in the Belgian city of Tournai. Rather than focus on the experiences of Brigade members during wartime, the author instead presented several brief, somewhat enigmatic (yet all the more fascinating for the details that were left out) semi-biographical vignettes about Brigade soldiers, with a seeming focus on officers. These comprised glimpses into their life histories with glimpses into their professional and educational backgrounds, and, their thoughts what they shared in common as Jews, despite their often vastly different life experiences and educational backgrounds. Blumberg concludes his article with thoughts about the future of the Jewish people, in the (then) Yishuv, which would – not yet known in 1945 – in three years become the nation-state of Israel.

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Ein Tag mit der Jüdischen Brigade
Als Besatzung in der belgischen Stadt Tournai

Tournai in Belgien ist ein ziemlich grosser Ort, gerade gegenüber der französischen Grenze. Es hat alles, was man von einer Stadt in diesem Teil der Welt erwartet: ein Viertel, das von der Luftwaffe 1940 in Grund und Boden geblitzt wurde, eine Eisenbahnstation, die durch die Bombardierungen der Alliierten 1944 in Trümmer gelegt wurde, Fabriken, eine schöne, alte Kathedrale und Kasernen.

Vor dem Krieg war es die Garnison eines belgischen Regimentes; jetzt ist ein Bataillon der Jüdischen Brigade hier einquartiert. Der grösste Teil der Brigade ist bereits weiter nach Holland marschiert. Daher sieht man nur wenige Soldaten auf den verlassenen Strassen. Wir treffen einen — einen kleinen Burschen. Er scheint gefeiert zu haben und singt aus voller Kehle ein russisches Lied “Moyi dieti zadurieli” (Meine Kinder sind verrückt geworden). “Warum?”, fragen wir ihn. Zuerst scheint er überrascht, von einem “Amerikaner” auf Russisch angesprochen zu werden, aber etwas Jiddisch und Hebräisch helfen weiter. Er entschuldigt sich: “ich habe ein bisschen getrunken!… “ und er zeigt eine Flasche Branntwein, die er unter der Jacke seiner Uniform versteckt hatte. “Weisst Du, meine ganze Familie ist in Polen geblieben. Ich war auch in Polen, war Soldat in der polnischen Armee. 1939 wurden wir von den Russen gefangen genommen und in ein Kriegsgefangenenlager in Sibirien geschickt.” “War’s dort schlimm?” — “Na, gut kann’s doch nicht sein.” — “Aber ,sie bist Du nach Palästina und in die Brigade gekommen?” — “Frag’ lieber nicht.” — Wir fragten also nicht.

Wir gehen zusammen weiter zum Roten Kreuz Club. Zwei jüdische Militärpolizisten sitzen dort und sehen sehr amtlich aus. Nein, sie glauben nicht, dass die neue englische Regierung die Palästina-Politik ändern wird. Aber sie sind nicht dazu aufgelegt, Politik zu diskutieren. Am meisten interessiert sie, was mit der Brigade geschehen wird. Jezt werden sie nach Holland geschickt, um SS-Gefangene zu bewachen — es scheint aber, dass sie gerade so gern wieder nach Hause gehen würden. Sie sind Soldaten, wie alle anderen.

“Die Juden kommen!”

Tournai bei Nacht hat naturlich mit Paris bei Nacht gar kein Aehnlichkeit, Aber unsere Soldaten haben doch Rendezvous mit der Mädchen, sie tanzen und scheine mit der lokalen Bevölkerung sehr gut auszukommen. “Wir denken ja alle gleich über die Deutschen,” sagt einer.

Als die Brigade auf ihrem Weg von Italien nach Belgien durch Deutschland fuhr, waren ihre Last wagen mit Aufschriften bemalt. “Die Juden kommen – kein Volk, kein Führer, kein Reich.”

“Heute ist V-J Tag”, sagt junger Leutnant. “Du weisst doch dass das heisst ‘Victory for the Jews’”. — “Du meinst ‘Victory over the Jews’, entgegnet ein alterer Captain. Das reicht aber nicht, um eine politische Diskussion anzuregen. Hier gibt es keine politischen Diskussionen; es ist eine Offiziers-Messe, wie alle anderen Offiziers-Messen, mit Witzen Kartenspielen, Getränken und Fachsimpelei. Einige sehen sehr englisch aus, und die meisten Palästinenser sehen überhaupt nicht jüdisch aus. Man muss sich mit Gewalt daran erinnern, dass die um den Tisch sitzenden Männer in Wien, Warschau, Prag, Wilna und Jerusalem geboren wurden. Ein paar sind in Palästina geboren, einige kamen als kleine Jungen aus Russland und Polen dorthin, einige wenige wanderten erst kurz vor dem Kriege ein. Aber alle sprechen das gleiche fliessende Hebräisch, auch Englisch, Jiddisch und oft Russisch. Es bleibt also kein Zweifel, dass die ganze Gesellschaft jüdisch ist.

Manche haben ein leichtes Leben gehabt; sie waren in Europa, um Medizin oder Technik zu studieren. Einige haben in Palästina das abenteuerreiche, arbeitsschwere aber doch sorgenlose Leben des freien Immigranten geführt. Sie waren nacheinander Turnlehrer, Zeitungsverkäufer, Kellner, Metzger, Bäcker und Kerzen dreher. Sie haben in Steinbrüchen und im Strassenbau gearbeitet. Jetzt sind sie Offiziere, und dazu noch sehr typische. Die Soldaten grüssen sie stramm, und schneidig erwidern sie den Gruss.

Jüdische Kanonen

Einer zeigt mir die Baracken. “Hast Du schon einmal eine jüdische Kanone gesehen?” Sie haben hier wirklich die Fünfundzwanzig-Pfünder von der Brigade-Artillerie, gerade in einer Reihe aufgestellt, sauber, zugedeckt. Sie haben auch eine koschere Küche für die 57 Mann im Bataillon, die auf koscheres Essen bestehen. Aber die Langeweile beim Schälen die koscheren Kartoffeln ist der im anstossenden unkoscheren Raum sehr ähnlich. Wir fragen, ob und wie die koscher Essenden sich von den anderen unterscheiden. ‘‘Die Orthodoxen kämpfen noch fanatischer”, sagt unser Offizier.

Soldaten kommen mit verschiedenen Anliegen. Natürlich sagen sie “Adoni” statt “Sir”, aber wie sie stramm stehen und worüber sie reden — alles hat ganz gewöhnlich militärischen Charakter.

Die jüdische Brigade ist nicht rein palästinensisch. Sie hat eine kleine Beimischung von englischen Offizieren und Soldaten. Der da muss auch ein Engländer sein. Er ist über sechs Fuss gross, ist rothaarig und -häutig, mit riesigem Kopf, Händen und Füssen. Er sieht massiger aus als der Jeep, den er lenkt und seine Kehllaute hören sich kaledonisch an. Er wohnt in Glasgow und wurde in Irland geboren. Wie er in die Brigade gekommen ist? “Achtunddreissig Jahre lang versuchte ich, in die englische Marine hineinzukommen — sie wollten mich nicht haben, weil meine Eltern Russen sind. Mein Name ist Goldie. Ian Goldie. Ian bedeutet Israel”. Das ist also unser Schotte!

Einer der Offiziere sieht sehr jüdisch aus. Und gerade er hat die aller-englischste Aussprache. Er ist englischer Jude — Zionist. Ich frage ihn, was er für Nachkriegs-Pläne hat. “Zurückgehen in mein Rechtsanwaltsbüro in London”, ist die Antwort.

Hoffnung auf eine jüdische Armee

Keiner der Offiziere der Brigade nahm das Wort “Zionismus” auch nur in den Mund. Sie haben über die letzte zionistisch – politische Entwicklung keine Kommentare zu geben. Palästina ist ihr Land und das Land aller Juden; das ist eine Selbstverständlichkeit. Was sie interessiert, sind nicht politische Probleme, sondern die Probleme des täglichen Lebens: wie man Arbeit und Heimstätten für die zurückkehrenden Soldaten in Palästina schaffen kann. Ein paar hoffen, in der Armee bleiben zu können, d. h. wenn es eine Jüdische Armee geben wird. Sie vor trauen darauf, dass die Männer der Brigade zusammenhalten und ihre Probleme gemeinsam lösen werden.

Die Jüdische Brigade zieht weiter nach Holland. Dort wird sie zwischen der Nordsee und der Zuydersee stationiert sein, “be malkhut ale yam Arpalli” (im Bereich des nebel dräuenden Meeres), wie ein hebräischer Dichter sagt. Das ist ungefähr so weit, wie ein Ort in Europa von Palästina nur entfernt sein kann, und in einem Land, in dem nur ein Jude unter zehn am Leben blieb. Aber sie wissen, dass sie für ein verstreutes, aber lebendiges Volk und für ein sonniges Land, das auf sie wartet, gekämpft haben.

Georges Blumberg

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A Day With the Jewish Brigade
On Occupation in the Belgian City of Tournai

Aufbau
September 7, 1945

Tournai in Belgium is a pretty big place, just opposite the French border. It has everything one expects of a city in this part of the world: a quarter that was flattened by the German Air Force in 1940, a railroad station that was shattered by the Allied bombing in 1944, factories, one beautiful old cathedral, and barracks.

Before the war it was the garrison of a Belgian regiment; now a battalion of the Jewish Brigade is quartered here. Most of the brigade has already marched on to Holland. Therefore, only a few soldiers can be seen on the deserted streets. We meet one – a small guy. He seems to have celebrated and sings out of his throat a Russian song “Moyi dieti zadurieli” (My children have gone crazy). “Why?” We ask him. At first he seems surprised to be addressed by an “American” in Russian, but some Yiddish and Hebrew continue to help. He apologizes: “I had a bit of a drink!…” and he shows a bottle of brandy, which he had hidden under the jacket of his uniform. “You know, my whole family stayed in Poland. I was also in Poland; was a soldier in the Polish army. In 1939 we were captured by the Russians and sent to a POW camp in Siberia.” “Was it bad there?” – “Well, well, it can not be.” — “But you came to Palestine and the brigade?” – “Do not ask.” – So we did not ask.

We continue together to the Red Cross Club. Two Jewish military police sit there and look very official. No, they do not believe that the new British government will change the Palestine policy. But they are not inclined to discuss politics. They are most interested in what’s going to happen to the brigade. Now they are sent to Holland to guard S.S. prisoners – but it seems that they would love to go home. They are soldiers, like everyone else.

“The Jews Are Coming!”

Tournai at night, of course, has no resemblance to Paris at night, but our soldiers have rendezvous with the girls, they dance and seem to get along very well with the local population. “We all think the same about the Germans,” says one.

When the brigade was driving through Germany on their way from Italy to Belgium, their trucks were painted with inscriptions. “The Jews are coming – no people, no leaders, no empires.”

“Today is V-J day,” says the young lieutenant. “You know that means Victory for the Jews.” “You mean Victory over the Jews,” replies an older Captain. But that’s not enough to stimulate political discussion. There are no political discussions here; it’s an officer’s mess like all other officer fairs, with jokes playing cards, drinks and shop talk. Some look very English, and most Palestinians do not look Jewish at all. It is necessary to remember by force that the men sitting around the table were born in Vienna, Warsaw, Prague, Vilna and Jerusalem. A few were born in Palestine, some came there as little boys from Russia and Poland, a few immigrated shortly before the war. But all speak the same flowing Hebrew, also English, Yiddish and often Russian. So there is no doubt that the whole society is Jewish.

Some have had an easy life; they were in Europe to study medicine or technology. Some have led the adventurous, hard-working but carefree life of the free immigrant in Palestine. They were successively gymnastic teachers, newspaper sellers, waiters, butchers, bakers, and candle makers. They worked in quarries and in road construction. Now they are officers, and very typical. The soldiers greet them tightly, and they swiftly reciprocate the greeting.

Jewish Cannon

One shows me the barracks. “Have you ever seen a Jewish cannon?” They’ve really set up the Twenty-Five Pounders of the Brigade Artillery, straight in a row, clean, covered. They also have a kosher kitchen for the 57 men in the battalion who insist on kosher food. But the boredom when peeling the kosher potatoes is very similar to that in the adjoining non-kosher room. We ask if and how kosher people are different from others. “The Orthodox are fighting even more fanatically,” says our officer.

Soldiers come with different concerns. Of course, they say “Adoni” instead of “sir”, but how they stand and talk about what they are talking about – everything is usually of a military nature.

The Jewish Brigade is not purely Palestinian. It has a little admixture of English officers and soldiers. One must be an Englishman. He is over six feet tall, red-haired and -skinned, with a huge head, hands and feet. He looks more massive than the jeep he steers and his jeers sound Caledonian. He lives in Glasgow and was born in Ireland. How did he get into the brigade? “For thirty-eight years I tried to get into the British Navy – they did not want me because my parents are Russians. My name is Goldie. Ian Goldie. Ian means Israel.” So that’s our Scot!

One of the officers looks very Jewish. And he has the most English-speaking pronunciation. He is an English Jew – Zionist. I ask him what he has for post-war plans. “Going back to my law office in London” is the answer.

Hope for a Jewish army

None of the officers of the brigade even took the word “Zionism” into their mouths. They do not have to comment on the last Zionist political development. Palestine is their land and the land of all Jews; that is a matter of course. What interests them are not political problems but the problems of daily life: how to create work and homes for the returning soldiers in Palestine. Some hope to stay in the army, i.e. if there will be a Jewish army. They trust that the men of the brigade will stick together and solve their problems together.

The Jewish Brigade moves on to Holland. There it will be stationed between the North Sea and the Zuiderzee, “be malkhut ale yam Arpalli” (in the area of the mist-drenched sea), as a Hebrew poet says. This is about as far as a place in Europe can be removed from Palestine, and in a country where only one Jew under ten remained alive. But they know that they fought for a scattered but living people and a sunny land waiting for them.

Georges Blumberg

The Jewish Brigade: Jewish Brigade Accompanies Palestine Travelers – Aufbau, September 7, 1945

On the last day of August in 1945, the JTA – the Jewish Telegraphic Agency – issued a News Bulletin which carried a news item detailing the postwar work of members of the Jewish Brigade in conveying Jewish refugees from Europe to the Yishuv, and, South America. This occurred in cooperation with Allied authorities in Brussels, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (otherwise known as the Joint or JDC, the Jewish Agency, and HIAS (Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society). (HIAS, now a 501(c)(3), has changed dramatically in ethos since 1945 – as explained here and here – now in 2021 being a “Jewish” organization in title only.)

Just a week later, on September 7, 1945, a shortened German-language version of JTA’s press release was published in Aufbau. A transcript of the news item is given below, followed by the and then, an English-language translation of that item.

The article is reflective of the postwar transformation of the Jewish Brigade’s role, from one of warfare, to that – unofficially but effectively – of rescue, relief, and reconstruction of the Jewish future.

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Trucks of Jewish Brigade Bring Jews from Belgium to France for Palestine Sailing

JTA Daily News Bulletin

Volume XII, No. 200, Friday, August 31, 1945

Twenty trucks of the Jewish Brigade, led by Major T. Kaspi, arrived here today from Brussels with more than 200 Jews from Belgium who were liberated from camps in Germany and who are planning to sail from Marseille for Palestine.

The steamer on which the liberated Jews will travel will also carry about 300 other Jews to Palestine, including 360 from Switzerland, 204 from France and about 200 from various camps in Germany and from an UNRRA camp at Philippeville, Algeria. Allied military authorities in Brussels made it possible for the Jewish Brigade to bring the Jews from Belgium to Paris where they will stay in the Hotel Lutetia, maintained by the French Ministry for Repatriated Deportees, until they leave for Marseille from where they will sail on September 2nd.

The Hias-Ica [a misprint – should read “HIAS-ICA”] office here today reports that the very complicated arrangements for the departure of the approximately 1,000 Jewish emigrants were made by the Hias-Ica [sic] in cooperation with the French, American and British authorities and with the aid of the Joint Distribution Committee and the Jewish Agency for Palestine. Thanks to the sympathetic cooperation of the French authorities, every emigrant will receive en route to Marseille hot beverages and a sufficient quantity of food without ration cards.

(A small group of Jewish survivors has left Marseille on the first French boat to sail directly from France to South America since the country’s liberation, according to a cable received today from Paris by Ilja Dijour, executive secretary of the HIAS-ICA headquarters in New York.)

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Here’s the German-language summary of the item, as it appeared in Aufbau…

Jüdische Brigade begleitet Palästina-Reisende

In Paris sind unter Führung von Major T. Kaspi zwanzig Lastwagen der Jüdischen Brigade aus Brüssel eingetroffen, die über 200 Juden aus Belgien — ehemalige Insassen deutscher Konzentrationslager — nach Frankreich brachten. Diese sollen von Marseille nach Palästina ausreisen. Ihr Dampfer nimmt ferner rund 800 Juden mit, davon 360 aus der Schweiz, 240 aus Frankreich und etwa 200 Juden aus verschiedenen deutschen Lagern und dem UNRRA-Lager Philippeville in Algerien.

Die alliierten Militärbehörden in Brüssel ermöglichten es der Jüdischen Brigade, die Juden von Belgien nach Paris zu transportieren, wo sie einstweilen im Hotel Lutetia untergebracht wurden, das dem französischen Ministerium für die Gefangenen, Deportierten und Repatriierten untersteht. Ihre Abreise von Marseille war für den 2. September vorgesehen. Das hiesige Büro der HIAS berichtet, dass sie die langwierigen Verhandlungen für den Abtransport der rund 1000 jüdischen Palästina – Emigranten im Zusammenwirken mit dem Joint und französischen, amerikanischen und britischen Behörden, erfolgreich zum Abschluss bringen konnte.

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…and, an English-language translation:

Jewish Brigade Accompanies Palestine Travelers

Under the leadership of Major T. Kaspi, twenty lorries of the Jewish Brigade from Brussels arrived in Paris, bringing more than 200 Jews from Belgium – former inmates of German concentration camps – to France. These are to leave Marseille for Palestine. Their steamer also carries around 800 Jews, including 360 from Switzerland, 240 from France and about 200 Jews from various German camps and the UNRRA Philippeville camp in Algeria.

The Allied military authorities in Brussels enabled the Jewish Brigade to transport the Jews from Belgium to Paris, where they were temporarily housed in the Hotel Lutetia, which reports to the French Ministry of Prisoners, Deportees and Repatriates. Her departure from Marseille was scheduled for 2 September. The local HIAS office reported that it was able to successfully conclude the lengthy negotiations for the removal of the approximately 1,000 Jewish Palestinians – emigrants in cooperation with the Joint and French, American and British authorities.

The Jewish Brigade: With the Jewish Brigade to Austria, by PFC Hans Lichtwitz – Aufbau, June 15, 1945

“Die Juden kommen!”
“The Jews are coming!”

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“Kamerad, hast du vielleicht eiene Zigarette?”
“Ich bin kein Kamerad, ich bin ein Jude.”

“Comrade, do you have a cigarette?”
“I’m not a comrade, I’m a Jew.”

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It is Erev Shabbat – the Jewish refugees have invited us to a celebration.
The rabbi of the brigade has come and brought a sefer Torah.
We are six soldiers of the brigade and two Jewish soldiers of the English garrison.
The tables are covered in white.
During prayer, most of them break out in a shattering sob.
You can not believe it:
a Jewish officer prays,
Jewish soldiers in their midst,
they themselves free.

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On June 15, 1945, Aufbau published the second of Pfc Hans Lichtwitz’s articles about the experiences and impressions of Jewish Brigade soldiers just before, and shortly after, the end of the Second World War in Europe. The author’s photo, from Aufbau’s October 19, 1945 issue, is seen below.

Unser Mitarbeiter Pvt. Hans Lichtwitz von der Jüdischen Brigade

Das Bild zeigt Pvt. Lichtwitz bei einem Besuch im Displaced Persons-Lager in Oberammergau

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Our employee Pvt. Hans Lichtwitz from the Jewish Brigade
The picture shows Pvt. Lichtwitz during a visit to the Displaced Persons camp in Oberammergau

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In this substantive and meaningful piece of reporting (filed from Klagenfurt, Austria), Lichtwitz focuses on post-surrender encounters – typically of a very brief yet emotionally laden and highly symbolic nature – with members of the S.S., Wermacht, and civilians in southern Austria and northern Italy. There’s a very revealing and psychologically astute account of Lichtwitz’s encounter with the Austrian crew of a railroad train, during which – and probably long after – he pondered just what, exactly, these men did during the war. (He didn’t ask; they didn’t say.) Then a description of the scale and nature of physical devastation caused by the war, and, the movement of masses of people of different nationalities (refugees, former prisoners of war, and liberated slave laborers) through that city. (To home? To where?) The final six paragraphs of the article – smartly saved ’til the article’s end, for a fitting kind of literary denouement – center around the Brigade’s encounter with 120 Jewish refugees in the former concentration camp at Admont, near Klagenfurt, and the celebration of Erev Shabbat by soldiers and survivors.

The article ends with the singing of the Hatikva.

Or, does it begin?

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Paralleling the post about Lichtwitz’s Aufbau article of May 4, 1945, this post likewise includes a transcript of the article’s original German text, followed by an English-language translation.

Mit der “Jüdischen
Brigade” nach Oesterreich
Von Pfc. HANS LICHTWITZ

Klagenfurt, im Juni.

Die Wochen der Erholung und Entspannung nach dem Verlassen der Frontlinie sind zu Ende. Die “Jewish Brigade” ist in Bewegung. Der lange Zug, Automobile, Kanonen, Panzerwagen, fährt durch die Städte, die noch vor kurzem im Feindesgebiet lagen. Ueber die Strassen Norditaliens flutet eine grosse Völkerwanderung: unendliche Kolonnen befreiter Arbeiter und Kriegsgefangener aller Nationen, in die sich der endlose Zug deutscher Kriegsgefangener mischt. Ihr aller Weg führt nach dem Süden — und zu gleicher Zeit und auf denselben Strecken begibt sich der gewaltige Tross der VIII Armee nach dem Norden.

An uns vorbei werden grosse SS-Abteilungen in die Gefangenschaft geführt. Das Zusammentreffen mit dem langen Convoy der Jewish Brigade mag für sie ein besonderes Erlebnis gewesen sein. Unsere Autos sind mit blau-weissen Fahnen und dem Mögen Dovid geschmückt. An den Seiten prangen grosse Anschriften

“Die Juden kommen!”

und alle möglichen Naziparolen mit umgekehrten Vergleichen. Wie kläglich sehen diese “Herren der Welt’’ von gestern heute aus! Diese erste Begegnung mit ihnen — die natürlich alles eher als ruhig zuging — erregt jeden Einzelnen vou uns so sehr, dass wir gar nicht richtig die herrliche Gebirgslandschaft geniessen, durch die die Fahrt gebt.

Und dann, nach einigen Tagen, kommt der grosse Moment, an den wir so oft gedacht, der uns so sehr beschäftigt hat, auf den wir seit Jahren warten: das Betreten des ehemaligen Dritten Reiches. Ich fahre als Wache auf der Lokomotive eines Zuges, der Material für die Besatzungsarmee führt. In Tarvis werden Maschine und Zugspersonal gewechselt; österreichische Lokomotivführer und Heizer sind nun meine Gesellschaft. Ihr erster Blick fällt auf den Mögen Dovid an meiner Uniform, dann streifen mich ihre Augen verlegen. Kein Gruss wird gewechselt. Einige Male versuchen sie während der Fahrt ein Gespräch zu beginnen — ich antworte nicht. Nicht allein, weil es Eisenhower verboten hat — ich kann einfach nicht mit ihnen sprechen. Weiss Gott, was das für Menschen sind, die so abgearbeitet und schlecht aussehen; weiss Gott, was sie von Hitler und während Hitler gewesen sind. Aber das grosse Fragezeichen, das jeden Menschen, dem wir von nun an begegnen, umschwebt, lässt die Möglichkeit, ja Wahrscheinlich keit zu: auch er hat in dieser oder jener Form mitgekan.

Am Bahnhof in Klagenfurt, von dem nur ein einziger Schutthaufen übriggeblieben ist, wendet sich ein deutscher Kriegsgefangener bettelnd an mich: “Kamerad, hast du vielleicht eiene Zigarette?”

“Ich bin kein Kamerad, ich bin ein Jude.”

Der Weg in die Stadt führt durch völlig zerstörte Viertel. Die Strassen sind tief aufgerissen. Nur schmale Gebsteige sind freigelegt. Auch im Zentrum der Stadt sind viele Spuren der alliierten Bombardements zu sehen. Die Nazis haben krampfhaft versucht, aus dieser Zerstörung Propagand – Kapital zu schlagen. Sie haben an den stehengebliebenen Hauswänden Plakate angebracht: “Das ist der Sozialismus unserer Befreier.”

“We werden unsere Befreier empfangen mit Revolvern und Granaten”. An den Anschlagsäulen prangen noch die Plakate, die zu einer Massenkundgebung der NSDAP am 20 April N. J. unter der Parole “Adolf Hitler führt zum Siege” einladen. Der grosste Teil der letzten amtlichen Verlautbarungen wendet sich gegen Zweifler und Pessimisten.

In den Hauptstrassen räumen deutsche Kriegsgefangene unter Bewachung den Schutt auf. Verdutzt blicken sie auf uns. Es ist zum ersten Mal seit vielen Monaten, dass wir leichten Herzens durch diese Trümmerwelt schreiten. Bisher hatte in Italien der Anblick der Zerstörung und der verstörten Menschen irgendeine Stelle des Mitgefühls in uns wachgerufen. Nun schweigen unsere Herzen kalt, alle Gefühle sind erloschen.

In der Stadt herrscht ein Tohuwabohu, an das sich Auge und Ohr nur schwer gewöhnen können. Tag und Nacht strömen aus Süddeutschland und Oesterreich zehntausende fremder Arbeiter hierher — Ukrainer, Polen, Tschechen, Italiener, Jugoslawen; französische Ex-Gefangene kommen in grosser Zahl aus der von den Russen okkupierten Zone die Reste der deutschen Armee, die sich Alexander ergeben hat, kampieren noch in der Umgebung; deutsche Flüchtlinge aus dem russischen Teil Oesterreichs, jugoslawische Michaillowic – Flüchtlinge — das alles drängt sich hier zusammen. Dazu, die Okkupations-Armee — ein buntes, verändertes Bild, bis Ordnung in der Stadt wird, aufrechterhalten durch britische Militär – Polizei, die städtische Polizei — in deutschen Uniformen mit einer weissen Armbinde “Allied Military Government Civil Police” und durch das “Oesterreichische Freikorps”, politische Flüchtlinge, die auf Seite Titos gekämpft hatten — in deutschen Uniformen mit rot-weissroter Armbinde.

Die meisten Geschäfte sind entweder zerstört oder geschlossen. Im grössten Kaffeehaus der Stadt ist die NAAFI, das Soldaten-Restaurant, untergebracht. Kärntner Kellnerinnen und Kellner servieren mit Dienstbeflissenheit und Zuvorkommenheit; eine österreichische Kapelle musiziert, der Primgeiger wirft, wirklich werhende Blicke nach allen Seiten.

Die einheimische Bevölkerung ist — und dieser Eindruck verstärkt sich, je mehr man durch die Strassen und Gässchen streift und beobachtet, was rings um einen vorgeht — von einer Freundlichkeit, die bis zur schrankenlosen Anbiederung geht. Man hatte eine Distanziertheit zur Besatzungs-Armee erwartet, und nun werden die fremden Soldaten wie vornehme Sommerfrischler am Wörther-See behandelt.

Die VIII. Armee gibt eine deutsche Tageszeitung “Kärntner Nachrichten” und eine Wandzeitung heraus, die nicht nur verbreitet, sondern auch gelesen werden. Diese Menschen sind gewohnt Obrigkeiten blind anzuerkennen. Gestern haben sie mit der gleichen Aufmerksamkeit die Nazipresse gelesen. Was in ihrem Inneren vorgeht, weiss man natürlich nicht. Aber jüdische Flüchtlinge, die sich schon lange unter ihnen als ausländische “nichtjüdische” Arbeiter bewegten, erzählen uns, dass der Glaube an den Nationalsozialismus zusammengebrochen ist. An seine Stelle sind Angst und Neugierde getreten. Die Klagenfurter betrachten es als ein Glück, in die englische Zone geraten und vorläufig vom Tito-Alhdruck befreit zu sein. Ihr Hauptinteresse konzentriert sich auf die Lebensmittelversorgung. Alles ist sehr knapp, und ein Hungerwinter steht bevor.

Wir haben in Klagenfurt 120 Juden des Konzentrationslagers Admont gefunden. Als sie uns auf der Strasse zum ersten Mal sahen, blieben sie wie versteinert stehen: Soldaten mit dem Mögen Dovid! Sie hatten vorher keine Ahnung von unserer Existenz. Noch vor zwei Wochen waren sie im Konzentrationslager unter SS-Behandlung. Am 5 Mai erhielt der Lagerkommandant den Befehl, sämtliche Juden zu erschiessen. Aber einige SS-Offiziere weigerten sich angesichts des britischen Vormarsches diesen Befehl auszuführen. Man brachte die Juden am nächsten Tage nach Klagenfurt und überliess sie in dem dort herrschenden Chaos ihrem Schicksal. Sie stammen fast durchweg aus Ungarn und Karpatho-Russland.

Auch von anderen Seiten tauchen Juden auf, die hier lange Zeit mit gefälschten Dokumenten als Nichtjuden gelobt haben. Von ihnen erfahren wir von zahlreichen ähnlichen Fällen aus anderen Orten Kärnten und Tirols.

Unsere Hilfe beginnt sogleich. Vom Tage der “Entdeckung” an gibt es für sie kein quälendes Ernährungsproblem mehr, wie bei den anderen Flüchtlingen. Listen werden angelegt und weitergeleitet. Sie spüren genau, sie sind nicht mehr verloren.

Zu Dritt begeben wir Soldaten uns auf die Suche nach der einstigen Synagoge. In einer ganz zerbombten Gegend finden wir sie. Das einzige Haus in der Platzgasse, das noch das Aussehen eines Hauses hat. Aber das Innere ist zerstört und verschmutzt. An der Saaldecke sind noch hebräische Aufschriften zu lesen, die anscheinend von den Nazis, die hier ihre “Volkswohlfahrtsstelle” und später ein Flüchtlingsasyl unterhalten hatten, als Kuriosum belassen worden waren. Auch diese Synagoge wird von den Nazis gereinigt werden. Aber in keinem von uns erwacht der Wunsch, hier wieder eine jüdische Kehilla zu sehen. Es wäre eine Illusion, wenn irgendjemand glauben sollte, hier oder an einem anderen Platze in Deutschland Wiedersehen mit alten Zeiten, mit einstigen Lebensbedingungen und den Menschen von anno dazumal feiern zu können.

Es ist Erew Schabbat — die jüdischen Flüchtlinge haben uns zu einer Feier eingeladen. Der Rabbiner der Brigade ist gekommen und hat eine Sefer Thora mitgebracht. Wir sind sechs Soldaten der Brigade und zwei jüdische Soldaten von der englischen Garnison. Die Tische sind weiss gedeckt. Während des Gebetes brechen die meisten in ein erschütterndes Schluchzen aus. Sie können es nicht fassen: ein jüdischer Offizier betet vor, jüdische Soldaten in ihrer Mitte, sie selbst frei.

Wir singen die Hatikvah. Wie oft haben wir sie in diesem Jahre bei den verschiedensten Anlässen gesungen: Am 2. November, als uns die Schiffe nach Europa brachten, am Tage bevor wir uns in die Frontlinie begaben, am Grabe unserer Gefallenen, beim Dankgottes dienst am V-Tage. Aber diesmal ist es ein besonderes Erlebnis. “Die Hoffnung”, an die sich diese Menschen in sehr finsteren Momenten geklammert haben, ist Erfüllung geworden. Sie ist nach ihrem Zusammentreffen mit uns gross und grösser geworden. Immer kleiner wird die Zahl der Weinenden. Die Blicke hellen sich auf und sie stehen nun, während wir die Hymne unseres Volkes singen, so gerade und aufrecht wie wir.

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With the “Jewish Brigade” to Austria
By PFC HANS LICHTWITZ

Klagenfurt, in June.

The weeks of rest and relaxation after leaving the front line are over. The “Jewish Brigade” is on the move. The long procession, automobiles, cannon, armored cars, drive through the cities that were recently in enemy territory. A great migration of peoples flows over the streets of northern Italy: endless columns of liberated workers and prisoners of war of all nations into which the endless train of German prisoners of war mingles. All their roads lead to the south – and at the same time and on the same routes, the mighty unit of the 8th Army moves to the north.

Past us, large S.S. units are being led into captivity. The encounter with the long convoy of the Jewish Brigade may have been a special experience for them. Our cars are adorned with blue and white flags and Shield of David. On the sides, big addresses stand out

“The Jews are coming!”

and all kinds of Nazi polls with inverse comparisons. How miserable these yesterday’s “Men of the World” look today! This first encounter with them – which, of course, everything was rather quiet – arouses in every single one of us so much that we do not really enjoy the beautiful mountain scenery through which the journey goes.

And then, after a few days, comes the great moment we so often thought of, which has been so busy for us that we have been waiting for years: entering the former Third Reich. As a guard, I drive on the locomotive of a train carrying material for the occupation army. In Tarvis [probably Tarvisio, Italy], the machine and train crew are changed; Austrian locomotive drivers and stokers are now my company. Their first glimpse of the Shield of David on my uniform, then my eyes wander in embarrassment. No greeting will be exchanged. Some times they try to start a conversation while driving – I do not answer. Not only because it has been banned by Eisenhower – I just can not talk to them. God knows what kind of people they are, who work so well and look bad; God knows, what they got from Hitler during Hitler’s [rule]. But the big question mark, which embraces every person we meet from now on, allows the possibility, indeed the probability, that he also participated in one form or another.

At the train station in Klagenfurt, of which only a single pile of rubble is left, a German prisoner of war turns to me begging: “Comrade, do you have a cigarette?”

“I’m not a comrade, I’m a Jew.”

The way into the city leads through completely destroyed quarters. The streets are torn open. Only narrow platforms are exposed. Also in the center of the city are many traces of the Allied bombardment. The Nazis have been desperately trying to capitalize on this destruction of propaganda. They have placed posters on the left wall of the house: “This is the socialism of our liberators.”

“We will receive our liberators with revolvers and grenades.” On the advertising columns are still the posters that invite to a mass rally of the NSDAP on 20 April under the slogan “Adolf Hitler leads to victory”. Most of the latest official statements are directed against doubters and pessimists.

In the main streets German prisoners of war clean up the rubble under guard. They look at us in surprise. It is the first time in many months that we pass through this world of debris with a light heart. So far, in Italy, the sight of destruction and disturbed people has evoked some place of compassion in us. Now our hearts are silent cold, all feelings are gone.

There is a hustle and bustle in the city that is hard to get used to. Day and night, tens of thousands of foreign workers pour out of southern Germany and Austria – Ukrainians, Poles, Czechs, Italians, Yugoslavs; French ex-prisoners come in large numbers out of the zone occupied by the Russians. The remains of the German army, which has surrendered to Alexander, are still camping in the area; German refugees from the Russian part of Austria, Yugoslav Michailowicz refugees – all this is crowded together here. In addition, the Occupation Army – a colorful, altered image, until order in the city is maintained by British military police, the city police – in German uniforms with a white armband “Allied Military Government Civil Police” and by the “Austrian Free Corps”, political refugees who had fought on the side of Tito – in German uniforms with red and white armbands.

Most shops are either destroyed or closed. The largest coffee house in the city houses the NAAFI [Naval, Army, and Air Force Institutes], the soldier’s restaurant. Carinthian waitresses and waiters serve with service and courtesy; an Austrian band plays music, [the lader] genuinely making glances appear on all sides.

The native population is – and this impression intensifies, the more one wanders through the streets and alleyways and observes what is going on around one – from a friendliness that goes as far as a boundless approach. They had expected a detachment from the occupation army, and now the foreign soldiers are being treated like noble summer visitors to Lake Wörthersee.

The 8th Army publishes a German newspaper “Carinthian News” and a wall newspaper, which are not only distributed but also read. These people are used to blindly accepting authorities. Yesterday they read the Nazi press with the same attention. Of course you do not know what’s going on inside. But Jewish refugees, who have long been among them as foreign “non-Jewish” workers, tell us that the belief in National Socialism has collapsed. In its place fear and curiosity have entered. The people of Klagenfurt consider it a stroke of luck to enter the English zone and for the time being to be exempted from Tito-Alhdruck [?]. Their main interest is the supply of food. Everything is very close, and a winter of hunger is imminent.

We found 120 Jews of the concentration camp Admont in Klagenfurt. [See this excellent image (copyrighted; oh well!…) from the Simon Wiesenthal Center Library and Archives.] When they saw us on the street for the first time, they stopped dead in their tracks: Soldiers with the Shield of David! They had no idea about our existence before. Only two weeks ago they were in the concentration camp under S.S. handling. On May 5, the camp commandant was ordered to shoot all the Jews. But some S.S. officers refused to carry out this order in the face of the British advance. The Jews were brought to Klagenfurt the next day, leaving them to their fate in the chaos that prevailed there. They are almost all from Hungary and Karpatho-Russia.

From other sources, too, Jews appear who have long praised non-Jews for using fake documents. From them we learn from numerous similar cases from other places in Carinthia and Tyrol.

Our help starts immediately. From the day of the “discovery” there is no longer a nagging food problem for them, as with the other refugees. Lists are created and forwarded. They feel exactly, they are no longer lost.

On the third, we soldiers go in search of the former synagogue. In a completely bombed area we find it. The only house in Platzgasse that still has the look of a house. But the interior is destroyed and polluted. On the ceiling Hebrew inscriptions are still to be read, which had apparently been left as a curiosity by the Nazis, who had maintained here their “public welfare center” and later a refugee asylum. This synagogue will also be cleaned by the Nazis. But none of us wished to see a Jewish Kehilla here again. It would be an illusion if anyone believed that they could celebrate a reunion with old times, with former living conditions and the people of yesteryear, here or in another place in Germany.

It is Erev Shabbat – the Jewish refugees have invited us to a celebration. The rabbi of the brigade has come and brought a sefer Torah. We are six soldiers of the brigade and two Jewish soldiers of the English garrison. The tables are covered in white. During prayer, most of them break out in a shattering sob. You can not believe it: a Jewish officer prays, Jewish soldiers in their midst, they themselves free.

We sing the Hatikva. How many times have we sung it at various occasions this year? On the 2nd of November, when the ships brought us to Europe, the day before we went to the front line, at the graves of our dead, at the Thanksgiving service on the V-day. But this time it’s a special experience. “The hope” to which these people have clung in very dark moments has become fulfilled. It has become great and greater after meeting us. The number of crying people is getting smaller and smaller. The eyes brighten and they stand, as we sing the hymn of our people, as straight and upright as we are.

The Jewish Brigade: Our Boys From the Jewish Brigade Write to Aufbau – September 7, 1945

All of you remind me that our small and poor nation must be and will be united till our big hope is realized – Erez [Eretz Yisrael]. – Pte. G. Levy.

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September 7, 1945. Four months having transpired since the Germany’s defeat (albeit the war with Japan only ended on September 2), Aufbau took the unusual step of publishing an English-language news items comprised of letters from four soldiers of the Jewish Brigade. However, as indicated by the article’s sub-title, these represent only a small sample of the “dozens” of letters received by the newspaper, the commonality among them being allusion to and sincere acknowledgement for a “parcel” – contents not indicated; one wonders what was included! – presumably sent by the newspaper to Brigade soldiers.

In the final letter, a Private Levy mentions having left home and family in Poland, followed by a literary ellipsis (“…”), indicating that Aufbau’s editors thought it necessary to leave the remainder of the sentence unpublished. Which makes one wonder, in 2021, about the unknown parts of the Private’s story.

As far as the Private’s hope for unity in the Jewish nation, well, in 2021, that is a goal yet unattained.

But, it is a noble; hopeful; aspiration.

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Our Boys from the Jewish
Brigade Write to “Aufbau”

Following are excerpts from dozens of letters which
“Aufbau” received from Palestinian soldiers serving with
the Jewish Brigade.

After coming back from a hard convoy trip for over hundreds of off miles through North Italy to Austria, I found your parcel… I wish to express my thanks in my own name as well aa in the name of my comrades who were very happy to receive your parcels but, owing to a lack of knowledge of the English language, are unable to thank you themselves. More than all the contents of your package even we appreciate the great thing you are doing. It helps us to get that certain feeling of satisfaction, which has been missing as long as we were aware of the fact that only a lot of our comrades received parcels and gifts from their relatives. It is hard to express the feelings of a soldier far away from his home (if he’s got any at all), but you really gave those unlucky ones who are all alone a feeling that they are not forgotten in a certain way. Though the sender is unknown us and no relative of ours, we appreciate your gift as if it had been sent from home.

Is it possible to obtain your newspaper for a few of our German-speaking men?

Sgt. S. Ben-Tuvi.

I wish to thank you for the parcel I received last week in the name of the “Aufbau.” It was much more to me than a parcel – a concrete sign of Jewish fellowship throughout the world.

Your paper is well known to us all as a brave fighter for Zionism and the defense of Jewish honor everywhere.

Moreover, you gave me double pleasure because I had something to give to our dear brothers which we saved from various concentration camps in Germany. There is also a good number of rescued children, all orphans. They passed through five and a half years of war, through camps like Auschwitz, Buchenwald and Dachau, where their parents were murdered.

Everyone of us knows that it is our greatest duty to give all help possible and the only one that is really constructive. We are disposed to do everything to bring them home, to the only Jewish home in the world. I also thank you in the name of those children to whom your parcels brought the feeling that they are not alone and forgotten.

Pte. J. Schelasnitzki.

We want to thank your organization most heartily for the great surprise of your parcels which have reached us yesterday. Not only the parcels but also the good thoughts which prompted and accompanied them caused great joy.

May we add that we think ‘Our Boys’ Club” is a great idea, proving again the complete unity between Jews wherever they may be.

Hoping that we can thank you personally some day, we are,

Pte. Benno Katz
Pte. E. Growald

I was very pleased with your kind parcel It came as a great surprise, as l haven’t received any gift since I joined the Army and left my house and family in Poland… It is of great importance to a Jewish soldier to have friends somewhere. All of you remind me that our small and poor nation must be and will be united till our big hope is realized Erez.

Pte. G. Levy.

The Jewish Brigade: With the Jewish Brigade On the Front, by PFC Hans Lichtwitz – Aufbau, May 4, 1945

“…the hundreds of thousands of Jewish soldiers in the armies of the allies remain mostly anonymous as Jews.”

Among the 37 articles published in Aufbau concerning the Jewish Brigade were four authored by PFC Hans Lichtwitz, whose photo – from Aufbau’s October 19, 1945 issue – is seen below.

Unser Mitarbeiter Pvt. Hans Lichtwitz von der Jüdischen Brigade
Das Bild zeigt Pvt. Lichtwitz bei einem Besuch im Displaced Persons-Lager in Oberammergau

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Our employee Pvt. Hans Lichtwitz from the Jewish Brigade
The picture shows Pvt. Lichtwitz during a visit to the Displaced Persons camp in Oberammergau

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The first of Lichwitz’s articles was published on May 4 of that year, only four days before the end of the war in Europe. In this simple and short piece, the author discusses the unit’s reputation in the Italian theater, despite its relatively small size, and, the sense of duty, moral urgency, and high level of morale that characterized the fighting spirit of its soldiers.

This post includes a transcript of the article’s original German text, followed by an English-language translation.

Mit der Jüdsichen Brigade
An der Front

“Ihr seid von der Jewish Brigade? Ja, wir haben schon von euch gehört” — wo immer man auch in Italien mit Soldaten der Aliierten zusammentrifft, beginnt das Gespräch mit einer ähnlichen Wendung.

Woher kommt es, dass die Brigade so bekannt ist? Liegt das an einer besonderen Publizität, die ihr mangels anderer Sensationen zuteil wurde? Gewiss nicht! Unser Einzug in die Frontlinie fiel in die Zeit der grossen Offensive im Westen und des beginnenden Zusammenklappens in Deutschland — die Zeitungen hatten wahrlich genug andere Sensationen. Oder hat die Brigade besondere Bravourstücke aufgeführt, wodurch sie für die alten Frontkämpfer an Attraktivkraft gewann? Auch das nicht. Wir sind in einem verhältnismässig kleinen Frontabschnitt eingesetzt worden und haben keine aussergewöhnlichen Aufgaben zugewiesen bekommen. Die Brigade hat sie mit Eifer, Ernst und einem Tempo erfüllt, die allerdings den militärischen Fachleuten, die Greenhorns an der Front immer skeptisch betrachten, Respekt eingeflösst hat.

Aber ich glaube, es ist etwas anderes, das die Soldaten der Jewish Brigade mit einem Schlage in den Augen ihrer Verbündeten gleichwertig erscheinen liess. Was an diesen Neulingen im Frontgebiet auffiel, war ein besonders ausgeprägter “spirit”, ein Kampfgeist und eine Frontbeflissenheit, die nicht alltäglich sind. Dieser jüdische Soldat bildet einen schreienden Gegensatz zu seinem Prototyp in der antisemitischen Propaganda, die nicht erst seit Hitler als seine markanteste Eigenschaft die Drückebergerei von jeglicher Frontarbeit in tausenderlei Variationen nachzuweisen versucht hat. (Dass gerade das Gegenteil davon wahr ist, war nicht immer so evident, da die hunderttausende jüdischen Soldaten in den Armeen der Verbündeten als Juden meist anonym bleiben.)

Das Aussergewöhnliche in diesem Falle beginnt schon mit der Freiwilligkeit unseres Militärdienstes. Kein Gesetz, kein Staat hat diese Soldaten in die Uniform gezwungen, sie sind aus freien Stucken gekommen. An der ganzen Front gibt es nichts derartiges. Aber sie haben es nicht bei der Freiwilligkeit allein bewenden lassen. Sie wollen auch unbedingt an aktiven Kampfhandlungen teilnehmen. Sie wollen zur Front. Und es gibt eine Reihe kleiner Episoden aus ihrem Leben die sich sehr schnell herumgesprochen haben. Als die Brigade vor ihrer Ueberfahrt nach Europa reorganisiert wurde, haben viele in ihren Reihen, die wegen Ueberschreitung der für Infanterie-Soldaten üblichen Altersgrenze nicht mitgenommen werden sollten, dagegen einen verzweifelten Kampf geführt. Kopfschütteln und Staunen hatte damals unter den nichtjüdischen Soldaten der Fall jenes Soldaten hervorgerufen, der einige Tage in Hungerstreik getreten war, bis er seinen Willen, zur Front mitgenommen zu werden, durchsetzte Das Gleiche hat sich nach Abschluss der Ausbildung in Italien wiederholt. Wieder gab es Soldaten, die aus Gesundheitsgründen zurückgeschickt werden sollten und die kein Mittel unversucht liessen – um zur Front zu gelangen.

Als die Brigade ihre erste Stellung an der Front bezogen hatte, ereignete sich der folgende kleine Vorfall in einem Spital hinter der Front. Einem Soldaten der Brigade, der wegen einer kleinen Augenbeschwerde dorthin zur Konsultation geschickt worden war, wurde vom Arzt nach der Untersuchung mitgeteilt, er müsste zwei Wochen im Spital behandelt werden. Daraufhin erhielt der Arzt die ihn nicht wenig verblüffende Antwort: “Das ist ausgeschlossen, ich muss noch heute zu meiner Kompanie zurück”. Der Arzt glaubte nicht richtig verstanden zu haben und liess durch den Dolmetscher fragen, warum er denn nicht im Spital bleiben wolle. “Meine Kompanie ist in der vordersten Linie und wir brauchen jeden Mann. Ich muss unbedingt zurück.” Der Arzt unterbrach daraufhin für einige Minuten seine Arbeit, begab sich in den Warteraum und erzählte den Vorfall der grossen Zahl Patienten aller Nationen. “Und das ist nicht der erste Fall von dieser Brigade!”

Die Soldaten der Jewish Brigade haben ein ganz unübliches militärisches Vergehen erfunden: “Desertion zur Front’”. Sie versuchen mit allen Mitteln die Uebergangsperiode nach der Entlassung aus dem Spital und der Rückkehr zur Truppe abzukürzen. Einer meiner Freunde ersuchte seinen schottischen Bettnachbar im Spital um einen Rat, wie er es erreichen könnte, sobald als möglich, ohne erst in ein Transit-Camp gebracht werden, zu seiner Kompanie zurückkehren zu können. “Ich verstehe Euch jüdische Soldaten wirklich nicht”, antwortete der erstaunte Schotte. “Ihr Juden wisst doch immer so gut Bescheid im Leben! Hier geht es gerade um das Gegenteil: wie man es erreichen kann, solange als möglich sich im Transit-Camp herumzudrehen. Und Ihr wollt direkt zurück!”

Zu den gefährlichsten Nacht-Patrouillen ins Gebiet des Feindes meldeten sich immer viel mehr Freiwillige als erforderlich waren.

Man könnte noch eine ganze Anzahl ähnlicher Beispiele anführen. Ihre Summe ergibt dann das Bild einer Einheit, vor der man im Frontgebiet Respekt hat. Und das ist wohl auch die Lösung des Rätsels der grossen Publizität ringsum die Jewish Brigade.

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With the Jewish Brigade
On the Front

“You are from the Jewish Brigade? Yes, we have already heard of you “- wherever you meet Italian soldiers in Italy, the conversation begins with a similar twist.

Where does it come from that the brigade is so well known? Is that due to a special publicity that it was given for lack of other sensations? Certainly not! Our entry into the front line coincided with the time of the great offensive in the West and the beginning of collapse in Germany – the newspapers really had enough other sensations. Or did the brigade perform special bravura pieces, which made it attractive for the old front fighters? Not even that. We have been deployed in a relatively small front section and have not been assigned any extraordinary tasks. The brigade has filled them with zeal, and an earnest pace, but it has given respect to the military professionals who are always skeptical about Greenhorns at the front.

But I believe it is something else that made the soldiers of the Jewish Brigade equal in the eyes of their allies. What was striking about these newcomers in the front area was a particularly pronounced “spirit”; a fighting spirit and a frontal zeal that are not commonplace. This Jewish soldier is a blatant antithesis to his prototype in anti-Semitic propaganda, which has not tried to prove the thwarting of any front-line work in thousands of variations, not only since Hitler’s most salient feature. (That just the opposite of this is true was not always so evident, as the hundreds of thousands of Jewish soldiers in the armies of the allies remain mostly anonymous as Jews.)

The extraordinary in this case begins with the voluntary nature of our military service. No law, no state forced these soldiers into the uniform, they came from free parts. There is nothing like that on the whole front. But they did not leave voluntarily alone. They also want to participate in active combat. They want to go to the front. And there are a number of little episodes from its life that got around very quickly. When the brigade was reorganized before its passage to Europe, many in its ranks, who should not be taken for exceeding the age limit for infantry soldiers, led a desperate struggle. The shaking of the head and the astonishment of the non-Jewish soldiers was caused by the case of the soldier who had been on hunger strike for a few days, until his intention to take him to the front was repeated. The same thing happened after completing his training in Italy. Again, there were soldiers who should be sent back for health reasons and who left no stone unturned – to get to the front.

When the brigade had taken up their first position at the front, the following little incident occurred in a hospital behind the front. One of the brigade’s soldiers, who had been sent there for consultation for a small eye-complaint, was told by the doctor after the examination that he needed to be treated at the hospital for two weeks. The doctor then received the answer, not a little surprising: “That’s impossible, I have to return to my company today.” The doctor did not think he had understood correctly and asked the interpreter why he did not want to stay in the hospital. “My company is in the front line and we need every man. I have to go back.” The doctor then interrupted his work for a few minutes, went into the waiting room and told the incident of the large number of patients of all nations.” And that is not the first case from this brigade!”

The soldiers of the Jewish Brigade have invented a very unusual military offense: “Desertion to the Front”. They try by all means to shorten the transition period after discharge from hospital and return to the troop. One of my friends asked his Scottish bed neighbor at the hospital for some advice on how he could get back to his company as soon as possible without being taken to a transit camp. “I really do not understand you Jewish soldiers,” the astonished Scot answered. “You Jews are always so well-informed in life! This is about the opposite: how to achieve a turn-around as long as possible in the transit camp. And you want to go right back!”

For the most dangerous night patrols in the enemy’s area, there were always more volunteers than required.

One could cite a number of similar examples. Their sum then gives the picture of a unit in front of which one has respect in the front area. And that is probably the solution to the mystery of the great publicity surrounding the Jewish Brigade.

The Jewish Brigade: The Jewish Brigade at War – The Palestine Post, April 13, 1945

Less than one more before the end of the Second World War in Europe, the Palestine Post – today the Jerusalem Post – published news editor Ted R. Lurie’s account of his meeting with members of the Jewish Brigade. Though the location of his encounter with the Brigade’s members at the unit’s headquarters is not specified, it obviously occurred somewhere on the front lines in Italy.

Probably for security reasons, only three names are mentioned in the article: newly-married Signals Officer Robert Grossman whose wife then resided in Rome, and, two men who had just recently become casualties: “Zilberger” (actually, Zilberberg) – killed in action, and, Goldring – missing in action; both respectively mentioned in brief accounts of their final, and, last known, military actions.

For Zilberberg, Lurie’s report is entirely accurate.

For Goldring? Lurie’s report concludes on a highly inaccurate note. While Lurie wrote, “Another of the same fraternity, a man called Goldring, stayed behind to help a wounded soldier when the remainder of his patrol withdrew. The soldier died and his body was brought in next morning, but Goldring was not found so it was assumed that he had been taken prisoner. But not he; he lived in hiding in no-man’s land for two days, crawling around by night until he got back safely to carry on,” his final statement was completely incorrect. Uszer Goldring never returned from battle, and was never seen again.

In 2021, his fate is still unknown.

To shed further and more complete light on Zilberger and Goldring’s stories, I’ve included excerpts from Jacob Lifshitz’s chronicle of the Jewish Brigade (published in 1950), appropriately entitled The Book of the Jewish Brigade: The History of the Jewish Brigade Fighting and Rescuing [in] the Diaspora (Sefer ha-Brigadah ha-Yehudit: ḳorot ha-ḥaṭivah ha-Yehudit ha-loḥemet ṿeha-matsilah et ha–golah). These excerpts comprise the book’s original Hebrew text, followed by English-language translations, as well as portraits of the two soldiers. These accounts are representative of much of the content of Lifshitz’s book, which comprises biographical profiles and portraits of fallen members of the Brigade.

And so, Lurie’s article…

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“I’m Killing Germans” Is Captain’s Message

By T.R. Lurie

Palestine Post War Correspondent

Palestine Post, April 13, 1945

JEWISH BRIGADE GROUP H.Q. – To kill Germans and still more Germans is the aim of every man-jack in the Jewish Brigade Group.

That is the first impression one gathers from talking to men in the line who have already been at grips with the enemy. These men have fired their tommies, and hurled their grenades and mortars and have fired their twenty-five pounders at some of Hitler’s picked troops. The forces attacking them are some of the best soldiers of the Wehrmacht – and our men have the satisfaction of knowing that their fire has not been ineffectual.

One tall ginger-haired captain who heard I was from Jerusalem asked me to telephone to his wife when I got back. “What message do you want to send her?” I asked.

“Just tell her I’m doing what I’ve wanted to do for so long. I’m killing Germans.” Then he went on to tell me that that was the best message of greetings he could send, as her parents had been murdered in Poland.

Ahead of Schedule

The only criticism one has been able to hear about the men of the Brigade – praise of course, has been hearty and well-earned, too – has been over-keenness. “In the Army,” a staff officer told me, it’s important to do things a hundred per cent, not 125 per cent.” But the men have succeeded in doing more than a good job. For example, they went into the line a month ahead of the date called for on their training schedule. They have replaced other units who were hardened and seasoned. And they take it all in their stride.

Seeing these lads in their dugouts or back of the line in their bivvies, one wonders of what stuff heroes are made. In one battalion I heard high praise of one of their officers for the courage he displayed one night under fire. He is not a company or a platoon commander, but the unit’s Signals Officer, and his job is to maintain contact between the units and with the various headquarters by telephone and wireless.

It sounds cushy enough, but he did not join up to sit back in a safe area and do a base job. So with the first chance he got, he went out with a patrol carrying his phone line as far forward as he could.

It was one of the stickiest night encounters so far, and the officer back at headquarters was not a little worried when for over two hours he had no contact with the patrol or the Signals Officer. Then with the earphones glued to his ear lobes he heard the faintest of voices calling his name.

Contact had been re-established, and the men were crawling back bringing their wounded with them, but knowing that they had given the enemy at least as much as they had taken. The name of the officer is Robert Grossman, and he was married in Rome a few weeks ago to a Palestinian A.T.S. serving there. On a blitz-trip back to Rome the other day I looked her up to tell her how her newly-wed husband was getting on. She asked me to take her regards to him when I went back north, and added: “Tell him to carry on ‘Hazak veamatz’ – “Be strong and of good courage.”

Medal for Barber

In the Second Battalion it was the man who was the soldiers’ Cantor and barber who was among the first to display outstanding valour. He was a stretcher-bearer and risked his life over and over again during a night skirmish doing his job.

The next morning his name was put up for a Military Medal. A couple of hours later he was shot dead by a sniper as he went into no-man’s land with a red Cross flag in his hand to bring back a wounded man.

His name is Zilberger.

Another of the same fraternity, a man called Goldring, stayed behind to help a wounded soldier when the remainder of his patrol withdrew. The soldier died and his body was brought in next morning, but Goldring was not found so it was assumed that he had been taken prisoner. But not he; he lived in hiding in no-man’s land for two days, crawling around by night until he got back safely to carry on.

________________________________________

From The Book of the Jewish Brigade, the story of “Zilberberg”: Private Moshek Josif Zilberberg.

First in Hebrew, and then in English.

PAL/15435 משה זילברברג

(See also this…)

נפל ביום ו’ בניסן תש”ה, 20 במארס 1945

Friday, April 20, 1945 / Yom Shishi, 7th Iyar, 5705

– .ת. נ. צ. ב. ה –

ביום 19 במארס 1945, ה’ בניסן תש”ה ערכה פלוגתו (פלוגה ג’ של הגדוד השני) התקפה גלויה על האויב במטרה להגיע עד התעלה, שמאחוריה נתבצרו הגרמנים. משה הוציא באלונקות את חבריו הפצועים משדה הקרב, פעם אחר פעם, מתוך סיכון-נפש תחת מטר כדורים והפצצות. עם תום המערכה נשאר מרצונו הטוב בשדה וחיכה לאחרוני השבים כדי להראות להם את המעבר הנוח והבטוח ביותר לשוב בו. באותו ערב אמר לחבר: ,,כנראה שאני מחוסן בפני כדירים, כי יצאתי היום שלם ממטר כדורים,,. המיגיור האנגלי, מפקד פלוגתו, הביע באותו ערב הערכה לאומץ-לבו של משה והמליץ להעניק לו אות-הצטיינות. למחרת היום, ב-20 במארס, כשחידשה פלוגתו את ההתקפה על האויב, חידש גם הוא את מעשי גבורתו ורץ גלוי לעיני האויב מפצוע לפצוע, כשדגל צלב האדום בידו. אחד החיילים נפצע ונאנק, ו על אף אזהרות חבריו שלא להסתכן, יצא להגיש לו עזרה. בו ברגע פגע בו כדור אויב והרגו במקום, ודגל הצלב האדום בידו. אחרי מותו נתכבד באות ההצטיינות הצבאי

נולד בשנת , עם פרוץ מלחמת-העולם הראשונה, בפלונסק שבפולניה להורים דתיים, קיבל חינוך דתי ולמד בישיבה, ויחד עם זה מעורה היה בתנועת-נוער ציונות מימי ילדותו. בגיל 18 היה בין מייסדי פלוגות ההכשרה בנאדבורנה (גליציה). בשנת 1935 עלה לארץ ועבד כפועל. כשפרצו המאורעות בארץ בשנת 1936 היה פעיל בשורות הבטחון. בשנים 1938-1939 עבד כנוטר. פעם בעמדו על משמרתו ביער להגן על אחת הנקודות עם עוד חבר מחברין, הותקפו על-ידי כנופיה ערבית והחבר נפל מת ומשה שנפצע קשה המשיך לירות עד שהדף את המתקיפים ואחר כך הרכיב את חברו על כתפיו והביאו אל המושבה. אותו פצע כמעט הטרידו מן העולם והרופאים אמרו נואש לחיין ,אך הוא חפץ חיים היה ובשארית כוחותיו נלחם במוות ויוכל לו. כאשר החלים ציינו כולם את הדבר כנס ופלא. לאחר שהבריא חזר לנוטרות. כשקמה תנועת הגיוס ל,,באפס,, התגייס ואמר לאשתו: ,,נולדתי בתקופת מלחמה ואני מוכרח להילחם,,. באוקטוכר 1944 עבר יחד עם גדודו לחי”ל.

ספר וחזן ונושא-אלונקות היה בחטיבה, ובכל המקצועות האלה נצטיין הן מבחינת הידיעה והן מבחינת המסירות. כספר היה חביב על כל החיילים והקצינים. בהיותו בעל קול ערב ומוכשר, היה עובר לפני התיבה כחזן קבוע בבית-הכנסת של הגדוד השני והיה מנעים את התפילות לפני קהל החיילים. כל אנשי הגדוד השני זטכרים לו לטוכה את התפילות, שעוך בימים הנוראים ובמועדיה לפי המנגינות המסורתיות. ביחוד נחקקה בזכרונם תפילת ,,כל נדרי,, בליל הכיפורים תש”ה במדבר המערבי בין בנגזי לדרנה תחת כיפת השמים, בשעת מסעם מתחותם הישנה אל-עבייר ליד בנגזי לבורג-אל-ערב, מקום רכוז החטיבה (לעיל פרק’ סעיף ב’). במשך שירותו בצבא שמר על קשרים עם המסורת ועם החיילים הדתיים. עם אירגונו של הגרעין הדתי להתישבות נצטרף אליו. כנושא-אלונקות בז היה לפגזי האויב וצעד בגלוי לחבוש פצועים נקובי-כדורים, זבידם ומחוסרי-הכרה, לחוקם ולעודדם. ולא חלילה מפני שמאס בחיים התנהג כך, להיפך, חפץ חיים היה, כאמור, אלא לנקום רצה מידי הגרמנום אם דם משפחתו ודם בית ישראל, שנשפך בפולנוה, כדכריו במכתבו לביתו מיום 10 במארס 1945: ,,ביד חזקה ובזרוע נטויה נלך קדימה עד נצחוננו הגמור על אויבינו,,. והיות והוא עצמו לא היה לוחם, רצה להציל לוחמום, שיוכלו הם להרוג ולהשמיד את צוררי היהודים, גם טוב-לבו הביאהו להקרבת עצמו.

לבו ניבא לו את מותו. בשעת ביקורו האחרון בביתו אמר לרעיתו: ,,הקריירה שלי כבר נגמרה,,. כן הביע את חרדתו לגורלו במכתביו האחרונים מקווי החזית. נזכרהו כאחד מבני-העם האלמונים והצנועים, שקידש במותו את גבורת ישראל.

__________

Moshek Josif Zilberberg PAL/15435

He fell on Friday, March 20, 1945

On March 19, 1945, the fifth of Nisan 5705, his company (Company C of the Second Battalion) made an open attack on the enemy in order to reach the canal (Fosso Vetro), behind which the Germans were fortified. Moshe retrieved his wounded comrades from the battlefield on stretchers, time and time again, under mental danger beneath a barrage of bullets and bombs. At the end of the campaign he remained of his own free will in the field and waited for the last of the returnees, to show them the easiest and safe passage to return. That evening he said to a friend: “Apparently I am vaccinated against bullets, because I remained out of the “rain” for a whole day.” The English major, the commander of his company, that evening expressed appreciation for Moshe’s courage and recommended that he be awarded the Medal of Excellence. The next day, on March 20, when his company resumed its attack on the enemy, he also resumed his heroic deeds and ran openly in front of the enemy from wounded to wounded, with the Red Cross flag in his hand. One of the soldiers was wounded and groaned, and despite warnings from his comrades not to take the risk, went out to help him. At that moment an enemy bullet hit him and killed on the spot, with the Red Cross flag in his hand. After his death we will be honored with the Medal of Merit [Military Medal; M.M.]

Born in the same year, with the outbreak of World War I, in Płońsk, Poland, to religious parents, he received a religious education and studied in a yeshiva, and at the same time he was involved in the Zionist youth movement from his childhood. At the age of 18 he was one of the founders of the training companies in Nadborna (Galicia). In 1935 he immigrated to Israel and worked as a laborer. When the events in the country broke out in 1936, he was active in the security ranks. In the years 1938-1939 he worked as a notary. Once standing on his guard in the woods to defend one of the points with another friend of theirs, they were attacked by an Arab gang and the friend fell dead, and Moshe who was badly wounded continued to shoot until he repelled the attackers and then mounted his friend on his shoulders and brought him to the colony. The same wound was almost took him from the world and the doctors said his life was desperate, but he wanted to live and with the rest of his strength he fought death. When he recovered, everyone mentioned the conversation with wonder. After recovering he returned to Notre Dame. When the recruitment movement for “Buffs” arose, he enlisted and said to his wife: “I was born in a time of war and I have to fight.” In October 1944, he moved with his battalion to the army.

Sefer and Hazan and a member of stretcher-bearers in the division, and in all these professions he would excel both in terms of knowledge and dedication. As a sefer he was a favorite of all the soldiers and officers. Having a deep voice and being talented, he would pass in front of the ark as a regular cantor in the synagogue of the Second Battalion and would recite the prayers in front of the soldiers. All the members of the second battalion remember the prayers for him, which are sung during the days of awe and times according to the traditional melodies. In particular, the prayer “Kol Nidre” was engraved in their memory on the night of Yom Kippur 5755 in the western desert between Benghazi and Darna in the open air, during their journey from their old stretch of al-Abiyar near Benghazi to Burg-al-Arab. During his service in the army he maintained ties with tradition and with religious soldiers. With the organization of the religious nucleus for settlement, he will join it. As the subject of stretcher-bearers he was to the enemy shells and openly marched to carry the bullet-ridden and unconscious wounded; to arm and encourage them. And, not God forbid, because he was tired of life behaving like this, on the contrary, Hefetz Chaim was, as mentioned, but seeking revenge from the Germans for the blood of his family and the blood of Beit Yisrael, spilled in Poland, as he wrote in his letter to his home dated March 10, 1945: “On our enemies …” And since he himself was not a warrior, he wanted to save warriors, so that they could kill and destroy the oppressors of the Jews; even his kindness led him to sacrifice himself.

His heart foretold his death. During his last visit to his home, he told his wife: “My career is over”. He also expressed his anxiety about his fate in his recent letters from the front lines. He is remembered as one of the anonymous and humble people who consecrated the heroism of Israel in his death.

____________________

A member of the 2nd Battalion of the Jewish Infantry Brigade Group, Private Moshek J. Zilberberg is buried at the Ravenna War Cemetery in Piangipane, Ravenna, Italy (Grave IV, A, 2). His name appeared (as “Moshe Silberberg”) in casualty lists published in the Palestine Post on April 2 and 13, 1945, and can be found on pages 178 and 263 of volume I of Henry Morris We Will Remember Them – A Record of the Jews Who Died in the Armed Forces of the Crown 1939 – 1945.

____________________

And, the story – at least, what was known as of 1950 – of “Goldring”: Private Uszer Goldring.

As for Zilberger, Hebrew then English.

Uszer Goldring PAL/16323

(See also this…)

נעדר בליל יז’ בניסן תש”ה, 31 במארס 1945

Saturday, March 31, 1945 / 17 Nisan, 5705

– .ת. נ. צ. ב. ה –

משמר בן 12 חיילים מפלוגתו (פלוגה א’ גדוד א’), בפיקוד הסרג’נט לייזר ז”ל, התקיף באותו ערב בית-עמדה אחד בשם “דמפסי” על-יד פוגאנאנא בעמק הסנין. מטר-אש קטלני מ”שמייסר” ומספר גדול של רימוני-יד ניתכו עליהם ממרחק קטן, ואחד הרימונים פגע בלייזר. הוא צעק: “נפצעתי, הגישו עזרה ראשונה”. וגולדרינג הושיטה לו מיד. לייזר פקד לסגת וממלא מקומו מילא את פקודתו. אך גולדרינג לא רצה להיפרד מלייזר ועמד לעורתו עד הרגע האחרון. דבר זה נתגלה בשעה שהמשמר נתרחק מן הבית בתשעים מטר. החיילים לחזור ולהביאם, אבל מחמת ריבוי הפצועים לא היו מוכשרים להליכה וחזרו לעמדתם. כעבור זמן-מה יצא משמר לוחם בן 15 אנשים בפיקודו של קצין לחפש את שני הנעדרים ולהביאם אתם. אבל אלה תעו בדרך והיו מוכרחים לחזור. עם אור הבוקר הוציאו נושאי אלונקות את לייזר מת, ואילו גולדרינג לא נמצא ועקבותיו לא נודעו עד היום. אולי בידי הגרמנים והם לקחוהר אתם? אנו קיווינו שנשבה ונשאר בחיים, אבל עד עתה לא נתקבלה כל ידיעה עליו.

בן 31 אב לשני ילדים. לא היה חייב גיוס לפי צו המוסדות. אבל מצפונו הניעו להתנדב בין הראשונים. השקיע מרץ רב בעסקנות הצבורית שבין החיילים. חיוד תמיד בפניו, שקט בתנועותיו וקסם באישיותו. כשפגע פגז באנשי מחלקתו בתוך הקווים, הגיש הוא את העזרה הראשונה והרגיע את הפצועים. ביחוד הצטיין ביחסו החברי בשעת פעולות של פאטרול. אז כל חיוך וכל מלה טובה מרגיעים והוא היה איש ההומור העדין והאופי החזק כאחד.

__________

PAL/16323 אשר גולדרינג

He was missing on the night of 17 Nissan, March 31, 1945.

A 12-man guard from his company (Company A, 1st Battalion), under the command of the late Sergeant Leiser [Sgt. Shuli Leiser, PAL/17637], attacked a post office “Dempsey” that evening called near Fuganana in the Senin Valley. A deadly barrage of fire from “Schmeisers” [MP-40 submachine guns] and a large number of hand grenades were fired at them from a short distance, and one of the grenades hit Leiser. He shouted: “I’ve been injured; first aid.” And Goldring gave it to him at once. Leiser ordered a retreat and his deputy fulfilled his order. But Goldring did not want to part with Leiser and stood alongside him until the last minute. This was discovered as the guard moved ninety feet away from the house. The soldiers returned to fetch them, but due to the large number of wounded, they were not able to walk and returned to their position. Some time later, a 15-man combat guard under the command of an officer set out to search for the two missing and return with them. But they got lost along the way and had to go back. At dawn the stretcher-bearers removed the dead Leiser, while Goldring was not found and his traces are not known to this day. Maybe [he was] in the hands of the Germans and they took him with them? We had hoped him to have [him] been captured and left alive, but so far no information has been received about him.

A 31 year old father of two children. Did not have to be recruited by order of the institutions. But his conscience motivated him to be among the first to volunteer. He invested a great deal of energy in public activity among the soldiers. A sharpness always in his face; quiet in his movements and charm in his personality. When a shell hit members of his platoon inside the lines, he rendered first aid and reassured the wounded. He especially excelled in his friendly attitude during patrol operations. So his every smile and every good word was soothing and he was a man of gentle humor and strong character alike.

____________________

Sergeant Shuli Leiser, a member of the 1st Battalion of the Jewish Brigade, is – like Moshek Zilberberg – buried at the Ravenna War Cemetery in Piangipane, Ravenna, Italy (Grave IV, A, 8). His name appeared in a casualty list published in the Palestine Post (as S. Leiser) on April 27, 1945, and can be found on pages 118 and 250 of volume I of We Will Remember Them – A Record of the Jews Who Died in the Armed Forces of the Crown 1939 – 1945 (as Shuli Leizer).

Shuli Leiser PAL/17637

(See also this…)

– .ת. נ. צ. ב. ה –

____________________

Born in 1910, Private Uszer Goldring has no known grave, his name being commemorated on Panel 13 of the Cassino Memorial at Frosinone, Italy. His name appeared (as “U. Goldyring”) in casualty lists published in the Palestine Post on April 13 and 27, 1945, in Haaretz on April 27, and on page 244 of We Will Remember Them (as “Asher Goldring”). His parents were David and Sara, while his wife Chana lived at Ra’anana.

Haaretz, April 27, 1945. Uszer Goldring’s name appears in a casualty list on the paper’s last page: page 8.

The casualty list, with Goldring’s name in the right column, bottom line (see “16323”).

Unlike casualty lists published in the Jewish press in England or the United States (say, for example, in The Jewish Chronicle or Jewish Exponent), or the general press (such as casualty lists published in The New York Times and other American newspapers, which were based on information provided by the War Department) Casualty Lists in both the Palestine Post and Haaretz in the wartime Yishuv never included next-of-kin or residential information.

What happened to Uszer Goldring?

On April 20, 1945, The Jewish Exponent (Philadelphia) published an article by Jewish Telegraphic Agency correspondent Pat Frank entitled “Jewish Brigade Battles Germans in Hand-to-Hand Battle on Italian Front”. Frank’s article concludes with the following paragraph, which in light of Goldring’s biography as presented above obviously pertains to the missing medic: “As of several days ago, the Jewish Brigade had lost only one prisoner since they have been in action. He was a first-aid man who accompanied a patrol into the German lines, and remained when the patrol withdrew to care for a wounded comrade. When the Brigade advanced the next day, they found that the wounded man had died and the first-aid man had disappeared, and, presumably, been captured.”

Notably, Uszer Goldring was unwounded when last seen, and his body (if he had been killed) was not located after Allied troops advanced through the immediate area of battle, I think fully validating the supposition that he was indeed captured. Based on the identities of the German units encountered over time by the Brigade, Private Goldring may have been taken captive by the 4. Fallschirmjäger-Division (German 4th Parachute Division), a German division which may have been involved in the Pedescala Massacre at Veneto, Italy, from April 30 to May 2, 1945, during which 63 civilians were murdered.

Having been from the Yishuv and having served in a military unit affiliated with and under operational control of the British military, the most relevant source of information about Pvt. Goldring’s fate might be his Casualty File, which would be roughly analogous to an American WW II Individual Deceased Personnel File. That is, assuming that an investigation into his fate was conducted in the first place. (As to the location of any hypothetical Casualty File, I have no idea.) Regardless, such a document would probably reveal little beyond what has already been recounted in this post.

To the best of my knowledge, nothing further has been learned about Private Goldring’s fate in the seventy-six years since April of 1945.

It is my belief that he rests in an unknown grave, somewhere in Italy.

References

Lifshitz, Jacob (יעקב, ליפשיץ), The Book of the Jewish Brigade: The History of the Jewish Brigade Fighting and Rescuing [in] the Diaspora (Sefer ha-Brigadah ha-Yehudit: ḳorot ha-ḥaṭivah ha-Yehudit ha-loḥemet ṿeha-matsilah et ha–golah ((גולהה קורות החטיבה היהודית הלוחמת והמצילה אתספר הבריגדה היהודית)), Shim’oni (שמעוני), Tel-Aviv, 1950

Here’s the book’s cover art:

____________________

Morris, Henry, Edited by Gerald Smith, We Will Remember Them – A Record of the Jews Who Died in the Armed Forces of the Crown 1939 – 1945, Volume I, Brassey’s, United Kingdom, London, 1989

Thoughts from The Frontier: Great Sorrow and Small Solace (Jewish Frontier, January, 1945)

“Come and see – Jewish soldiers with the Magen David!”

***

And there are encounters with old Jews. Yesterday we had an inspection – a military routine at which our rifles and revolvers were checked. On a balcony stood two old people – an old Jew and his aged wife, who had been dragging themselves from the front to the South. They stood watching the scene and weeping. Without uttering a word they stood up there, their eyes streaming. And many of the boys could not tear their eyes away from the weeping eyes of a Jewish mother.

***

____________________

This article, published in the Jewish Frontier in early 1945, movingly recounts meetings between Jewish refugees in Italy, and Jewish soldiers serving of the Jewish Brigade. The article is actually in the form of three essays, by soldiers “Eliyahu”, “Moshe”, and “J.B-R.”. Their full names are not given, perhaps because the war was then ongoing.

Presumably, they were members of the “Jewish Brigade” (also known as the “Jewish Brigade Group”, and “Jewish Infantry Brigade Group”) which was itself comprised of three infantry battalions (1st, 2nd, and 3rd, and, the 200th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery) of the Palestine Regiment, which itself was created in 1942.

In view of the time-frame of the article’s publication it was presumably written some time after October and December of 1944, while the Brigade was engaged in the Italian Campaign as part of the British Eighth Army.

____________________

Great Sorrow and Small Solace
Letters from Palestine Soldiers on the Italian Front

Jewish Frontier
January, 1945

WE HEARD that in the town of Terni on the road to Ancona there were about one hundred Jews. H. and myself set out for Terni, arriving there towards evening. We thought that a hundred Jews in a small town would be easy to locate.

For a long time we walked around town without finding a single Jew.

Finally, in desperation, we began approaching every person whose physiognomy suggested a Jewish origin, addressing him with Shalom, but no one replied to our salutation. We had with us the address of a Jew by the name of Gil and began looking for him. The place turned out to be the building of the Fascist youth which was now converted into a Refugee Center. It is a large house containing many refugees of different kinds, such as Italians from bombed out cities, Yugoslavs and others. One corner was set aside for Jews.

After wandering from office to office we were taken charge of by an Italian woman official, who went with us to look for the only Jew whose name we knew. We did not find him. While walking I told the lady that it was very important for me to find some Jewish refugees. She took me into a small room, where we saw an old woman with a face that told stories of horror and sufferings. At the sight of a soldier, the woman made a peculiar motion as if to ward off a blow. I was actually frightened by that motion. When it transpired that she was the wife of the man we were looking for, I addressed her in Yiddish an in German, telling her I was a Jewish soldier from Palestine. She then began crying, laughing screaming, all at once and she called her children and neighbors together shouting in Yiddish:

“Praise and glory be to Thee, Ruler of the Universe, that we have lived to this day!”

The small children clung to us and looked straight into our eyes with petrified expressions on their faces; their eyes seemed to me like one large tear. I felt my whole “gallantry” break down before these glances. A mother of four children spoke with tears in her eyes:

“Dear boys, you have come to help us – do something for our children…”

Pointing to the children I said: “We may be able to help them right away in a practical way, by training them for Palestine, by hakhshara.” I thought I would have to explain the meaning of the word hakhshara. But that very instant I was surrounded by children who covered me with kisses and tears. From that moment there never ceased the clinging and the mute look into my eyes, telling me more than words could of the Jewish child’s yearning for redemption.

In the house we learned the first details about that group of Jews. There are about one hundred Jews in the town. Some of them have been to all the concentration camps, in Calvaria and Campagna, until they reached this section of Italy. And here it is that the miracle of liberation took place. Others have never been in concentration camps; for nine years they hid in the snow-covered mountains, and only recently, when the region was freed, did they come out of hiding.

The children took us to the hotel where refugees are fed by AMG and which therefore serves as a center for all the Jews. There we lived through moving scenes:

One man rushed into the hotel crying:

“Come and see – Jewish soldiers with the Magen David!”

At first those inside refused to believe the news and thought it was a joke. But in a minute we were surrounded by many Jews – Yiddish-speaking, French-speaking, Serb-speaking, German-speaking, Italian-speaking Jews, who did not always find a common speech but who now found the common language of hearts beating in unison. They pounced on us madly, embracing us or merely touching our insignia with trembling hands and then kissing their fingers, as one salutes a mezuza or a Scroll of the Law. The children, who were rather timid at the beginning, daring only to pat our uniforms, now came closer – and again I saw the great tears in their eyes. No one spoke. There was only the affectionate touching and the hugging. The grown-ups wept aloud on seeing the excitement of the children. And everybody repeated: “Well for us that we have lived to see this day!”

We entered the spacious dining room and on all sides came requests: “Sit by our side!” We sat down near a small group of youngsters and children, but the old woman who argued that she had been the first to welcome us claimed a privilege and took a seat opposite us…

Later in the evening we decided to have a talk. An Italian Jew opened the discussion with a few moving words about this great and unexpected holiday, the first recompense for the suffering they had endured. And in order to emphasize the bond between the soldiers, the emissaries of the Land of Israel, and the ruined Diaspora, he asked that we address a few words to them in Hebrew.

I began with a few words in Hebrew, telling them about the aspirations of the Jewish soldier and his dreams of the great day of meeting his rescued brethren, which is the deepest aim of our war. H. translated my words into German which the chairman rendered into Italian. The atmosphere was charged with a strange tension when the Hebrew words were heard. Those who did not understand them behaved as they would at a solemn religious rite while the considerable number who did follow my words reiterated every one as it was pronounced. There was constant drying of tears. Bliss radiated from the children’s eyes.

We went on to the second part of the discussion, which was the most important one. At the request of most of those present I spoke in Yiddish. I explained the object of our visit. I warned them against illusions, telling them that our possibilities were limited but that we could help them in certain respects. The crowd became emotional again. I told them of the opportunities of hakhshara, about the possibility of putting them in contact with certain institutions, such as the Palestine Bureau and the Joint Distribution Committee.

Questions were asked about the chances of entering the United States. I told them the sad story of the famous Roosevelt “guests” at Oswego, merely confining myself to facts and refraining from comments. No more questions were then asked about America.

The next day, from nine o’clock in the morning until six in the afternoon, we engaged in private talks with every one who sought one with us. I cannot recall such a hard day’s work in my life. The tension rose from minute to minute. Every one had his own tale of woe. In every conversation, without a single exception, there came a sudden pause, a moment when the speaker lost his power of speech.

A man of sixty-four years of age came in. It is worth noting that we were usually surprised on being told of the ages of our interlocutors. We always imagined they must be younger, because they usually looked about fifteen years less than their true age. This may be explained by the fact that they are the sturdiest who managed to survive such harrowing experiences. The sixty-four year old man looked like a forty-five year old. He had been a rich man in Rumania. His wife was “taken away” by the Germans. Of all he had there was only one daughter left who was in Palestine and his only hope in life was to establish contact with her. Yes, there was something else he had left. He took out of his pocket a bundle of documents bearing witness to twenty years of Zionist activity in many fields. Suddenly came the pause. The three of us remained petrified without looking at one another’s face. As he left the room the Jew said: “Don’t be surprised, boys! After four years I have just opened my heart for the first time. How can one help being moved?”

A fifty-year-old Jew came in looking at the most forty years of age. He spoke with a great deal of humor, in a juicy, idiomatic Yiddish. He had been a rich man in Belgium. His wife was “taken away.” His two sons were with him. Immediately he announced: “I want you to know that I do not want for anything. But I will not forego the right of spending a few minutes with you. That is coming to me!” he was a bit of an Orthodox Jew and he interspersed his narrative with pointed remarks at the expense of the Ribbono shel Olam (Ruler of the Universe): One day he saved himself from the Germans by hiding in a pigsty. He then resolved not to allow the Ribbono shel Olam to be accustomed to have his Jews live in a pigsty and he moved into a room…

We had brought along some foodstuffs, presents from our soldiers. We tried to find a suitable form for distributing those gifts. Here too we were witnesses to moving scenes. One man kissed the package of cigarettes he received: “No, I shall not smoke them. They are sacred – they bear a Hebrew inscription…” The same occurred when a Jewish girl got a cake of soap with a Hebrew inscription. Another girl, a member of a Zionist youth movement in Germany, actually danced on getting a package marked in Hebrew Shai la-Hayal (soldier’s gift package) – sent from Palestine.

An old man from France presented me with a precious gift, a French yellow badge with the inscription Juif in the Magen David. He parted with the badge with the remark: “That is for the Archives in Jerusalem.’ “But in Berlin,” I assured him, “I shall carry it on my chest.”

We selected four children as candidates for the hakhshara (training farm) – two boys aged 13 and 14, and two girls aged 17 and 18. They had been hiding in monasteries and private homes where they were indeed saved from the executioners but where they were subjected to pressure to adopt Christianity. As we strolled with the children through the town we met a local woman who had saved one of those families during the most critical days, but insisted that they adopt Christianity. The children introduced her to me. She was touched to see how attached the children had become to me. But suddenly one of the girls jumped up: “Oh, it is so wonderful that we have remained Jews – or we wouldn’t be fit to go to Palestine.” For a moment the atmosphere was strained…

Soon all relief the refugees receive from AMG will be discontinued. They were offered space in an Italian hostel for the poor under impossible conditions. Most of them will be left without any livelihood whatever. Only three of them work for the government. Until now they existed on the proceeds of the sale of their belongings, but by now they have left only what they wear on their persons. The refugees from Trieste and Fiume hope for the liberation of their cities. Some would be ready to go to Palestine immediately, others hope to be granted that opportunity after they will have found their relatives.

When I took leave of them for the second time at seven o’clock in the morning – many of them came to the hotel in the morning – they loaded us with so much hope and affection for the Jewish soldiers that they will be justified only if we strain ourselves to the very utmost to help them.

ELIYAHU.

____________________

ONE MEETS Jews here, many Jews. Yesterday there was quite a gathering. When we arrived in this district we discovered a group of Jews who had already met some of our men a week or two after they were saved from the Germans.

Yesterday we had a visit from the children who are going out for hakhshara. Unlimited confidence was necessary to induce a Jewish mother, after all the experiences of the past years, to take her to a training farm. It is not as simple as it sounds. The children went along with us. They are incapable of eating. After the first meal they all took sick. They are not used to eat their fill. In the evening we had a discussion. At first we spoke and then the girls. What the lips failed to tell the eyes told in the unmistakable language of affection and trust.

It was an atmosphere which purified and uplifted us too. There was present a Jewish-British captain, a shrewd and smart-alecky “Galician”, who, as he told us, was a Communist. He was deeply moved by that evening. It would take long, he told us, until he would “recover “ from the “blow” he received that evening. There were many things he saw in a new light.

MOSHE.

____________________

BY NOW you must have heard the first reports of the activities of the representative of the Intergovernmental Committee for Refugees in Italy, Sir Clifford Heathcote-Smith. In Lakhayil, the publication of the Jewish transport units in the British army in Italy, a few interesting details about this matter were published.

Sir Clifford called a meeting of all the Jewish refugees in Rome. About seventy or eighty men and women were present. The official agent of the Intergovernmental Committee for Refugees reported as follows: (1) There are immigration certificates available for ten heads of families, which will be issued to those who have parents or children or a husband or wife or brothers or sisters in Palestine. (2) The Italian government acceded to the request of the Intergovernmental Committee to grant citizenship to refugees who have been in the country for five years and whose conduct has been in accordance with the law.

Sir Clifford sought to explain to his listeners that Jews have no prospect of entering Palestine. Palestine, he repeated many times, is a small country, a very small country, which can by no means take in the Jewish refugees. He illustrated his point by taking out his handkerchief and spreading it before his audience. “Do you see this handkerchief?” he argued, “Can you make it larger? Can you make a quilt out of it? No more can you make Palestine capable of absorbing you.”

Sir Clifford also discussed at length the subject of citizenship. All the countries in the world, Sir Clifford said, will be closed after the war. After the war many Jewish refugees are sure to return to their countries of origin, and the Allies will compel the conquered nations to permit the Jews to return to their countries. But, to be sure, there will be Jews who will refuse to return to their countries of origin on account of their dark memories of the past. These refugees must begin to think about their future now. The world will surely be closed. The healthiest thing would be to accept the magnanimous offer of the Italian government.

After his address the emissary of the Refugee Committee had an opportunity to hear the opinion of the Jewish refugees. They were very grateful for the noble attitude of the Italian government; very grateful to Sir Clifford Heathcote-Smith; but they did not want any citizenship rights: as far as they were concerned there was only one country, one Homeland – and this was the only citizenship they demanded.

Among those present there was only one person who availed himself of the right to ask for further information on the matter: would he be deprived of the right to receive relief as a refugee if he agreed to become an Italian citizen? Sir Clifford put him at ease: he would continue to receive relief after becoming an Italian citizen. The gathering was still under the impression of another metaphor Sir Clifford had used in his address: changing shirts. He knew Jews, said the agent of the Intergovernmental Committee for Refugees, who had had one passport, a second passport, and a third passport, and who changed citizenship as one changes shirts. The refugees brought up that sentence several times in their discussion with Sir Clifford, not in anger or in bitterness but with sorrow and with a firm resolve: that has been the case in the past but now there is enough of that. They would no longer change countries and citizenship like shirts. There was going to be an end to all that! What they wanted was Palestine and Jewish citizenship!

Sir Clifford spoke again. Palestine is a vain illusion. Jews must be realists. Jews are not so badly off in the Diaspora. Witness the position of the five million Jews in the United States (the listeners must have thought: Why aren’t we being offered United States citizenship?) Jews must remain in the lands if the dispersion. “I regret that you refuse to consider reality. A sacred fire in one’s heart is a beautiful thing, but life is a realistic business.”

A single woman who took the speaker’s word as to the smallness of Palestine, begged that the Jews be given any little bit of a country (una pezzaa di terra), no matter how small, describing with her hands how small that country would be – so long as it would be ours. “If there is no more room in Palestine, let it be in England, let it be in Germany (protests from the audience, expressions of disgust): “We don ‘t want to see their horrid faces any more!”). Let it be anywhere, aren’t we human beings just like others?” Sir Clifford expressed his sorrow and offered some consolation: “Look at the position of other nationalities. Look at the Letts, the Lithuanians, the Estonians. They have countries… Soon they may not have them…” He ended with a call for “loyalty”. The audience replied with the signing of Hatikva, which was sung with anguish, with defiance.

One of the refugees presented to Sir Clifford the written petition of the refugees who demand only immigration to Palestine and Palestine citizenship. There were present in the hall some Jewish soldiers from Palestine, the United States, and South Africa.

Sir Clifford’s mind seems to be occupied with two worries: first, he is anxious to keep the doors of Palestine closed; second, he is afraid that the stream of refugees might be turned to England and America. As a British gentleman, he feels sorry for President Roosevelt who “tried so hard” until he was able to admit those famous “thousand guests” into America. “He could not admit any more by any means.” And what could densely populated England or her Dominions, so heavily laden with populations, do? It is unrealistic and misleading to expect the British Empire, especially after the war, to be able to admit Jews. But what is to be done with the Jewish refugees? The “emissary” has been losing sleep and has been spending his days looking for a way out and a radical solution. Deeply concerned as he is, he could not be content with the reply given him by the refugees in Rome, and he went on a tour to the small towns. He met refugees everywhere who had just been liberated from the Nazi yoke and he opened up to them his heart, which is “open” to the needs of the Jewish people.

The “emissary” puts a great deal of intellectual effort into the attempt to solve this grave problem – the problem of the refugees’ future after the war. Since Palestine is only the size of a handkerchief, while England and America are closed, every refugee must try to get himself settled in a country where he is at present. The Italians have magnanimously consented to grant the rights of citizenship to every refugee who desires it. The same will probably be done by other countries, such as Yugoslavia and Rumania. “They, too, will comply with the request of the Intergovernmental Committee for Refugees.” Thus, automatically and simultaneously in all countries, a final solution will be found for the refugee problem. But Sir Clifford is not satisfied with this alone. He has, besides, a new scheme for settling Jews in Libya.

Lately he visited the village of A_____i where about fifty refugees are to be found. After a rather long address if “enlightenment,” he put the following three alternatives to a vote: (1) adopt Italian citizenship; (2) migrate into Palestine; (3) a new territory in Libya. Not one vote was cast for Italian citizenship. The vote went partly for Palestine and partly for the new “secure” territory in Libya (Sir Clifford having convinced his hearers that there was absolutely no more room left in Palestine).

But Sir Clifford was indefatigable. He went on a tour to other refugee centers in Italy, with a verve and determination worthy of more constructive purpose in behalf of refugees. In one of the localities the refugees expressed their desire to be transferred to Bari and thence to Santa Maria so that they might find it easier to go to Palestine. Sir Clifford, who is usually soft-spoken, this time raised his voice in excitement: “You are talking too much. Hitler also liked to talk a great deal and tell lies – and he brought a calamity upon the world. I hate to hear words which do not contain a particle of truth. Palestine cannot absorb any Jews – and that is all there is to it! You must draw the necessary ‘conclusions.’” This time he did not put the alternatives to a vote; he still remembered his failures in other places. But he was more candid; he warned the Jews that they were not being tolerated anywhere and that the Arabs would not tolerate them either. He added an interesting political observation: “Palestine was never promised to the Jews. It belongs to the Arabs. Get it out of your heads!”

Before the general meeting, Sir Clifford spoke to each refugee separately and wrote down his request. Finally he declared: “Every one has his own pet desires – whoever heard of so many nonsensical demands?” But Sir Clifford is not always rude; at times a lyrical note steals into his speech. He shared with his hearers his wide experience which he acquired in his encounters with many Jews and he ended on a melancholy note: “In all my discussions with the Jews I came across only one sensible person. It was an old woman who told me ‘Send me wherever you like, but send me where I can find some peace.’” He added: “This is an instance of that wisdom which most of you lack.” And again the old colonial official muttered angrily: “The refugees are dullards who have learned nothing and forgotten nothing.”

This man who is waging such a vigorous anti-Zionist campaign is an important official of the Intergovernmental Committee for Refugees, a body which so far failed to rescue Jewish refugees but seems to be able to introduce a positive solution of the refugee problem. We know that this man is a faithful servant of the White Paper. But his recent activities transcend even the provisions of that document. Who gave him the right to humiliate refugees who are isolated from the rest of the world and who had hoped to find in him an emissary of the United Nations, a man concerned with their welfare?

But the worst feature is that man’s handling of the question of actual immigration into Palestine. Wherever he comes he brings with him “the last remaining certificates,” which he distributes in a very simple manner: he brings ten certificates to every place. Rome with its eleven thousand Jews, A_____i with its fifty Jews – all get ten certificates each. And the distribution of the certificates is done without consulting the Palestine Bureau or the Immigration Department of the Agency or any such institution, but according to his own discretion.

Jewish soldiers who have been in the army for several years find compensation for all the hardships they have undergone in helping the refugees, in spending some of their time with the Jewish youth, to alleviate their distress and to give them comfort. But now come alien officials to destroy what they have done. We will by no means put up with this diabolical game. We will not suspend our activities among the refugees – the work of rescue, of training pioneers, and of bringing them cheer and hope. We shall continue to provide opportunities of hakhshara for the youth and opportunities for learning productive work for the adults. Under the restricted conditions of our military life we shall nevertheless go on planting seeds of faith in the realization of Zionism and in the possibility of the true solution of the refugee problem – immigration to Palestine.

J.B-R.

– Transcribed 2010

References

Jewish Brigade, at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Brigade

Palestine Regiment, at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestine_Regiment