Jewish at the front: The experience of Jewish officers in the German Army in World War I
Item
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Title
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Jewish at the front: The experience of Jewish officers in the German Army in World War I
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Identifier
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d_2009_2013:a343cb45887a:10583
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identifier
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10921
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Creator
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Fine, David J.,
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Contributor
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Julia Sneeringer
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Date
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2010
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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European history | Judaic studies | German history | German Jewry | Jewish history | World War I
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Abstract
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The story that I seek to tell argues for Jewish integration in the army, acceptance of a particular Jewish identity but an amalgamation of that identity to being German. After the initial introductory chapter that explores historiographical and methodological questions, Chapter Two examines the experience of religion at the front. Jewish holidays offered an opportunity for Jewish soldiers to seek solace in their religion and camaraderie with their fellow Jews. The Christian holidays posed a challenge in how to celebrate with their Christian comrades. Jewish soldiers did celebrate Christmas, but with some detachment. Jewish soldiers were also to able "read" the Christian symbolism of sacrifice as it was used at the front, although with careful distance. In Chapter Three I discuss the encounter of German Jewish soldiers with Eastern European Jews on the eastern front. Jewish soldiers responded to the Eastern Jews either positively, negatively, or indifferently, but always with distance. The encounter often intensified their own Jewish identity, and yet the Eastern Jew remained as "Other," even if an ethnic "grandparent." In the final chapter I discuss experiences of antisemitism---excluding the Judenzahlung---and integration. Narrative anecdotal evidence is mixed with quantitative evidence culled from the cemeteries, published sources and archival material in order to clarify the extent of Jewish integration in the German army. I find that Jewish soldiers found integration and that antisemitism was not a significant factor in their war experience. Theirs was a war where they found themselves as Jews, men, soldiers and Germans, fighting for a future that might have been.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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2009_2013.csv
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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History
