Jewish Integration in the German Army in the First World War

In "Jewish Identities, the German Army, and the First World War" David J.Fine offers a surprising portrayal of Jewish officers in the German army as integrated and comfortably identified as both Jews and Germans. Looking at how Judaism and Christianity were practiced in the army and how Jewish soldiers reacted to encountering other Jews in the conquered lands of the eastern front, Fine argues that Jews were strongly identified as both Germans and Jews. Finally, utilizing many published and unpublished sources, the author argues that antisemitism was not a primary factor in the war experience of Jewish soldiers.

Autorentext

David J. Fine, Ridgewood, New Jersey.

Zusammenfassung

In Jewish Integration in the German Army in the First World War David J. Fine offers a surprising portrayal of Jewish officers in the German army as integrated and comfortably identified as both Jews and Germans. Fine explores how both Judaism and Christianity were experienced by Jewish soldiers at the front, making an important contribution to the study of the experience of religion in war. Fine shows how the encounter of German Jewish soldiers with the old world of the shtetl on the eastern front tested both their German and Jewish identities. Finally, utilizing published and unpublished sources including letters, diaries, memoirs, military service records, press accounts, photographs, drawings and tomb stone inscriptions, the author argues that antisemitism was not a primary factor in the war experience of Jewish soldiers.