Fifteen men of Jewish faith achieved the rank of General and three others saw service as Admirals or Commodores during the war, it was revealed here today by the National Jewish Welfare Board in a call to Jewish groups and individuals in the United States aslcing them to submit names of Jews who fought in world War II to thair local Jewish War Records Committee.
Designating January as “War Records Month”, the Jewish W Ifare Board reported that incomplete data already collected indicates that some 600,000 Jewish men and women served in the armed forces. In addition to this number, which would be sufficient to man 40 divisions, more than fifty percent of the American rabbinate volunteered for the chaplaincy, with half of their number serving overseas. One third of the Jewish physicians of all ages were in uniform; 60 per cent of these under 45 were in the armed forces. Nearly 30 percent of the Jewish dentists in the metropolitan New York area saw military service.
Forty Jewish families throughout the United States lost two sons each in the service, while at least one family is known to have lost three sons in action. Combat casualties among Jewish men and women numbered 22,042, while 29,004 awards were received by some 15,000 Jewish soldiers and sailers. One received the highest award of the nation, the Congressional Medal of Honor, and 76 earned the second highest award, the Army Distinguished Service Cross and the Navy Cross.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
