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800,000 Jews Are Now Serving in American Armed Forces; 50,000 Are Officers

January 10, 1944
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There are approximately 500,000 Jewish men and women in the United States armed forces at present, including 50,000 officers, Mr. Samuel C. Kohs, head of the Bureau of War Records of the Jewish Welfare Board estimated last night at the opening session of the 18th annual conference of the Yiddish Scientific Institute.

Speaking before about 1000 delegates and guests at the Hunter College Auditorium, Dr. Kohs stated that all the available material on Jewish participation in the U.S. Army and Navy will not be published before the war is over, but that part of this material will be issued this year by the Jewish Welfare Board in book form. He revealed that a survey of Jewish refugees from Europe in 27 American cities indicated that from these cities, 34 percent of all male refugees between 18 and 44 are in the armed forces.

The development of a Graduate School for Jewish Social Studies from the present Research Training Division of the Yiddish Scientific Institute was stressed by Dr. Max Weinreich, research director of the Institute. Dr. Weinreich emphasized the difficulties aroused by the duality of “Jewish” and “American” and pointed out that only by becoming aware of it by knowledge and facts can the potential evils of this Quality be overcome. Other speakers at the opening session of the conference included Dr. I. N. Steinberg, H. Leivick, and Dr. Paul Klapper.

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