Congressmen Laud Jewish Heroism

The records of heroism of Jewish soldiers in the American army as well as those of others who fought under the American flag who hail from eastern European countries were cited in the Minority Report of the House Immigration Committee in behalf of more liberal immigration laws.

Eight veterans hailing from eastern Europe are specifically mentioned in the report. They are John N. Bilitzki, Isaac Rabinowitz, Epifanio Affatato, Daniel Moskowitz, Alizy Nagowski, Lonnie J. Moscow and Antony Sclafoni.

The full report, which it is learned will be made public tomorrow, quoting from an article in Colliers Weekly goes at some detail in the records of these men.

“Each of these men” says the article “was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Twenty thousand men who fought in the same division to which they belonged all acquitted themselves with honor in the fact of danger. A thousand men of the division were singled out to appear in the divisional citations for feats of heroism performed in that campaign. But these eight were ranked even higher than all these. They were of the handful who won the Distinguished Service Cross – a decoration awarded only for “extraordinary heroism in action”.

Referring to the Jewish men, the report says, one “left shelter, went forward under intense machine gun fire, and carried a wounded officer to a place of safety. In accomplishing this mission he was severely wounded”. “Another of these Jewish lads, when the advance of his battalion was checked by heavy machine gun fire, went forward, with two other soldiers, under heavy fire, they drove the gunners from two machine gun nests into a dug-out near by, which they captured, together with thirty-five prisoners, including three officers. Another Jew of the group exhibited exceptional bravery by leaving shelter and going out into an open field under heavy machine gun and shell fire to rescue wounded soldiers”.