Whoever travels through the North-East of France, will find exceptionally many cemetries - war cemeteries of the different nations involved in the wars of 1870/71, 1914/18 and 1939/45. On closer inspection one will notice that the gravestones in nearly all the cemeteries of the First World War (1914-1918) indicate the religion of the buried person. Jews, Christians, Moslems and Atheist found their last resting place after "having died in action" for their country.
When taking a closer look at the German war cemeteries of World War I, one will notice that among the many Christian crosses, there are also gravestones with the star of David and a few letters in Hebrew: German-Jewish soldiers are buried here, who sacrificed their lives for their country.
The existence of these graves in these cemeteries amazes if not astonishes many of the visitors - young and old. Did they really exist those Jewish-German soldiers?

This documentation can't give a detailed description of the activities of Jews in the German armies and especially of the Bavarian armed forces. Only a minority of the population of the Federal Republic of Germany may know that - apart from the nazi-rule - for centuries Jews had been serving in the armies of the territories of the actual German State - and that they have been - even though in small numbers - since the foundation of the Bundeswehr.

In a time, when the present date Germany consisted of many autonomous states, Jews were taking part in military actions - be it the defense of towns, as for instance before or in the Seven Years War (1756-1763) or in the supply of the troups.
The first known "stone testimony" for the participation of Jewish soldiers in "German wars" can be found in the Jewish cemeteries in STEINHART, in FÜRTH and in HARBURG in the Freestate of Bavaria. In FÜRTH, the gravestone of DANIEL KOPPEL s.A. still exists in the old Jewish cemetery, in STEINHART there is the grave of SAMUEL BEROLZHEIMER, and in HARBURG that of MENDEL BENDEL s.A, all three were veterans of the Wars of Liberation (1813/1814). Further documents in stone of the death of Jewish soldiers in military action are to be found in BAD KISSINGEN. Here you will find graves of Bavarian and Prussian soldiers of the "German War" (Einigungskrieg) 1866 (Prussia versus Austria).


The next armed conflict took place in 1870/71 - Germany waged war on France, which lead to the foundation of the "Reich". Local war memorials in various parts of Bavaria e.g AUB; GEORGENSMÜND and REICHENBERG testify to this conflict.
Names of Jewish combatants and those killed in action are preserved there. All these memorials are proof of the fact that Jews were fighting as patriotic Bavarian soldiers in the Kingdom of Bavaria for their country and their king, and that they were prepared to risk their health and their lifes for this country and its monarch.

By actively participating in the wars, the patriotic Jewish soldiers - who especially during the wars of liberation - volunteered to serve "country and monarch" tried to emancipate and - at least to a small extent - improve the overall situation of the Jews. They hardly succeeded in doing so. Soon after the end of the respective wars, strong anti-semitic activities erupted, at first religiously motivated, but by the end of the 19th century with more and more racist motivation,they were stirred up by conservative parties and groups, as well as by the monarch and the military leadership, and they always achieved their objectives. At the outbreak of World War I, a Jewish soldier either could not or only with great difficulty become an officer or military official. A Jew could die for the Kaiser (or the King) and his country, but he could not gain a higher military rank. Only in Bavaria (and in few cases in the kingdom of Saxonia) were there excemptions to this discriminating rule. In Bavaria Jews could not only become officers in reserve, but also -although very rarely- gain higher ranks (up to medical general).
Despite these numerous bitter and frustrating experiences, the "German Jews" (from the foundation of the Reich in 1871 onward) remained ardent patriots. At the outbreak of World War I they again saw a good opportunity to show their patriotic feeling, their loyalty towards their ruler, their military efficiency and courage and at the same time gain full emancipation for their brothers in faith in Germany. An impressive quotation of the testament of JOSEF ZIRNDORFER, s.A., a Jewish air-force-lieutenant from Rexingen, clearly shows this attitude: "I went to war as a German, to defend my country; but also as a Jew, to gain equal rights for my brothers in faith."

When the war began, many patriotically minded Jews from all over Germany - the youngest was EUGEN SCHEYER, 14, a schoolboy from Königsberg in East Prussia - joined in the fight for their country. Form 1914 to 1918, nearly 100.000 Jewish men (= 17.3 percent of the estimated 500.000 Jews living in the German Reich) were soldiers in the German armies: units, non-commissioned officers, officers, medical officers , army chaplain (army rabbis), military officials; an estimated 80.000 (80 percent of the sum total) were fighting soldiers, about 12.000 of whom died for their country.

The fact that Jewish soldiers were in no way inferior to their non-jewish comrades can be proved statistically: out of 84.352 Jewish soldiers, 29.874 (=35.42 percent) were decorated. 19.545 (=23.17 percent) were promoted, out of these 2.022 (=2.4 percent) became officers.

"Stone testimony"of the courage, the readiness to make sacrifices, but also of the deaths of Jewish-Bavarian soldiers for their "King and country" can be found on many war memorials, in war cemeteries, on gravestones, on which next tothe name of the buried - often with an "Iron Cross" - the name of a husband, son or brother - who has been layed to rest in foreign soil can be found. These testimonies also exist on Jewish cemeteries, on commemorative plaques in or outside of synagogues or former synagogues all over Bavaria.

Quite often you can still read the names of Jewish soldiers having died in action, or of misssing soldiers on municipal and church war memorials in public places, christian cemeteries or in churches and chapels. The inscriptions of the Jewish war memorials and gravestones clearly show the patriotic beliefs of Bavarian Jews: 

"Fürs Vaterland seid Ihr gestorben: Wir ehren Euch,"
"Fürs Judentum habt Ihr erworben das Himmelreich."
(You have died for your country, we honour you,
For the Jews you have gained the kingdom of heaven.

(Jewish cemetery at Nördlingen)

"Für Vaterland sind gestorben..."
(Having died for their country...)

(Jewish cemetery at Würzburg)

"Die Israelitsche Kultusgemeinde Bamberg in dankbarer Erinnerung ihrer im Weltkrieg 1914-1918 fürs Vaterland gefallenen Söhne"
(The Jewish congregation of Bamberg in thankful memory of their sons having died in action for their country in the World War I).

"Im Dienst des Vaterlands starb in Nordfrankreich auf dem Feld der Ehre..."
(Having died on the field of honour while serving his country in Northern France)

(Jewish cemetery, Cham)

Already at the outbreak of the war - especially in Prussia - many officials had reservations against Jews, a fact that was visible in their promotion procedures. Only during the second half of the war, when even the strictest anti-semite must have realised that a Jew was as good a soldier as a Christian (if not a better one!) were promotions handled in a fairer manner.

This fact provoked the hatred of anti-semites who were to be found in nationalistic circles as well as in parts of the military leadership, especially in the Prussian Ministry of War. They prepared to deal the Jewish soldiers of all ranks - from private to highest officer - a first mean blow. The notorious "count of Jews" (Judenzählung) was implemented in 1916.

The aim of this action was to classify the Jewish soldiers as inferior, those who would not be found in the field but in the back area, those who tried to avoid the dangerous fight at the front line. This count was the beginning of a terrible sufferings of the German soldiers of Jewish faith: they had the feeling that a stigma had been left on them, and fell they into dispair and mistrust.

What Jewish German soldiers felt in view of the "count" can best be seen in the moving poem written by Frau FRIEDENREICH; HANOVER: "To my boy" ( A German mother of Jewish faith), that must have been humiliating for the responsible.

To my boy (A german mother of Jewish faith) My boy, you were only seventeen, when the call of war sounded like thunder. "Oh, mother let me go to war for the honour and glory of our country." You are only a child - they will laugh at you only strong men are going to war. "Mother look, my arm is strong, my bones are filled with German marrow. Our Kaiser needs the young and the old, he has called them all. Oh let me go to war, for the honour and glory of our country." So I let you go, my only child, more than two years went by. Didn't win anything, neither star, nor decoration, you became nineteen yesterday at the frontline, a german private, who often did more than he had to. I would not praise your deeds, you were like other brave German boys. But, my boy - who would have thought it, what we have achieved back here. And that while you are lying in the trench, we have the "count of Jews". When you in your sacred bravery,, offered your young blood to your country, did you contemplate who you were, my boy,a German Jew or a German Christian. As a son of Germany you went to war, the whole of Germany was your home, and how much you were prepared to sacrifice, for the glory of Germany. And now boy, when we meet again, when we meet again eye to eye, then boy, I clench my fist, I am ashamed of my country. Today I am worried about you, for your world has gone to pieces; You were more deeply wounded by your "German brothers" than by any weapon of your enemies. Published in the "Israelitisches Familienblatt" on the 5th of october 1917

Despite the totally different outcome of the "count" (it confirmed the patriotic beliefs of the Jewish German soldiers), the seeds of slander bore fruit - at the frontline and back home. When in 1918 the war was lost - the capitulation was as painful for the Jewish soldiers as for their non-jewish comrades - the anti-semites quickly found a scapegoat: the Jews were made responsible for all the suffering.

Even the activities of the "Reichsbund jüdischer Frontsoldaten" - RjF (founded by retired captain Dr.LEO LÖWENSTEIN on the 8th of february 1919) didn't help much in this situation. It was ever so easy for the anti-semites to name the responsible for the German defeat. How painlul this mean and maliciuos agitation must have been for the men who had sacrificed their health, for the mothers who had sacrificed their sons, and for the women who had sacrificed their husbands for their country. Many of the publications of the "Reichsbund jüdischer Frontsoldaten" leave bitter feelings with many Jews even today.

The situation deteriorated. With the appearancce of the nazis, the defamation of the Jewish-German soldiers got worse and worse. Jews were portraied as dodgers and cowards, as "Volksschädlinge", despite their merits and bravery. From 1933 on, the few Jewish soldiers who were still serving in the "Reichswehr", were systematically removed (if they hadn't decided to leave the army in view of the many harassments). 1934 - even before the "Nürnberger Gesetze" were passed (1935) - the "Wehrmacht" had got rid of its "inferior Jewish comrades" by systematical harassment.

The relationship between the German army and the Jewish-German soldiers of World War I - the former "comrades" is probably the worst and most shameful chapter of German military history. Notwithstanding a few notable impressive exceptions, the Jewish-German soldiers not only were left in the lurch by their former "comrades", but they were humiliated, injured on body and soul and in many cases killed in work and concentration camps, by former soldiers of World War I who had now become nazis.

From 1933 onward, the situation for Jews - also that of Jewish soldiers - got worse and worse. Jewish front fighters who had been decorated with the "Ehrenkreuz für Frontkämpfer", that had been established by Hindenburg and from 13th of July 1934 on was awarded in the name of the Führer and Reich Chancellor (Adolf Hitler), were also affected by these measures. From then on, Jews were systematically removed from political and economic life in Germany.

The 9th and 10th of october 1938 (the pogroms took place at different dates in some locations) - today known as the "Reichskristallnacht" or "Reichspogromnacht" - is a further dark chapter in German history as well as in German military history. Many "good Germans", among them soldiers of World War I, entered the synagogues and destroyed toras, rituals, equipment and also the commemorative plaques for the fallen soldiers of World War I (e.g. in Rimpar and Veitshöchheim). What did those men feel who defiled their own history - and one could say - their own military honour (if ever they had one)? There were Germans - even nazis - who were nauseated by this behaviour.

The anti-semitic hatred didn't even exempt the graves of soldiers on Jewish cemeteries. By examining the fragments one can see that the stones were damaged or broken on purpose. The fact that the Jews had served Germany as soldiers, that they fought or even had been killed in action, was unacceptable for anti-semites then and today - they don't want to and can't accept the truth.

For the sake of completeness we should also mention that during the "Reichskristallnacht" the flats of Jewish front fighters were looted and demolished, the former Jewish comrades in the trenches (even war invalids) were maltreated and put into concentration camps by "brave men from the SA and SS".

In the time after 1938 - until 1945 - much energy was invested to erase the memory of the Jewish-German soldiers who had died in action between 1914 and 1918. In some places in the "Großdeutsches Reich" (although not in Bavaria) the names of the fallen Jewish soldiers were removed from public war memorials and commemorative plaques.

Especially perfidious was the treatment of fallen Jewish soldiers in German war cemeteries in France after the occupation. With the slogan: "No Jew died for Germany" the gravestones with the star of David were removed and replaced by crosses with the inscription: "unknown soldier". Thanks to the honourable activities of the "Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge" and their tireless work after 1945, the Jewish graves were identified and the fallen Jewish-German soldiers were bestowed their names and the honour they deserve.

The following documentation - which doesn't claim to be scientific or complete - lists the names of the many places, where traces of the willingness to sacrifice, the patriotism and the death of Jewish-German soldiers can be found, in alphabetical order: on Jewish cemeteries, in or outside of synagogues, churches, chapels and public war memorials, where the names of fallen soldiers from the wars of unification (1860, 1866, 1870/71) and from World War I can be found. It is a sad fact that in some synagogues (e.g.Erlangen) there had been commemorative plaques with the names of Jewish German soldiers "who have joyfully given their life for Germany". These must have been destroyed during or after the "Reichskristallnacht".

It is possible that - inspite of intensive investigation - there are names of fallen or missing Jewish soldiers on public war memorials in places that we haven't listed in this documentation. I would be glad to get any information about them.

The memory of the Jewish soldiers who died for Germany has been and still is very controversial in Bavaria. Even today it evokes - in some cases perhaps especially today - partly positive and admiring emotions, sometimes sad reactions that are incomprehensible.

Some places in Bavaria don't mention a word on their war memorials about Jews who went missing or who died during World War I. This may partly be the case because those communities had Jewish cemeteries and a synagogue, and the authorities thought that the Jewish community wanted to honour the fallen soldiers there.

It is a strange and sad fact that in some communities in Bavaria war memorials have been built after 1945, on which the Jewish fallen soldiers were left out on purpose (following the slogan: "no Jew has died for Germany"). The explanation of one Bavarian community speaks for itself:

"We inform you that a new war memorial for the fallen soldiers of World War I and II was built in 1961. Only the names of soldiers from local families are listed... Simon Franken is only listed in the alphabetical death registry of the year 1918...." ("The fallen soldier belonged to the Jewish community of that municipality - existing in the 19th and 20th century" author's comment). Other municipalities, that did not have Jewish communities, but where Jews actually had been living, informed us, that neither the name of the fallen soldier X nor any other Jewish names were listed on their war memorial, but the name of the person we were looking for was listed in the registry of fallen soldiers.

But there are also positive facts: on the memorial for Uhlans in Ansbach the name of BENJAMIN HERZ was listed, who had died in the attack of Lagarde on the 11th of august 1914, that involved many losses. Although the plaque was renewed in 1938 (!), the name was still inlcuded.

There are few war memorials that were erected before, during and after the "Third Reich". In the first place, the names of fallen Jewish soldiers were - for whatever reason - left out. Today the names can be found on the plaques: history conscious and truth-loving local politicians had them included- sometimes despite all opposition.

There are a number of municipalities that even before, but especially during the nazi-regime, involved in anti-semitic activities. The astonishing fact is that the names of fallen Jewish soldiers were commemorated on local war memorials and were not removed during the nazi-rule.