By Bryan Rigg, a Cambridge University Researcher

While many of us have heard the phrase, “Love and War make strange bedfellows,” many of us are not aware that many Jews served in the German army. Given the holocaust and the virulent anti-Semitic laws enacted in Nazi Germany, the complicity of thousands of Jews to fight for Germany is reprehensible and bewildering. Nevertheless, there is ample evidence to suggest that thousands of “racially” defined Jews did indeed serve in the German army. Moreover, high Nazi officials, including Goering and Hitler, were complicit in by-passing the Nuremburg Laws to take advantage of the talents of Jewish men in the German armed services.

Documentation of Jewish Participation in the German Army

In Bryan Rigg’s book, Hitler’s Jewish Soldiers, published by University Press of Kansas, 2002) Mr. Rigg claimed that possibly more than 150,000 Jews, as defined by Nazi racial law, served in the German army. Mr. Rigg spent ten years doing research to support his unusual findings. Rigg came to this number by searching through hundred of German documents which listed names in the army with ‘half-Jewish’ ancestry, as well as lists of exemptions for these Mischlinge (mixed heritage).

While some historians feel that Mr. Rigg’s numbers are high, clearly there were thousands of “racial” Jews who did serve in the German army.

Paradoxes in History

The participation by Jews in the German army is not unique; that is, we find a number of cases in history where individuals served causes that seem alien to their background. Let me give you some examples.

Blacks served in the Confederate Army throughout the Civil War. For most of the Civil War, Blacks were essentially valets and cooks or held other non military posts in the Confederate army. However, in the last months of the Civil War, Blacks actually became soldiers in the Confederacy and fought against their Northern liberators. These Black soldiers were promised freedom if the South became independent. The governor of Georgia complained about the elevated status of Blacks in the Confederate army. The Georgia governor pointed out that hypocrisy of letting some Blacks fight for the Confederacy while most Blacks remained in bondage. The governor said “Negroes could be either slaves or soldiers, but not both.”

Benjamin Franklin’s son, who was Governor of New Jersey, remained loyal to Great Britain during the American Revolution and ultimately fled to Canada

John Amery, the son of Leo Amery, a Conservative Member of Parliament—a very courageous and strong supporter of Winston Churchill– was hanged after World War II for treason. John Amery made anti-British broadcasts in Berlin during World War II and was therefore convicted of treason.

Mary Todd Lincoln, the wife of Abraham Lincoln, had several brothers and brothers in laws who served in the Confederacy. She came from a slave holding family in Kentucky. In fact, during the Civil War, her sister whose husband was fighting for the Confederacy stayed in the White House for several months.

Lastly, according to the Bible, Moses’ step mother was the daughter of the pharaoh. Moses was, therefore, raised as a prince in the Pharaoh’s household. Only after God commanded Moses to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt did Moses ultimately turn against the Pharaoh.

Why did Jews serve in the German Army?

The Nazi regime had sole control in deciding who was Jewish and who was not when it came to their documentation identity. Thus, some Jews with identical racial backgrounds were sent to concentration camps while other Jews fought in the army. Moreover, many assimilated Jews strongly felt that they were Germans first, not Jews. That is, their whole being was rooted in Germany, not Judaism. Thus, despite the virulent anti-Semitic policies of Nazi Germany, these Jews felt an even greater loyalty to the Fatherland.

Other Jews hid their religious past in order to survive. In the movie Europa Europa, Shlomo Perel tells an extraordinary story of how he survived the Nazi Holocaust. After escaping German occupation of Poland by fleeing to the Russian side, he was later captured by the Germans as they advanced into Russia. Once captured, he pretended to be German and was recruited first as a German soldier, and later served in the prestigious Hitler Youth program.

The most famous case of a High German officer being deemed a Gentile was Field Marshal and State Secretary of Aviation, Alfred Milch. Milch’s mother claimed that the real father was not her Jewish husband, but a Gentile who she had an affair with. Herman Goering falsified Milch’s birth certificate record. When Goering met with protests, Goering responded “I decide who is a Jew and who is an Aryan.”

Other Jews went to serve in the German army not to save just themselves, but rather to save their Jewish mothers. That is, Hitler and the Nazis were more tolerant of the children of mixed marriages where the mother was Aryan and the Father was Jewish.

Interestingly enough, one German Jewish veteran not only observed Jewish Kosher laws after World War II, but also practiced his religion within the Wehrmacht throughout the War.

What rank did some Jews attain?

Two racial Jews became field marshals and fifteen became generals, eight became lieutenant generals, and five major generals.

What type of medals did German Jewish soldiers receive?

In approximately 20 cases, Jewish soldiers were awarded Germany’s highest honor, the Knight’s Cross.

Did Hitler know that some of his soldiers were Jewish?

The answer seems to be affirmative. Although Hitler had a demonic hatred for Jews, he personally approved the documentation of racially mixed soldiers as Aryan.

Did German’s allies have Jewish soldiers?

While there has been no documentation of Jewish soldiers serving in the Bulgarian, Italian, or Hungarian army, there is strong likelihood that just as in Germany soldiers of mixed ancestry served in their country’s army. That is, Bulgarians and Italians did not share the strong anti-Semitism found in Austria and Germany. Thus, there is a strong likelihood that assimilated Jews served in both of these armies.

Finland was open about using full Jews in their army. That is, Finland, who was a German ally, never implemented the racial restrictions against Jews that occurred throughout most of the European continent. Jewish Finish soldiers who never hid their religious identity served along side German soldiers and participated in the invasion of the Soviet Union. Moreover, while Jews were proud to fight against the Soviet Union and defend the freedom of Finland, they also were aware of the atrocity against Jews committed by their German co-belligerents.