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Modern War Studies
The GI's Rabbi: World War 2 Letters Of David Max Eichhorn
We saw 39 boxcars loaded with Jewish dead in the Dachau railway yard, 39 carloads of little, shriveled mummies that had literally been starved to death; we saw the gas chambers and crematoria, still filled with charred bones and ashes. And we cried not merely tears of sorrow. We cried tears of hate.
He was the soldier in the jeep with the big Star of David, driving from foxhole to foxhole, sometimes under fire, bringing faith and friendship to fighting men. David Max Eichhorn, a Jewish chaplain in the U.S. Army's XV Corps, saw action across France and into Germany until VE-Day and beyond. He was there at the Battle of the Bulge, participated in the liberation of Dachau, and became embroiled in the behind-the-scenes controversy that led to the execution of Private Eddie Slovik.
Eichhorn's letters show us a devoutly religious man trying to cope with the perils of combat and the needs of his fellow soldiers. They are filled with amazing stories and poignant insights as Eichhorn tells about combat experiences, relations with Christian chaplains, encounters with Jewish refugees, and impressions of the defeated Germans. Once he was ordered to hold a Yom Kippur service in a beleaguered French town that was still under attack. It was a tough assignment, but after 350 battle-grimed Jewish soldiers showed up he wrote, "I tell you unashamedly that, for the first time since I have been in France, I broke down and cried." Yet that experience paled before the liberation of Dachau, where he organized the first Shabbat service for the survivors, or the fall of Nuremberg, where he and a handful of Jews held a ceremony of thanksgiving at the site of Hitler's infamous rallies.
Eichhorn also writes of French villagers hiding Jews, of the dangers faced by chaplains, and of the place of Jews in U.S. Army ranks. Throughout he vividly conveys the experience of war and how it altered forever a small-town rabbi—a man of faith and courage who never fired a gun in combat.
He was the soldier in the jeep with the big Star of David, driving from foxhole to foxhole, sometimes under fire, bringing faith and friendship to fighting men. David Max Eichhorn, a Jewish chaplain in the U.S. Army's XV Corps, saw action across France and into Germany until VE-Day and beyond. He was there at the Battle of the Bulge, participated in the liberation of Dachau, and became embroiled in the behind-the-scenes controversy that led to the execution of Private Eddie Slovik.
Eichhorn's letters show us a devoutly religious man trying to cope with the perils of combat and the needs of his fellow soldiers. They are filled with amazing stories and poignant insights as Eichhorn tells about combat experiences, relations with Christian chaplains, encounters with Jewish refugees, and impressions of the defeated Germans. Once he was ordered to hold a Yom Kippur service in a beleaguered French town that was still under attack. It was a tough assignment, but after 350 battle-grimed Jewish soldiers showed up he wrote, "I tell you unashamedly that, for the first time since I have been in France, I broke down and cried." Yet that experience paled before the liberation of Dachau, where he organized the first Shabbat service for the survivors, or the fall of Nuremberg, where he and a handful of Jews held a ceremony of thanksgiving at the site of Hitler's infamous rallies.
Eichhorn also writes of French villagers hiding Jews, of the dangers faced by chaplains, and of the place of Jews in U.S. Army ranks. Throughout he vividly conveys the experience of war and how it altered forever a small-town rabbi—a man of faith and courage who never fired a gun in combat.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published December 13, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 20, 2022
A very inciteful first hand account into another unique experience during WW2.
Rabbi Eichhorn's letters open a personal window into his life as a Jewish clergy member as he progresses across Europe during closing parts of WW2. You can appreciate what he's experienced and witnessed as a Jew serving in the US Army.
Worth the read.
Rabbi Eichhorn's letters open a personal window into his life as a Jewish clergy member as he progresses across Europe during closing parts of WW2. You can appreciate what he's experienced and witnessed as a Jew serving in the US Army.
Worth the read.
September 29, 2023
The Rabbi's experiences are well-documented with letters and remembrances of his fellow chaplains in WWII. He was at the Battle of the Bulge; wherever he appeared hundreds of Jewish soldiers would flock to services, and later supported operations at the liberation of the Bavarian Concentration Camp at Dachau. He had influence at the top of the military structure, because of his position at the highest levels of the U.S. Army Chaplaincy in the European campaign. There are irreplaceable images depicting a service that he performed across enemy lines, and of his work with the newly-free concentration camp victims. Please include this in your library and encourage others to read it.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews