GI JEWS - DO YOU DOUBT THE HOLOCAUST? SEE FOR YOURSELF.

IF YOU HAVE ANY DOUBT ABOUT THE REALITY OF THE NAZI HOLOCAUST, SEE THIS FILM FOR YOURSELF. YOU WILL NEVER DOUBT AGAIN. 

IF YOU HAVE A HEART, BE PREPARED TO WEEP WHEN YOU SEE THE MOUNTAINS OF EMACIATED HUMAN CORPSES. 

IF YOU HAVE A SOUL, ENGAGE IN THE STRUGGLE TO ERASE NAZIS FROM THE FACE OF THE EARTH.

AND SEE THE CALIBER, THE QUALITY, THE COURAGE AND THE GOODNESS OF THE JEWS WHO VOLUNTEERED TO DESTROY THE NAZIS.


http://www.pbs.org/show/gi-jews/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nekjZq5WSfk

In honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day on Thursday, PBS aired the eye-opening documentary "GI Jews: Jewish Americans in World War II." It's the amazing story of Jewish men and women who went to war to fight the horrors of Hitler and the Nazis while also having to contend with anti-Semitism among their fellow servicemen and women.

 

More than a half million Jewish men and 10,000 Jewish women joined the armed forces during World War II. To them it was a "war of obligation." They needed to fight against the Nazi regime and the hate that was spreading over the world.

 

The film has over 25 interviews with veterans and historians who describe their experiences. These include several celebrities like Mel Brooks, Henry Kissinger and Carl Reiner.

 

"While Jewish Americans' relationship to the Holocaust has been covered extensively, the extraordinary experiences of these servicemen and women bring the well-known saga of World War II to life in a new way and with a uniquely Jewish perspective," said Lisa Ades.

 

Viewers will be heartbroken to hear the stories of American soldiers who were shunned by their fellow soldiers just because they were Jewish. But to the Jewish men serving, they considered themselves Americans first, then soldiers, then Jews. They were fighting for their country just like the Catholic and the Protestant soldiers. They also were fighting to free their fellow Jews from Hitler's death camps. Their stories are inspiring, courageous and honorable. They felt they needed to prove not only their bravery to themselves, but also to the others on the battlefield.

 

Once the death camps were liberated, the scenes of those still hanging onto life as well as the millions of dead bodies were heart wrenching not only for the Jews but also for the gentiles. General Dwight Eisenhower wanted all the soldiers in the areas to witness the atrocities for themselves to show them what they were fighting against.

 

"We're honored to bring these incredible tales of bravery and perseverance to a national audience as part of WNET's longstanding commitment to spotlighting veterans' stories of service," said Lesley Norman, WNET executive producer.

 

May marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the State of Israel. This film is a stark reminder of why Israel needed to be born. Not only were Jewish citizens of Europe slaughtered, but the Germans also murdered American Jewish POWs. Six million Jewish lives perished under the Nazi regime.

 

This documentary looks at how the war affected those involved in the tragic events. The horrors of the war surfaced in the works of American authors who were WWII veterans, like Herman Wouk, J.D. Salinger and Leon Uris, among others.

 

Yes, there are scenes of horror, but that is what war is -- horror. That said, this is a film that should be seen by the entire family. It is an important lesson for every generation. It is not only a lesson of war, but also a lesson of hate and prejudice.

https://www.heraldextra.com/entertainment/columnists/francine-brokaw/pbs-airs-gi-jews-jewish-americans-in-world-war-ii/article_2f3dd153-4334-5509-b09d-5bd34b86dcd6.html.

"GI Jews: Jewish Americans in World War II" begins as many Holocaust documentaries do, with a history of the rise of Hitler and Nazism in Germany mixed with what is now standard archival footage of Brownshirts and Kristallnacht. Throw in interviews with some Jewish celebrities  -  in this case, Carl Reiner and his friend Mel Brooks wearing his old Army jacket  - and it has all the workings of a typical PBS documentary.

 

But the film, which premieres April 11, 2018 on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, quickly takes an unexpected turn. Jewish-American soldiers, the viewer learns, weren't only fighting Nazis during the war  - they had to battle the anti-Semitic prejudice of many of their fellow soldiers.

 

All told, some 550,000 Jews served in World War II. A few had experienced anti-Semitism at home already in the form of "Gentiles Only" signs, for example, which were found at some public facilities across the country.

 

Mimi Rivkin, one of the 10,000 Jewish women who enlisted, a future member of the Women's Army Corps, recalled a more personal incident in public school: "Suddenly kids weren't playing with me. I asked one why and she said, 'The teacher told us you're a Jew and we're not supposed to play with you.'"

 

But for the most part, these soldiers were immigrants or the children of immigrants who lived in largely Jewish urban areas, and it was a major culture shock for them to suddenly hear anti-Semitic slurs from their peers. In one case, a Jewish Marine chaplain assigned to accompany combat units was asked to conduct an interfaith service following the battle of Iwo Jima - until his fellow chaplains objected, forcing the military to conduct three separate services.

 

Some friendships formed across religious lines. The film recounts the story of Master Sgt. Roddie Edmonds, a senior noncommissioned officer in a German prisoner of war camp. When the camp commander ordered all the Jews to step forward, he refused to allow it.

 

"We are all Jews," he said.

 

 

Threatened with a gun, Edmonds said, "You can shoot me, but you will have to shoot all of us, and when the war comes to an end you will be tried as a war criminal."

 

The commandant turned and walked away, and Edmonds was subsequently the first American soldier recognized at Yad Vashem as a Righteous Among the Nations.

 

The documentary is timely as anti-Semitism is on the rise throughout the world, but it came about by chance.

 

"I was actually working on another documentary [where] I had interviewed Jewish veterans and I started to hear stories about the anti-Semitism they'd experienced in barracks when they went [to Army camps] down south, and what it was like to serve in the war as Jews," Jewish filmmaker Lisa Ades told JTA. "I felt this was a story that had never been told. When you think about Jews in World War II, you think of them as victims."

 

The story had been told before, by historian Deborah Dash Moore (a senior adviser on the film) in her 2004 book, also titled "GI Jews," but Ades saw an opportunity to bring it to a larger audience. She began filming five years ago.

 

"We had to get these stories on tape while the veterans were still alive," Ades said. "They were grateful. They never had a chance to tell their stories before. They were ready to talk about them, finally after all these years."

 

https://forward.com/culture/398206/gi-jews-didnt-just-fight-nazis-they-battled-anti-semitism-in-the-ranks-too/.