Reviewed by Gerry Greber

When the expression “Holocaust survivor” is mentioned in a conversation, the first thought that comes to one’s mind is “European Jews.”  However, this is not completely the case.  There is also a common misconception, fostered by the U.S. government and continued by Hollywood, that all American prisoners-of-war caught by the Germans were accorded the same treatment. Both of these assumptions are rebutted by Jeff Donaldson in his book “Men of Honor-American GIs in the Jewish Holocaust”. 

Donaldson grew up revering the brave actions of American GIs and their impact on winning World War II .  A veteran and a journalist, Donaldson had this version of history shaken in 1995 when he ran into Ed Cornell, a Jewish World War II veteran, who had been captured in the Battle of the Bulge.  The Jewish veteran spoke about his experiences in a German POW camp, where Jewish P.O.W.s “were segregated and sent to slave labor in a German mine”.

Cornell also told Donaldson that when he arrived at the camp he was urged by fellow prisoners to discard his dog tags marked with the letter “H” for “Hebrew.”  He did so and avoided being deported.  But even now, 60 years later, he has difficulty coping with the guilt of his decision.  He remained behind in comparative safety while some of his fellow Jewish GIs were sent off to work the mines.

Many were faced with this dilemma.  After an announcement  that “all enlisted men of the Jewish faith are to report to the end of the camp,” POW Bernie Melnick, housed at Stalag IX-B immediately thought, “should I destroy my dog tag with the ‘H’ or admit I am a Jew and fall in line?” 

Knowing this, the Germans developed another way to identify Jews-by determining if they were circumcised.  This may have been why one of their fellow GIs, named O’Reilly, ended up with them in a slave labor camp.

Donaldson vividly recounts the experiences of 23 Jewish GIs.  Most involve accounts of their capture, the isolation, beatings, medical treatment or lack thereof, and transportation to Buchenwald, Dachau, and other death camps.  The POWs were housed at these camps like the other inmates, and fed soup, made of grass, and bread, containing sawdust.  The death toll of Jewish GIs, in these camps, was in the same order of magnitude as the local Jewish population.

Also in the book are stories of Jewish GIs who participated in the liberation of these death camps, what they saw, and how they reacted to it.

What took so long for these issues to surface?  Almost all of the Jewish GIs were told not to tell anyone of what had occurred to them.  In fact, they were made to sign a secrecy paper, agreeing not to divulge their experiences, perhaps, in Donaldson’s view, because “1940’s America could not readily explain why the world sat back and permitted the extermination of 11 million people.”  Other veterans were just unable to speak about their “unspeakable” occurrences until questioned about it 60 years later. 

Donaldson, a non-Jew, felt that the world needed to hear these tales.  With time moving by quickly, it is important that these events be noted for future generations. Most people of today’s generation are unaware of this phase of America’s involvement in the Holocaust.  Even Hollywood has avoided speaking out on this issue.  With the passage of time, those directly involved will be gone.  Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that the personal experiences of those individuals directly involved be recorded for posterity.

This book has given a voice to some of the Jewish GIs caught in the Holocaust.  Hopefully, it will serve as a “wake-up call” to America to continue to record the complete truth, good and evil, of what our men and women encountered not only in WW II but also in all our battles since then.