DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and The Legal Chronicle
J uly 28 190
The Jewish War Veterans: 48-Year-Old Symbol
01 Jewish Patriotism
goR's NOTE:—Halled as a patriotic organization of great worth by both President Franklin
D Roosevelt and Governor Thomas E. Dewey on the occasion of its 48th anniversary this
month, Mr. Fredman, past National Commander, traces the history of the organization that
symbolizes the fine patriotic record of American Jewry.
By J. GEORGE FREDMAN
Editor, The Jewish Veteran
'We, the citizens of the United
States of America, of the Jewish
fa ith, who served in the wars of
the United States of America. in
order that we may be of greater
service to our country and to
o ne another, associate ourselves
together for the following pur-
poses.
poses: To maintain true allegi-
ance to the United States of
America; to foster and perpetu-
ate true Americanism; to combat
whatever tends to impair the
efficiency and permanency of our
free institutions; to uphold thI'
fair name of the Jew and fight
his battles wherever assailed; to
encourage the doctrine of uni-
versal liberty, equal rights and
full justice to all men; to combat
the powers of bigotry and dark-
ness wherever originating and
whatever their target; to preserve
the spirit of comradeship by
mutual helpfulness to comrades
and their families; to instill love
of country and flag; to promote
sound minds and bodies in our
members and our youth; to pre-
serve the memories and records
of patriotic service performed by
the men or our faith; to honor
their memory and shield from
neglect the graves of our heroic
dead."
The above statement of prin-
cipes is the preamble to the con-
stitution of the Jewish War Vet-
erans of the United States, the
hisory of which bears re-telling
on the 48th anniversary of the
organization, at a time when some
500,000 American Jews are once
again in the service of Uncle
Sam.
Although the J.W.V., as it is
popularly called, is today made
up largely of the quarter of a
million men who wore the uni-
form of the United States during
the First World War, its genesis
goes back to the Civil War. Many
of the thousands of Jews who
served in both the Union and the
Confederate armies during the
war between the States later
joined the Grand Army of the
Republic and the Confederate
War Veterans. But shortly be-
fore the close of the 19th cen-
tury, disturbing echoes of anti-
Semitism, both in veteran and
other American circles, prompted
some of the Jewish Union vet-
erans to do something that would
silence the calumnies against
American Jewry, particularly
since the anti-Semites were al-
leging that no Jews had served
in the Civil War and otherwise
impugning their patriotism.
The answer of the Jewish vet-
erans of 1861-1865 was a meet-
ing in the Lexington Avenue Op-
era House in New York City on
the night of March 15, 1896.
Sixty-seven men attended this
gathering, at which it was de-
cided to organize the Hebrew
Union Veterans. The new organ-
ization was duly incorporated in
February, 1897, and Joseph H.
Stiner was chosen its first chair-
man. Although modeled after
the existing veterans' societies,
the Hebrew Union Veterans took
for its major responsibility the
task of giving wide currency to
the patriotic record of American
Jewry. The first activity in this
regard was an annual memorial
service for those Jews who had
fallen in line of duty, a service
which is still held annually by
the J.W.V. on the Sunday near-
est to Memorial Day. In 1896
the Hebrew Union Veterans held
its first memorial service on May
2 0 at Temple Emanu-El, and the
principal speaker was the late
Simon Wolf.
StJoseph
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The choice of Simon Wolf ns
speaker on that occasion was a
happy one, for he was the author
of the then recently published
study "The American Jew as
Soldier and Citizen," which he
had written as an answer to the
very slurs which had brought the
Hebrew Union Veterans into be-
ing. It was Wolf's monumental
research which disclosed that at
least 10,000 Jews had seen ac-
tive service in the Civil War and
which gave striking point to the
existence to the new organiza-
tion.
When the Hebrew Union Vet-
erans was barely a year old, the
Spanish-American War brought
into being a new crop of Jewish
veterans from among the several
thousand Jews who participated
in that combat. These men soon
launched their own organization
for purposes similar to those that
had inspired the Civil War ex-
servicemen, and adopted as their
name Junior Hebrew Veterans;
but in March, 1900, they changed
it to Hebrew Veterans of the
War with Spain. Theodore Roos-
evelt, who, like all Presidents of
the United States since, publicly
recognized . the patriotic services
of American Jewry in messages
to the Jewish War Veterans, was
an honorary member of the Heb-
rew Veterans of the War with
Spain, some of whose members
served under him in the Rough
Riders.
On the eve of the entry of
the United States into the World
War, the Hebrew Union Veterans,
whose membership was largely
confined to New York City, was
about ready to disband because
of the steady decline in its mem-
be•s clue to death. The Hebrew
Veterans of the War with Spain
then took over the senior organ-
ization by making its remaining
members honorary members of
the younger group.
When the tens of thousands
of Jews who had served in the
American Expeditionary Force
were demobilized at the close of
the World War, they too took
steps to organize. For a time
there were again two separate ,
organizations of Jewish veterans.
Anticipating an ultimate merger,
the Hebrew Veterans of the War
with Spain changed its name in
1918 to the Hebrew Veterans of
the Wars of the Republic. Since
all of the members lived in New
York, they combined in Man-
hattan Post No. 1, whch is still
in existence as the original post
of the present J.W.V.
In 1919, when the Jewish vet-
erans of the World War took .the
initiative in sponsoring the his-
toric parade and mass meeting in
the old Madison Square Garden
to protest against the pogroms
in Poland, officials of the two
organizations decided the time
was ripe to amalgamate. The
union was aehieved in February.
1920, when Maurice Simmons, a
former national commander-in-
chief of the United Spanish War
Veterans, was elected commander-
in-chief of the Hebrew Veterans
of the Wars of the Republic.
Three years later, at the sug-
gestion of the late Nathan
Straus, an honorary member, the
name of the organization was
changed to the Jewish Veterans
of the Wars of the Republic, and
David Solonion, of Brooklyn, was
chosen commander-in-chief. In
that same year Brooklyn Post No.
2 and Harry Cutler Post No. 3
were instituted. Solomon was
succeeded by Morris Mendelsohn,
a veteran of the Spanish-Ameri-
can War, who founded 10 Posts
when he conic into office—six in
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New York City and one each in
Jersey City, Boston, Cleveland
and Providence. When he turned
over the commander's title to
the late Julius S. Berg of the
Bronx in 1928, there were twice
that number. The convention that
elected Berg commander-in-chief
(he was the first World War
Veteran to head the J.W.V.)
adopted the present name, Jew-
ish War Veterans of the United
States. Since 1930, the following
have served as commander-in-
chief : Harold Seidenberg of Bos-
ton, 1930-32; J. George Fred-
man of Jersey City, 1932-33;
William Berman of Boston, 1933-
35; Abraham Kraditor of Brook-
lyn, 1935-36; Harry Schaffer of
Pittsburgh, 1936-38; Isador S.
Worth of Camden, N. J., 1938-
39; Edgar H. Burman of New
York, 1939-40; Fred H. Harris
of Meriden, Conn., 1940-41; Ben-
jamin Kaufman of Trenton, N. J.,
1941-43; and Archie H. Green-
berg of New York, the present
c'on ni nandcr.
From 1932 there has been a
decided growth of our organiza-
tion both in membership and
achievement. Our 300 posts lo-
cated in all important cities are
taking an active part in promot-
ing American ideals, combatting
subversive movements, and build-
ing inter-faith, good-will and un-
derstanding. J.W.V. is officially
credited with starting the Boy-
cott of Nazi goods and services
on March 20, 1933. Under the
leadership of J. George Fred-
man, P.N.C., the boycott devel-
oped not only into a world-wide
movement, but became the most
effective non-military weapon
against Nazi tyranny.
J.W.V. also took the lead in
combatting un-American groups
and individuals. The German-
American Bund, the Silver Shirts,
the Brown Shirts and similar
subversive groups of the 1934-
1940 era could not stand J.W.V.'s
attacks and expose and either
folded up or went under-ground.
Christian Front and Christian
Mobilizer groups in New York,
Brooklyn and other large cities
could not compete with pro-Amer-
ican meetings held everywhere
under J.W.V. sponsorship. Some
of their leaders were jailed, and
Jos. McWilliams found it desir-
able to emigrate to the mid-west.
Our disclosures were valuable for
the Congressional Committees it
ves•igating un-American activi-
ties and the Federal Bureau of
Investigation.
In the last decade the J.W.V.
has been represented on all gov-
ernmental committees and agen-
cies dealing with veterans' affairs.
Six years ago, when General John
J. Pershing, who on several occa-
sions acknowledged the heroism
of American Jews in the World
War, went to France to dedicate
the American war memorials and
chapels, he invited the J.W.V. to
send an officail representative.
General Frank T. Hines, head of
the United States Veterans' Ad-
ministration, has been a frequent
guest and speaker at J.W.V. en-
campments and has repeatedly
paid tribute to its work, as have
the heads of virtually all of the
other veterans' organizations. In
recent years the top ranking offi-
cers of the J.W.V. have been in-
vited guests at the conventions
of the other veterans' societies.
A large proportion of the J.W.V.
membership belongs to other vet-
erans' organizations to which
they are eligible.
Tracing its history back to
those Jewish Civil War veterans
of 1896, the J.W.V. is today the
second oldest veterans' society
in the country, being ante-dated
only by the Grand Army of the
Republic. When this organiza-
tion of Civil War Veterans dis-
bands, as it must before long
because the last bugle call is
fast decimating its aging ranks,
the J.W.V. will become the senior
among all veterans' groups.
The most potent evidence
against the baseless slander of
Jewish lack of patriotism is to
See JWV—Page 10
3
PALESTINE
(Continued from rage I )
ment by the Democratic Party at
its convention in Chicago of the
rights of the Jewish people to
unrestricted immigration and land
acquisition in Palestine — rights
w h ich have been denied by the
current White Paper policy of
the Mandatory—and the recogni-
tion of the historic aspiration of
our people to build in Palestine
a free and democratic Jewish
Commonwealth, is an act of
greatest political significance and
statesmanship. It will be warmly
welcomed by all sections of the
American people which have al-
ways manifested profound sym-
pathy for the efforts of the Jew-
ish people to re-build their na-
tional life in their ancient home.
It will be especially welcomed by
the Jews of America who will
be greatly heartened by this mag-
nificent expression of friendship
and helpfulness at a time of deep
crisis and tragedy for Israel.
"The Democratic Party, under
the leadership of Franklin D.
Roosevelt, now reaffirms its loyal
support of the Zionist movement
which more than a quarter of a
century ago was so eloquently
championed by another great
Democratic President, Woodrow
Wilson.
"The action of the Democratic
Party following the similar not-
able action of the Republican
Party at its convention in Chi•
cago last month, now puts both
major parties squarely behind
the ideal of a Jewish Palestine.
It is now the declared purpose
not of one political party or an-
other but of the entire Amer-
ican people which has come to
regard this constructive solution
of the basic Jewish problem in
the world today as one of the
important objectives of a just
world peace which is to follow
this War."
GOLDSTEIN HAILS
PALESTINE PLANK
WASHINGTON, D. C.---De. Is-
rael Goldstein, president of the
Zionist Organization of America
who with a delegation headed by
Dr. Stephen S. Wise presented
the Palestine case before the
Resolutions Committee of the
Democratic Convention in Chi-
cago, today hailed the adoption
of the Palestine plank calling for
the establishment in Palestine of
a free and democratic Jewish
Commonwealth, as a "significant
reaffirmation of the traditional
American policy from Woodrow
Wilson to Franklin Delano Roose-
velt."
Declaring that the Palestine
plank adopted by the Democratic
Convention is a "step forward
toward the reaiization of Jewish
hopes, Dr. Goldstein said that it
"will bring a ray of hope to the
surviving remnants of European
Jewry tnat in a Jewish Palestine
as bright future will await them
and their children." "To the val-
iant Jewry of Palestine who have
with unsurpassed devotion given
their lives, and industry and their
substance to the cause of the
United Nations, the Palestine
plank of the Democratic party
will be heartening and reassur-
ing," he said.
Dr. Goldstein's statement con-
tinues;
"The impending victory of the
United Nations will be a moral
victory as well as a political vic-
tory when as part of a new
world dispensation Palestine,
opened to unrestricted Jewish im-
migration and colonization, will
become a Jewish Commonwealth.
This will be historic justice cou-
pled with humanitarian states-
manship.
"Now that both great political
parties have declared themselves
on the subject of Palestine, the
faith of millions of Jews in the
sense of justice of the American
people is renewed. We await the
day when this Palestine Resolu-
tion will find its fulfillment in
the dawn of a new day for a
long suffering people who have
been Hitler's first and most trag-
ic victims."
vs.
PUBLIC AUCTION
By order of Mark T. Barnett,
Trustee
We will on
SUNDAY, JULY 30TH
Commencing at I P. M.
At
GORDON'S BEACH
Union Pier, Mich.
Sell at
PUBLIC AUCTION
All the remaining property be-
longing to Dr. L. E. Gordon
known as GORDON BEACH
Consisting of
hcuses and cottages, 71,1/2 wooded
lake lots, together with a 1,000 house •
capacity water system will be sold in
individual lots and parcels to the
highest bidders in cash
9
TERMS OF SALE
25% cash deposit required from each
and every purchaser, balance of pur-
chase price upon the delivery of deed.
Taxes will be prorated as of delivery
of deed. Good merchanlable title will
be given to all purchasers.
Exhibition any time prior to day
of sale
For further particulars, address the
undersigned
Bass-Luckoff, Inc., Moves
Offices to 909-20
David Stott Building
MICHAEL TAUBER
& CO.
AUCTIONEERS
The Bass-Luckoff Advertising
Agency, established in 1928, an-
nounce the removal of their
offices from the Lafayette Bldg.
to larger .quarters at 909-20
David Stott Bldg.
BUY WAR BONDS
411 South Market St.—Chicago
PHONE: —WEBSTER 4500
Sale under personal supervision of
Richard Levy, Michael Tauber & Co.
•
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INTERIOR DECORATORS
and UPHOLSTERERS
nnounces
0 P ENIN G
Monday, July 31, 1944
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