14 | APRIL 16 • 2020 

VIA U.S. EMBASSY IN MANILA TWITTER

in military studies, to assist in a fact-finding 
mission. A student of Schacter’
s later assisted 
in expanding the database.
Lamm, in turn, sought the help of his 
mechutan (father of his child’
s spouse), 
Steve Lamar, an amateur genealogist and 
co-founder of OB. Their search party 
grew to five when fundraising allowed 
the hire of full-time professional geneal-
ogist Rachel S. Silverman. The search, 
originally known as the Normandy 
Heritage Project, was on in earnest.

SETTING THINGS RIGHT
A database search required, without apol-
ogies, some profiling — the seeking out of 
Jewish-sounding names. It yielded what the 
team thought would be their first candidate, 
Army Pvt. Benjamin Garadetsky. A tireless 
genealogical investigation confirmed his 
Jewish heritage. 
Approval for a marker change was grant-
ed by the American Battle Monuments 
Commission (ABMC), the government agen-
cy that manages 26 U.S. military cemeteries 
around the globe. “They’
re the guardians, cus-
todians of the soldiers who made the ultimate 

sacrifice,
” Lamar said.
 On June 20, 2018, family, friends, 
Schachter, Lamar and officials from the 
ABMC gathered at Garadetsky’
s grave in the 
Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-
sur-Mer, France, to witness the official cere-
mony replacing the cross with a Star of David. 
Once Jewish graves in cemeteries outside 
of France were identified, the Normandy 
Heritage Project officially changed its name 
to Operation Benjamin to honor, as described 
by Schacter, his organization’
s “first returning 
soldier, Pvt. Benjamin Garadetsky.
” 
Arthur Waldman’
s final resting place would 
be among a group of the next five Jewish sol-
diers to have their grave markers rededicated 
under the guidance of OB and the ABMC.
The rededication of a gravesite needs 
rock-solid proof and the permission of a 
descendant of the fallen soldier. “It’
s important 
for the ABMC that they see proof of Jewish 
heritage not only from the perspective of the 
family but also from the local Jewish com-
munity,
” says OB genealogist Silverman. The 
same goes for Operation Benjamin in their 
confirmation of a soldier’
s Jewish identity. 
“We hold ourselves to a higher standard,
” 
Silverman said. “We work hard to be 1,000% 
certain that the evidence of a Jewish soldier’
s 
identity is incontrovertible.
” 

HOW THE JN HELPED
To that end, the final dossier prepared for the 
ABMC on behalf of Arthur Waldman is 32 
pages long. The William Davidson Digital 
Archive of Jewish Detroit History, overseen by 
the Detroit Jewish News Foundation, figures 
prominently in the exhibits presented, includ-
ing marriage announcements and obituaries 
of Waldman and Weiner family members, as 
far back as 1933. 
“For Arthur, the JN showed us through the 
length and breadth of time that his family not 
only identified themselves as Jews, [but] they 
were also identified within their Jewish com-
munity,
” Silverman said.
Most fascinating, yet sobering, were the 
wartime articles discovered within the pages 
of the JN. The Feb. 19, 1943, edition of the 
JN chronicled Waldman’
s meeting up with 
fellow Detroiter Cpl. Sydney Wolfe in the 
Philippines. It seems the two crossed paths 
many times in Detroit and in Army train-
ing camps, but never actually met until they 
arrived in the islands. 

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VIA U.S. E

The Archive
Information on the life of Pvt. Arthur Waldman that helped lead to his gravesite 
rededication was obtained through the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit 
History, overseen by the Detroit Jewish News Foundation. This archive collects every 
page of both the Detroit Jewish News and the Detroit Jewish Chronicle, dating back to 1916. 
It is free and accessible to all at djnfoundation.org and supported via tax-deductible 
contributions from the community. 

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FOR MORE INFORMATION
Operation Benjamin: operationbenjamin.org 
American Battle Monuments Commission: abmc.gov

continued from page 13

Jews in the D
Families and dignitaries dedicating the new markers: 
Shalom Lamm, left, is co-founder of Operation Benjamin; 
Rabbi Jacob Schacter, co-founder of OB, is fourth from 
right; Steve Lamar, co-founder of OB is just right of the 
rabbi; and the Katzes are at the center. 

