(Jewish Group) The Importance of PBS Documentary GI Jews Deep Look at Jewish Americans in World War2

[Behind the Aegis]

(THIS IS THE JEWISH GROUP! RESPECT!!)

Last week, in honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day, PBS aired a documentary called GI Jews: Jewish Americans in World War II (which you can stream on the PBS site for the next few weeks). It was fascinating. It was moving. It was funny and full of history and pathos and told a story that a majority of us have never heard. GI Jews featured Jewish men and women who were simultaneously fighting to liberate Europe from Hitler, while contending with anti-Antisemitism on the home front and from fellow servicemen and women. Among the unknown faces were more famous ones including Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner and Henry Kissinger. The documentary also touched on the lasting damage to authors Norman Mailer and J.D. Salinger, whose service and experiences deeply colored their lives and writing.


As the child of Holocaust survivors from an extended family of survivors, I wasn’t initially sure I wanted to watch another story of one the world’s greatest collaborative murderous tragedies. My own family’s pain is something I live with and am charged with remembering on a daily basis. But as instances of anti-Semitism increase nationally and internationally at an alarming pace, along with reports of Holocaust whitewashing and lack of collective memory, we must all remember what happened and ensure that it never happens again. And all of us have to speak out against hate, until we figure out a way to live together and accept each other no matter our sex, skin color, last name or holidays celebrated.

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“I was working on another documentary and I started speaking to Jewish Americans about their experiences in World War II,” Ades said. “Their stories were fascinating and surprising—how after Pearl Harbor they had lied about their age to in order to enlist; what it meant to serve as children of immigrants; the anti-Semitism they confronted in basic training on their way to fight the Nazis; the horror of the concentration camps they liberated; and how, on their return home, they found themselves changed forever.”

The story is based on Deborah Dash Moore‘s book, GI Jews: How World War II Changed a Generation, inspired by her own father’s service in the war. “We contacted her about making a documentary on the subject. She was delighted to come on board as a senior advisor and on-camera interview,” Ades said. “I was surprised that even though several films had been made on aspects of Jewish Americans in WWII, no one had yet made a comprehensive documentary on the subject. Here, we would be able to tell the stories of Jews not only as victims of the war, but as Americans fighting for both their nation and their people.”


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I watched this last week and it was excellent! If you have an opportunity, do watch it!

[pansypoo53219]

1. i watched it at least 3 times. just like history.