Loyalty Betrayed : Jewish Chaplains in the German Army During the First World War

Around 30 Jewish chaplains served with honor and distinction in the German army during World War I, providing spiritual care for about 100,000 Jewish, as well as non-Jewish, soldiers, and also Jewish refugees made homeless by the Tsarist army. This is the first book in English to detail the writings of these Jewish chaplains, and it includes original translations of memoirs and diaries, annotated with historical, religious, and literary notes. In spite of their loyal service between 1918 and 1941, all of these rabbis died or were driven out of Germany, and at least four were murdered during the Holocaust. Loyalty Betrayed - now available in paperback - provides a balanced view of the situation of Jews in the German army on the Western, Eastern, and Balkan Fronts, providing a glimpse into the vanished world of Eastern European Judaism. *** "Much fascinating information about the experiences and thoughts of these Jewish chaplains can be gleaned from this thorough treatment of a topic which until now has received little attention from English-speaking scholars." -- AJL Reviews, May/June 2014 *** "Loyalty Betrayed offers quite a few surprises. Appelbaum gives us examples of camaraderie and professional interaction among Jewish, Protestant, and Catholic chaplains....Loyalty Betrayed is an excellent work for anyone interested in the German Army in the Great War, the chaplaincy, Jewish History, or the Holocaust." -- Albert A. Nofi, Strategy Page, August 2014 *** "By translating these sources and making them widely available, Peter Appelbaum has done a great service to the scholarly community....the clarity of the translations and the evocative nature of much of the writing make these documents well suited for use in a variety of courses, including those for undergraduates." -- H-War, H-Net Reviews, January 2015 [Subject: Military History, Jewish Studies, Religious Studies, German Studies, European Studies, World War I]