Rabbi Jacob J. Schacter on Why So Many Jewish Soldiers Are Buried Under Crosses, and What Can Be Done About It

The Tikvah Podcast

Tikvah

Judaism, Politics, Religion & Spirituality, News

4.6 • 620 Ratings

🗓️ 29 July 2022

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

More than half a million Jewish men and women served in the U.S. Armed Forces in World War II. They fought in every theater of the war, from North Africa and Italy to France and Belgium to the Philippines and Japan.

In the process, many of them fell in service to their country. In the fog of war, some of them were buried in military cemeteries under Christian gravestones in the shape of the Latin Cross. Decades later, there’s now an organization dedicated to working with the families of the fallen and the American military to replace the crosses with stars of David to honor more properly the heritage of the Jewish war dead.

This week our podcast is joined by the president of that organization’s board of directors, Rabbi Jacob J. Schacter, a historian at Yeshiva University who previously joined the podcast to discuss Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveichik’s essay “Kol Dodi Dofek.” This week, he speaks with Mosaic’s editor Jonathan Silver about the work of Operation Benjamin—and shares his belief that the organization’s mission is an expression of devotion to the memory of these fallen Jewish heroes and to the nation they died to defend.

Transcript

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0:00.0	More than half a million Jewish men and women served in the U.S. Armed Forces in World War II,
0:13.1	along with their countrymen, American Jewish soldiers, sailors, and aviators fought in the North
0:17.7	African campaigns of Egypt, Libya, Algeria, and Tunisia. They fought in Sicily
0:23.3	and Naples. They fought in Germany, at Ardenne, and they landed on the shores of Normandy as part of
0:29.6	Operation Overlord on June 6th, 1944. Jewish soldiers, sailors, and aviators fought in the Philippines.
0:36.3	They fought at Guadalcanal and at Iwo Jima. They fought in Okinawa.
0:40.3	They came forward to do their part in the war effort to defeat the Axis powers, and, as of course,
0:46.3	tragically happens in battle, Jewish soldiers fell in the service of their country.
0:51.3	In the fog of war, some of them were buried in military cemeteries, cemeteries
0:55.2	located in France, in Belgium, in the Philippines. They were buried, mistakenly, under Christian
1:00.9	gravestones, honed in the shape of a Latin cross. Now, many decades later, there's an organization
1:07.1	dedicated to working with the families of the fallen, hand and glove along with the American military,
1:12.8	to replace the crosses with Stars of David, to properly honor the heritage in perpetuity of the Jewish war dead.
1:20.2	Welcome to the Tikva podcast. I'm your host, Jonathan Silver. My guest this week is the rabbi and Yeshiva University
1:26.2	Professor of History, J.J. Shachter.
1:28.3	He's the president of the board of directors of Operation Benjamin, a non-profit dedicated to replacing the crosses that mark the graves of Jewish soldiers.
1:36.6	Rabbi Shactor previously joined the podcast to discuss Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik's classic essay,
1:42.0	Kol Dodi, Dofek, the Rob's fascinating analysis of Zionism,
1:46.7	Jewish history, and Jewish destiny. This week, he joins us to explain the work of Operation
1:51.4	Benjamin and why it's an expression of devotion not only to the memory and identity of these fallen
1:57.1	Jewish heroes, it's also an expression of devotion and gratitude to the United States.
2:03.0	If you enjoy this conversation, you can subscribe to the Tikva podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher,
	...

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