Who were the highest ranking Jewish officers in the World War II militaries?

October 21, 2009 7:36 AM

Who were the highest ranking Jewish officers in the World War II militaries?

Any service of any combatant nation can be considered - including Germany's.

For example: In the American army, it was Major General Maurice Rose.

posted by Joe Beese to law & government (20 comments total)

My first thought for UK and Commonwealth forces was the famous Jewish Brigade; their sometime commander was Canadian Brigadier General Ernest Frank Benjamin. Though not sure if there were other more senior officers serving in other divisions or branches.
posted by Abiezer at 8:02 AM on October 21

Seems that Melvin Krulewitch was also a Major General. Different service (USMC), different theater, but same war.
posted by rokusan at 8:03 AM on October 21

For the question: It depends on your definition of 'Jewish' here. Erhard Milch is probably among the highest-ranking German officers of immediate Jewish ancestry (since his only superior was Göring, who was not Jewish, as far as I can tell).
posted by themel at 8:10 AM on October 21

Julius Ochs Adler was also a Major General but I don't know if he had attained that title before the end of hostilities.
posted by Kattullus at 8:19 AM on October 21

Jewish Soviet Generals during WWII:

Major-General (1944) Mikhail Efimovich Litvin (1912-1978)
Major-General (1943) Izrail Aleksandrovich Shapiro (1901-1981)
Major-General of Aviation (1940) Isaak Senderovich (Aleksandrovich) Levin (1896-1956)
Major-General of Artillery (1944) Efim Moiseevich Varshavskii (1892-1983)
Major-General of Technical Troops (1945) Naum Abramovich Rabinovich (1893-1958)
Lieutenant-General of Technical-Engineering Service (1944) Viktor Mendelevich Sorkin (1899-1978)
Major-General of Technical-Engineering Service (1943) Iakov Zalmanovich Kronrod (1909-1986)
Major-General of Technical-Engineering Service (1943) Boris Lazarevich Livshits (1909-1986)
Major-General of Medical Services (1942) Lazar Moiseevich Moizhes (1903-1943)
Major-General of Medical Services (1944) Boris Samoilovich Sigal ( ? - ? )

From Axis History forum.
posted by Kattullus at 8:23 AM on October 21 [1 favorite has favorites]

themel: "It depends on your definition of 'Jewish' here."

I'm not picky on that score. Either parent being unambiguously identifed as Jewish would satisfy me.
posted by Joe Beese at 8:26 AM on October 21

[stalin derail removed - cite sources if you're going to make assertions that make everyone else go WTF thanks.]
posted by jessamyn at 8:33 AM on October 21

You might want to get in touch with The Museum of the Jewish Soldier in World War II, they probably have that information on hand.
posted by Kattullus at 8:33 AM on October 21

Jewish Maj. Gen. Maurice Rose, Patton's favorite tank commander, was the highest ranking U.S. officer killed in action during World War II. Source
posted by watercarrier at 8:33 AM on October 21

Admiral Ben Moreel became the highest-ranking Jewish officer in Navy history. Source
posted by watercarrier at 8:36 AM on October 21

Sidney Gritz, 87, brigadier general Military career spanned 3 wars, ended in Iran. Source
posted by watercarrier at 8:39 AM on October 21

Colonel David “Mickey” Marcus. In World War II, he served as chief of staff of the 2nd Armored Division and was promoted to brigadier general. Source
posted by watercarrier at 8:45 AM on October 21

Brigadier General Julius Ochs Adler - United States Army general. Source
posted by watercarrier at 8:48 AM on October 21

Mark Wayne Clark Commanded Fifth Army and British/American 15th Army Group in Italy during World War II Commander of the United Nations forces in later part of the Korean War
Received the Distinguished Service Cross, Army Distinguished Service Medal, and Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor - President of The Citadel. Source
posted by watercarrier at 8:50 AM on October 21

I have a master's degree in European history. My specialization was Germany, my secondary field, Russia. I have read both Issac Deutscher's Stalin and Robert Tucker's 2 volume history of Stalin. Neither of these two books, (the leading academic biographies of their subjects) indicates that Stalin was a Jew. Nor does any of J Arch Getty's book on the Great Purges. These books were read as part of a graduate seminar on Stalinism. No person in my program, including the renown Russian historian, W. Bruce Lincoln, asserted at any time, that Stalin was jewish. It is simply not a fact accepted by any reputable scholar, anywhere in the world. To remove any confusion, when I earlier stated that Stalin was a Georgian, I am referring to the former Soviet Republic (and current independent country) of Georgia, which is is in the southern part of the former Soviet Union, not the U.S. State of Georgia.

Also, to head something off at the past, although there are some people who have asserted Hitler was a Jew, no evidence exists that he was Jewish. Speculation has always centered on Alois Hitler having a child with his Jewish maid. However there has been no evidence ever brought forth. The only thing I have ever seen was an assertion in the autobiography of Schnellenberger, who stated that near the end of the war, SS Chief Himmer showed him evidence that Hitler was a jew. This has been totally dismissed by the scholarly community as a fabrication on one or the other's part.

Don't forget Orde Wingate, the British leader of the irregular Chindits in Burma.

I hope I have been clearer this time.
posted by Ironmouth at 8:51 AM on October 21

This list should be helpful to you. Jewish Generals and Admirals in America's Military
posted by watercarrier at 9:03 AM on October 21

Apparently there was some kind of assertion in a previous comment, now removed by the moderators, that Stalin was Jewish. That's wacky talk. As others in the thread have said he was most certainly not -- and as a genealogist I felt I should pipe in here that Stalin's y-chromosome DNA signature is now known, thanks to testing done on his grandson Alexander Burdonsky (son of Vasily), and his specific haplotype (which you can find online at Wikipedia and which is within haplogroup G2a) is one that is typical of his home in Georgia and the Caucauses and is not one shared with any other Jews that I know of. This doesn't cover his maternal line, of course, but I thought I'd throw it out there as a data point.

Back to the subject at hand, I don't know what Admiral Hyman George Rickover's rank was during WWII; his Wikipedia bio isn't clear. And three Jews won the Medal of Honor in WWII: Second Lieutenant Raymond Zussman, Sgt. Isadore S. Jachman, and Captain Ben L. Salomon.
posted by Asparagirl at 9:36 AM on October 21 [1 favorite has favorites]

Don't forget Orde Wingate, the British leader of the irregular Chindits in Burma.
While Wingate was an enthusiastic supporter of the foundation of Israel and trained the Haganah, he wasn't Jewish himself - he was born in India to English parents who were devout Plymouth Brethren.
posted by Abiezer at 9:50 AM on October 21

It's a bit of a derail, but I wanted to correct a mistake from above:

Jewish Maj. Gen. Maurice Rose, Patton's favorite tank commander, was the highest ranking U.S. officer killed in action during World War II.

Lieutenant General Leslie J. McNair was killed in Normandy.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 10:35 AM on October 21

*
General J. Lawton Collins aka "Lightning Joe Collins", regarded Maurice Rose "as the top notch division commander in the business at the time of his death." However, Rose never gained the prominence of many of his contemporaries, for any of several reasons, including the fact that he did not survive the war, and as an intensely private man, he rarely if ever sought personal publicity.

His biographers have stated that he is "World War II's Greatest Forgotten Commander". Andy Rooney, a WWII war correspondent and later 60 Minutes commentator, wrote the following about General Rose in his book "My War":

Maj. Gen. Maurice Rose, who had been with the Second Armored Division at Saint-Lô, was now the commander of the Third Armored and he may have been the best tank commander of the war. He was a leader down where they fight. Not all great generals were recognized. Maurice Rose was a great one and had a good reputation among the people who knew what was going on, but his name was not in the headlines as Patton's so often was. Rose led from the front of his armored division.

The Rose Medical Center in Denver, Colorado is named in his honor. The Maurice Rose Army Airfield was in Bonames, north of Frankfurt, Germany.
posted by watercarrier at 10:43 AM on October 21