Rating: 
Summary: Analysis of a Dilemma
Review: "Hitler's Jewish Soldiers" by Bryan Mark Rigg, is a unique World War II history. He has had access to government archives, private records, and personal interviews that most history buffs only dream about. Indeed, one must have a thorough background in the German National Socialist years and modern military history just to begin to appreciate the level of the research that went into the book. Apart from the unique breadth and focus of Mr. Rigg's research, his book stands out for its fresh and intriguing perspective. The author explores the various reasons why men who appear to have nothing to gain and everything to lose might find themselves in the German military. Their reasons often included elements of patriotism, considerations of personal safety by hiding in plain sight, desire for personal or career advancement, the hope that a soldier's family might benefit from his loyal service, and a sense of duty instilled by previous military training before the Nazis came to power. The Nazi German racial laws focused more on ancestry than choice of religion. There were significant numbers of Jews, half-Jews, and quarter-Jews in the German military. Although there were few Jews of pure ancestry, there were substantial numbers of the so-called mischlinge, or people of mixed heritage. Hitler's Jewish Soldiers analyzes the actions and motivations of people who could possess one of two extremely different points of view to explain what really went on in Germany in the Nazi era. A truly unique case history that Mr. Rigg references in his book is Bernhard Rogge. Rogge began his naval career in the Kaiser's navy, served the Reichsmarine of the post WW1 republic, then Hitler's navy to reach the rank of vice admiral, after Germany fell Rogge worked managing with a shipping company, and finally he retired in the 1960's after serving as a vice admiral in the Bundesmarine. Rogge, as a quarter Jew married to a Jew was considered a full Jew under Nazi pronouncements. In 1939, his wife and mother in law, also Jewish, killed themselves to escape the persecution. Hitler gave Rogge an exemption from the Nazi racial laws. Hitler later personally awarded the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves to Rogge for his military accomplishments. Rogge served with humanitarian distinction in command of the auxiliary cruiser Atlantis, sinking or capturing 22 ships and remaining away from port for 655 days without any serious morale or discipline problems. Later in the war, his task group built around the Prinz Eugen supported the epic German evacuation in the Baltic Sea away from the Russian invasion in the east. Nobody will ever know how many German lives were saved. Certainly no Nazi, Rogge is just one example of a man of possessed of two heritages who is remembered for serving his country loyally and decently. The most common analytical shortcut taken by modern historians is to write of groups of people. Since it requires the collective efforts of thousands, and perhaps millions, of people to wage a modern war, it seems quite reasonable to assume that groups of people acted in accordance with a common goal and a unanimous conviction in their ideals. Although it may make perfectly good sense to approach the history of war and politics as a study of the conflicts among races, religions, and nations, the resulting oversimplification dilutes and obscures the real lessons of history. By exploring the individual motivations of men whose backgrounds fit neatly into neither of two competing groups, Mr. Rigg actually examines the whole concept of why men participate in war. It should be obvious that neither army in a conflict, and certainly no individual soldier, goes into battle with the intention of being remembered as the 'bad guy' in history. Unfortunately, modern writers frequently assume too many things and attribute commonly misunderstood purposes to the German soldiers, and such errors are the result of stereotyping. Many soldiers of Jewish heritage served with valor and were awarded Iron Crosses and Knights Crosses. Individual commanders often shielded Jews in their units. The political and military motivations of leaders and the men who followed them should be revealed so that future generations will actually learn from history. Mr. Rigg's book is a significant contribution to the analysis of an obscure and misunderstood issue.
Rating: 
Summary: Beef with it's description of what exactly a Jew is
Review: A Jewish person is a direct descandant of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. The Jew today is usually shown to be one by the fact that they have far more semitic dna than the non-Jewish folks they live among (for example, Russian Jews compared to Russian Orthodox Christians). Rigg slightly obscures this fact early in the book when he talks of Jews having no DNA unique to them. Being descended of Jewish tribes who fled Israel in disapora times is the only way all the Russian Jews today could have so much semitic blood.
Rating: 
Summary: Important or Interesting
Review: A pet hobby of mine has been to discover the impact of Jewish soldiers in the World armies of the twentieth century. One of the more interesting stories was of the Jewish Finns in World War Two who fought courageously in defense of their homeland. Some were even decorated by no less than the SS when saved by Jewish Finns on an occasion. The story is that they refused the decorations. I must say that these ironies of history fascinate me. I enjoyed the fact that Gen Chernekovsky the youngest Soviet Group General in Russian history and a Jew, was one of the most able generals on the Soviet side. General Monash a good Jew is claimed by many to be the finest general of the Great War. The more I have studied the more I have come to realise that many Jews have made a contribution to the armies of the world far in excess to their demographic representation. Previous to my investigations I have held the incorrect belief that Jews are rather reluctant contributors in the martial arena, being of a more studious and anti-secular nature. It is a fact that Jews have sometimes made an impact in the more controversial and unpopular (with hindsight) causes. The book certainly provoked my sense of irony of Jews contributing to the very organisation that sought to exterminate them.
My first thoughts were that Mr. Riggs' findings should have been obvious given the fact that German Jews had a long and distinguished history in the service of the German army. In my naivety I assumed that all Jews no matter how distantly "tainted" with Jewish blood were rounded up and shoved into concentration and death camps. The book taught me that Jews would often fight to earn the respect of their non-Jewish hosts and to protect their families. How human and how tragic. I myself faced the great dilemma to fight for a cause that was patently incorrect and wrong in many ways and I chose to do so in order not to bring pressure and shame on my family. When I was conscripted I decided that I was going to excel in order to prove a point to my comrades that I was as good as them. I secretly admired the dedication of those who were brave enough to be contentious objectors.
The book is certainly interesting but is it important? Jews live all over the world and they are obliged to serve the government of the day. Some do it reluctantly, some with zeal. Some do it out of a sense of duty and some do it for survival. There were most probably thousands of Vietnamese who were press ganged on both sides to serve masters that they could care less for. Why do we examine Jews with a different set of standards than others who have found themselves in similar circumstances throughout history? Somehow we expect more from Jews. Jewish soldiers do not fit the stereotype of what we expect from a Jew. I have an image of a bearded scholar with glasses pouring over holy books in dimly lit rooms. Jews are not known as fierce dedicated warriors. The real irony is that Jews have fought heroically throughout history and many of them have fought with distinction for the countries of their birth. Jews have found themselves pitted against each other on many occasions. What is surprising is that we should find this so strange and ironic given that Christian fights Christian and brother fights brother in many instances of war. However when we find a thousand Jews of varying Jewishness that fought for the Third Reich we sit up and take note. It is our misconception of Jewish relationship to the secular world that is the real irony, not the fact that Jews are patriotic. The importance of the book for me lies not so much in the fact that Jews served in the Wermacht but in the fact that I have once again had to examine my own stereotypical prejudices of what Jews are.
A worry is that the book will be used to further the aims of right wing organisations in a perverse manner. This has already manifested in the book's listing on many right wing web sights. However, I have comforted myself with the fact that the neo-nazis are capable of using any document including the Talmud and Torah to show Jews in a poor light. I think that the author has been honest and sincere in his book and that he has even shown empathy for those who found themselves in this difficult position. The title of the book lets Bryan Rigg down, as it is neither wholly true nor as sincere as the contents of the book. Very few of the persons cited were Jewish or considered themselves Jewish. However I understand the authors need for a little sensationalism in pursuit of capitalistic necessity.
Rating:
Summary: GREAT book, highly recommended!
Review: After seeing the Dateline NBC feature on "Hitler's Jewish Soldiers," I ordered the book that night. It was abseloutly fascinating. I thoroughly enjoyed even minute of it. Dr. Rigg's extensive work put into the production of this book paid off! Im only 15 years old, a freshman in high school, and thought it was a wonderful, so young guys shouldn't hesitate to pick this one up. Even if you're not a huge fan of WWII novels, I'd strongly recommend checking it out. Missing out on this one would be tradgic. I hope this helped, enjoy your reading.
Rating:
Summary: Informative and Educational
Review: As a huge fan of World War II (and with history being my planned major for college), I found this book totally informative. Riggs provides an in depth look at Hitler's racial policies and his exemptions he granted to Jews. Definately worth reading if you're interested in how Hitler looked at the Jews.
Rating:
Summary: Informative and Educational
Review: As a huge fan of World War II (and with history being my planned major for college), I found this book totally informative. Riggs provides an in depth look at Hitler's racial policies and his exemptions he granted to Jews. Definately worth reading if you're interested in how Hitler looked at the Jews.
Rating:
Summary: Hitler's Jewish Soldiers
Review: As an interviewee of Bryan Rigg I was very curious how the book would turn out. It fulfilled all my expectation and should be ranked as an important contribution to understand Nazi policies and the ever tightening noose for "half Jews" and "quarter-Jews". Rigg has amassed an impressive amount of documentation. The book is also an interesting sociological study of the vacillation with which such a problem is handled in a supposedly monolithic dictatorship where Hitler himself got involved in deciding who is an "Aryan" and who is not.
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Rating:
Summary: An important and critical presentation of Nazi Germany.
Review: As both an author/historian and friend/colleague of Bryan's, I read his book with great interest. As someone who has himself specialized in collecting first hand interviews with German veterans for Primedia and my own books, I was well aware of the 'Mischlinge' situation. However, Bryan educated me on this topic with his dynamic and forthright approach to this topic. Many historians and enthusiasts will balk at his conclusions, yet his evidence speaks for itself. In order to provide a defense for this book and his research, my own research uncovered what was already well known to many yet ignored by most; the fact that Hitler and Himmler constantly lowered the racial criteria throughout Europe as the war progressed in order to bolster the ranks of the German military with 'freiwilligen', or 'volunteers'. This was especially true of the Waffen SS, whose ranks numbered 940,000, of whch only a quarter million were actually German by birth and approximately 79% being Aryan by even the most relaxed racial definition. Nearly every ethnic group and nationality in Europe was represented wearing the lightning strikes of the SS. Bryan Rigg's research will prove unsettling to traditionalists. However, truth is what it is, and ignoring facts that are uncomfortable to some merely educates others in the long term. Expect more great works from Bryan. He is in a league of his own.
Rating:
Summary: Professional Soldiers They Were
Review: As many of you read these reviews will note, OTHER personal reviews written here use this book to somehow VERIFY that "regular" (sic) Germans DID NOT KNOW THE HOLOCAUST was occurring; citing that the book verifies that Germany's professional soldiers of jewish ancestry (sic) DID NOT KNOW of the camps and the genocide that was occurring. It appears that many of the reviewers here are "revisionists", because the book DOES NOT support the notion that Germans and German soldiers of jewish faith background did not know of the atrocities. This book cites example after example, as well as indepth commentary, that ALL of these German Warriors of "Jewish" background all fought in order to keep their families, loved ones, wives, children, parents, grandparents, etc., OUT OF THE CONCENTRATION CAMP. Over and over the interviews revealed that these soldiers had that "extra" drive to STAY ALIVE in order to prevent the shipping of their families to the concentration camps. In the book, interviews, notes, and commentary reflect that these soldiers feared that if Germany were victorious they, along with their families, would be sent to the "ovens" and/ or labor camps to die. On another "alternative" website of book reviews this book is cited as further evidence that the German people, as well as avowed Nazis, DID NOT KNOW OF THE HOLOCAUST! They cite this book as "evidence", as do many on this review, that Germany's professional soldiers who were "jewish" (quarter to 'full' blooded, as if Jewishness were a "race", another falsity)DID NOT know of the holocaust and would not have participated in fighting for Germany.
Rating:
Summary: Hitler's Jewish Soldiers
Review: As the Husband of a Third Reich Mischlinge 2nd.degree,I say this book is an education in it's self.
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