[mountaineer]

I saw the program and was annoyed at the way Mankiewicz kept trying to get these guys to feel guilty for what they did to survive. He obviously did not grasp that there was a difference between the regular army and the SS and Gestapo troops. He also didn't appreciate that few regular army guys were Nazis, least of all these "part-Jew" soldiers.

The veterans, on the other hand, displayed a great deal dignity in discussing what had to be a difficult thing to discuss. The book by Bryan Rigg sounds fascinating.

[steamroller]

I bought the book and read it right through.It is well-written and scholarly at the same time.What is particularly interesting and sad is the level of participation by Jews in the armed forces of Germany and Austria-Hungary in World War 1.Rigg documents this at the beginning of the book.Jews served in large numbers and took many casualties in the service of what they believed were their nations.Many rose to high rank.The thanks they got was to be considered non-persons.It illustrates the insanity of calssifying people en masse,instead of letting them rise or fall on their own intrinsic qualities.That is what sets the US apart from most other countries,with maybe a few exceptions like Australia or Canada.

[steamroller]

I bought the book and read it right through.It is well-written and scholarly at the same time.What is particularly interesting and sad is the level of participation by Jews in the armed forces of Germany and Austria-Hungary in World War 1.Rigg documents this at the beginning of the book.Jews served in large numbers and took many casualties in the service of what they believed were their nations.Many rose to high rank.The thanks they got was to be considered non-persons.It illustrates the insanity of calssifying people en masse,instead of letting them rise or fall on their own intrinsic qualities.That is what sets the US apart from most other countries,with maybe a few exceptions like Australia or Canada.