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This article takes as its subject matter the juridico-political space of the prisoner of war (POW) camp. It sets out to determine the nature of this space by looking at the experience of war captivity by Jewish members of the Western forces in World War II, focusing on the experience of Emmanuel Levinas, who spent 5 years in German war captivity. On the basis of a historical analysis of the conditions in which Levinas spent his time in captivity, it argues that the POW camp was a space of indifference that was determined by the legal exclusion of prisoners from both war and persecution. Held behind the stage of world events, prisoners were neither able to exercise their legal agency nor released from law into a realm of extra-legal violence. Through a close reading of Levinas’s early concept of the ‘there is’ [il y a], the article seeks to establish the impact on prisoners of prolonged confinement in such a space. It sets out how prisoners’ subjectivity dissolved in the absence of meaningful relations with others and identifies the POW camp as a space in which existence was reduced to indeterminate, impersonal being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dedicated to the memory of my teacher The late Professor Israel Gutman A fighter in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising And one of the greatest scholars of the Holocaust. Mordechai Warsaw Ghetto Uprising is generally known as the commander of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. However, a reexamination of documents and testimonies raises a number of fundamental questions as to Anielewicz's role and authority within the Jewish Combat Organization (Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa, ŻOB). On the basis of her close reading of these sources, the author of this article places Anielewicz in historical context and sheds light on the ŻOB's modes of operation both before and during the Uprising, thus facilitating a broader reevaluation of Jewish resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An essay is presented which discusses the role of German Jewish immigrants, or émigrés, to the U.S. in fighting against German Nazism during World War II, with a particular focus on the German graduates of the Military Intelligence Training Center (MITC) at Camp Ritchie, Maryland. The role that German Jewish graduates of Camp Ritchie's role in postwar Germany, including in increasing Holocaust awareness, is discussed.

The article reports on the decision of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) to launch a monthly bulletin called "Jewish Affairs" in 1941 and the involvement of South Africa in World War II. Topics mentioned include the declaration of war by South Africa on Germany on September 6, 1939, a letter sent by SAJBD Chairman Cecil Lyons to SA Prime Minister J.C. Smuts on September 7, 1939, and a booklet entitled "They Answered the Call."

The article provides updates on some of the remaining Jewish participants of the South African Jewry and World War II as of May 2015. Jewish participants mentioned include South African Jewish Ex-Servicemen's League representative Zelick Bedell, Sophiatown Herman Tobiansky founder Wilfred Tobiansky, and Esmond Jacobson and his capture in the city of Tobruk in Libya on June 21, 1941.

An excerpt from a paper written by Jewish nurse Annetta Klein Miller during the 1990s for a class at Wayne State University is presented, focusing on Miller's experiences in the European theater of World War II.

Constructions of Jews in twentieth-century Europe have been riddled throughout with inconsistencies and contradictions. However, some themes have been surprisingly persistent, none more so than constructions of Jews as weak, effeminate and cowardly. Schaffer looks at one significant set of responses to such characterizations, specifically at the rise of the ‘muscle Jew’ in Jewish and non-Jewish thinking. After the term was coined by Max Nordau at the turn of the twentieth century, the idea of the ‘muscle Jew’ came to represent a dominant current of Jewish identity reformulation. More recently, a series of scholars have come to understand the idea as a manifestation of Zionist ideology, a statement of a nationalist desire for Jewish reinvention in the face of endemic European antisemitism. By using the example of British Jewish service in the Boer War, the First World War and the Second World War, Schaffer argues rather that the idea of the ‘muscle Jew’ can be better understood as a reflection of Jewish desire for European integration, an attempt to present Jewish soldiers as equal to their non-Jewish equivalents. Moreover, he contends that the ‘muscle Jew’ needs to be understood as an idea rooted in the longue durée of Jewish history, one that represents only one strand of Jewish self-imagining. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses Jewish soldiers from Central High School in Oak Park, Michigan who served in the U.S. Army and Army Air Corps during World War II. It explores the soldiers activities as students in fields such as athletics and drama. Soldiers mentioned include Robert Blumberg, Morris Taub, and Roy Green.

The article provides photographs of Richard and Erwin Jonas, who both served in North Africa during World War II as staff sergeant in the Medical Corps and as a tank driver respectively.

The article looks at Jewish participation in World War II as seen through the religious artefacts possessed by the South African Jewish Board of Deputies. Topics mentioned include a Soldiers' Assistance Committee coordinated by the Cape Town War Emergency Committee, gifts provided by SA Gifts and Comforts to soldiers, and a drawing by British Jewish artist J.H. Amshewitz on the victims of Nazi brutality.

The article highlights the life and legacy of South African Jewish World War II workers Cecil Lyons and Jack A. Cohen. Topics covered include Lyons' role as managing director of manufacturing firm Lever Brothers, Ltd., Cohen's role as chairman of various fundraising efforts, and Cohen's role as a prominent member of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

Examines the role of Finnish Jewish soldiers during the second World War. Relationship with German soldiers; Finnish Jewish soldiers who served as staff officers in various German headquarters; Anti-Jewish attitudes; Comradeship-in-arms; Realities involved in fighting a war; Jews' openness in dealing with Germans.

The article provides testimonies from two South African (SA) Jewish prisoners of war (POWs) about their time in captivity during World War II. POWs mentioned include Private L. Sandground and Warrant Officer I.S. Marks and mentions other related topics such as SA Jewish Board of Deputies' SA Rochlin Archives.

The article highlights the escape of South African Jew Herbert German to Switzerland during World War II after being captured by German Nazis in 1942. Topics covered include the surrender of Italy to the Allies on September 3, 1943, the liberation of southern France and the western Swiss border by the British and American armies in 1944, and a general dealer's store opened in Somerset West, Western Cape in 1947.

The article presents photographs of South African Jewry at World War II including Captain A.B. Widman in the field during the Italian campaign with his Battalion Commander, the marriage of Sergeant Molly Koopowitz to Lieutenant Sonnenberg, and Warrant Officer Sylvia Jocum.

The author applauds the publication for the special issue that is considered significant in the history of South African Jewry and with respect to the Jewish members who served in World War II.

The article discusses the history of the involvement of Jews in World War II. Germany's attack of Poland on September 1, 1939 is mentioned, noting that the attack was the beginning of the war and that within two days, Great Britain and France had declared war on Germany. The fact that over 1.5 million Jews fought for the Allies during World War II is also discussed.