Nadene Goldfoot
The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in paying tribute to the generations of Jewish Americans who helped form the fabric of American history, culture and society.
Jewish Soldiers in the Civil War (April 12, 1861-April 9, 1865) examines when and why Jewish people decided to enlist, explores their encounters with fellow soldiers, and describes their efforts to create community within the ranks. This monumental undertaking rewrites much of what we think we know about Jewish soldiers during the Civil War. Adam D. Mendelsohn draws for the first time upon the vast database of verified listings of Jewish soldiers serving in the Civil War collected by the Shapell Roster, as well as letters, diaries, and newspapers, to examine the collective experience of Jewish soldiers and to recover their voices and stories.
Mendelsohn asserts that beneath the intoxicating myth of the heroic Jewish soldier observing Yom Kippur on the battlefield is a far more complicated and fascinating story. Never before had Jews joined a mass volunteer army—itself a relatively new historical phenomenon—in such numbers and with such enthusiasm.
Previous scholars sought to demonstrate sameness: Jews were as brave and loyal as any other volunteers, and they served in numbers at least equal to their fellow Americans. But in ways visible and invisible to their fellow recruits and conscripts, the experience of Jews was distinct from that of other soldiers—other ethnic minorities included—who served in Blue and Gray. From pork-heavy rations that necessitated many forgo eating Kosher, to the impossibility of having a Jewish burial on the battlefield, there are many parts of the Jewish experience during the Civil War that had yet to be uncovered, until now.
After nearly 15 years of research, the Shapell Manuscript Foundation will be releasing the Shapell Roster to the public. Adam D. Mendelsohn, author,, through early access to the Roster, used these findings in his masterfully-written new book, Jewish Soldiers in the Civil War: The Union Army. The book is the first of what will be a two-volume set, which will be released by NYU Press this coming fall. NYU Press issued the following press release announcing the publication:
One academic estimate was that at least 8,000 Jewish soldiers fought for the Union and Confederate during the Civil War. Donald Altschiller estimates that at least 10,000 Jews served, about 7,000 for the Union and 3,000 for the Confederacy, with some 600 Jewish soldiers killed in battle.
In the first half of the nineteenth century, Jewish immigrants came mostly, though not exclusively, from Central Europe. In addition to settling in New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, groups of German-speaking Jews made their way to Cincinnati, Albany, Cleveland, Louisville, Minneapolis, St. Louis, New Orleans, San Francisco, and dozens of small towns across the United States. During this period there was an almost hundred-fold increase in America's Jewish population from some 3,000 in 1820 to as many as 300,000 in 1880.
Most of my father's line of Goldfus in 1860 still lived in Lithuania. Jews immigrated from Lithuania to England, then moved on to Dublin, Ireland, and most from there traveled to South Africa. My grandfather held out for the USA so came over and made it on the 1910 census but not before. I've found Goldfus descendants of our line in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Chicago, Illinois as well as Portland, Oregon where we resided.
Just before the Civil War in USA, , The Crimean War was fought between Russia and the forces of Britain, France, and the Ottoman Empire, later joined by the army of Sardinia-Piedmont. The Crimean War was a conflict fought between the Russian Empire against an alliance of French, British, Ottoman and Sardinian troops. The war broke out in the autumn of 1853 and came to a conclusion in March 1856 with the Treaty of Paris. The Crimean War was a conflict resulting in a large death toll and for many had far-reaching consequences. Jews of Russia would have been forced to fight. And who came from Russia? My grandfather was from Telsia, Lithuania but on the 1910 census, was said to have come from "Russia." It was the blanket answer for anyone from the Pale of Settlement. Once in a while you'll find the name of the place-usually written so fast and sloppy that it's unreadable anyway.
In January 1863 to 1864 another Russian rebellion going on. Russian troops were in Warsaw, Poland during the uprising. It was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at the restoration of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last insurgents were captured by the Russian forces in 1864. It was the longest-lasting insurgency in partitioned Poland. The conflict engaged all levels of society and arguably had profound repercussions on contemporary international relations and ultimately provoked a social and ideological paradigm shift in national events that went on to have a decisive influence on the subsequent development of Polish society.
Major General Maurice Rose from WWII, He must be a direct relative of Rabbi Rose of Portland, Oregon. Major General Maurice Rose (1899–1945) was a United States Army general during World War II and World War I veteran. The son and grandson of rabbis, Major General Rose was at the time the highest ranking Jew in the U.S. Army.
Rabbi Emanuel Rose of the Reformed Temple was one of the three founders of the Oregon Board of Rabbis in 1961, which helped to establish an atmosphere of cooperation and sharing among the different Jewish congregations in the state. He is credited with bringing together members of the Jewish, Catholic, and Muslim communities.
Jews, especially those on the East Coast, are being very wary these days of exposing the fact that they are Jewish. The anti-Semitism here is running deeper than that found in Germany in the late 1930s. It's nice to know we're being recognized as an important element of the USA's make-up; 2% of the population, actually.
Resource:
https://www.archives.gov/calendar/event/jewish-soldiers-in-the-civil-war-the-union-army
https://www.historic-k.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/Timeline-Crimean-War/
https://www.britannica.com/event/Crimean-War
ngress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in paying tribute to the generations of Jewish Americans who helped form the fabric of American history, culture and society.
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