A Deadly Legacy: German Jews and the Great War

"This book was such a surprise. I don’t think many people would expect, given the horrendous activities of the Germans towards Jews in the Holocaust , that there was a previous generation of Jews who actually fought for Germany during the Great War. Thousands of Jewish soldiers were killed in World War I, as this book tells us. I was totally amazed by that. It’s a very brave book I think, also. Because it’s going to surprise people that there was a generation or two before Hitler, where Jews were proud to be German, and not persecuted in such a terrible manner. I think it is a brilliant book, which presents a new view of the German Jewish community during the First World War. Get the weekly Five Books newsletter I was also surprised at what light is shed on the diversity of Jewish experience. However, the book also makes it clear that things did disintegrate as time went on. Nevertheless, there was this period in World War I, where Jews were awarded for bravery, and died in battle, on behalf of Germany. That appealed to me too. It was the first thing I noticed when I flicked through the book. Yes, this book well deserved its place on the shortlist. As do all the other five."