The exhibition “The Jews in the Great War” reveals the extent of Jewish dedication to the French war effort during World War I.
Organised by the Museum of the Art and History of Judaism in Paris, the exhibition documents the period from 1914 to 1918 when 36,000 Jews from France, Algeria and elsewhere willingly went to war, driven by the reigning patriotic spirit.
Anne Helene Hoog, the exhibition’s curator, explains the motivation of Jews to join the French war effort.
“At the start of the war President Raymond Poincare appealed to the French people to unite in a ‘sacred union’, irrespective of race or creed. The Jews responded to this call. They gave of their best for the fatherland,” she says.
More patriotic
Visitors at the exhibition share this opinion. Richard Laurence, a non-Jew, admires the patriotic fervour and courage of Jews as well as their love of France.
“It is very moving. They were more patriotic than others,” he says. Letters from Jewish soldiers thanking France form an apt illustration of this patriotism.
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 Jews were more patriotic than others |
Richard Laurence, visitor |
“In synagogues rabbis even prayed so that divine justice would stand by the army. It is admirable,” Hoog comments.
She remarks that Jews really managed to integrate religious and republican convictions.
“Despite the fact that Jews had just emerged from the traumatic Dreyfus Affair, they still enthusiastically donned their uniform and chanted the nationalist slogans of the time,” she adds.
Prejudices comes back
But during the war prejudices came back, putting the French Jewish community in a difficult situation. Many were torn between their citizenship and the prevailing anti-Semitism.
Anti-Semitic tracts and pamphlets stigmatised Jews as “war profiteers” and “draft dodgers”.
“That was wrong. It was libel,” claims Martine Stein, another visitor at the exhibition.
She is moved by the letters from children and soldiers, among them a letter from a young soldier who writes of his desire to join the infantry as he feels he owes it to France.
| Symbol of coexistence |
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Rabbi of Lyon, Abraham Bloch who died at the front in the arms of a Jesuit priest, Father Jamin |
Stein believes that such material proves Jewish attachment to the French Republic. “After the war, they thought they were fully integrated in France,” she said.
‘Sacred’ painting
Among the most moving illustrations in the exhibition is a painting by Jewish artist Lucien Levy-Dhurmer.
It shows the rabbi of Lyon, Abraham Bloch, standing beside Protestant and Catholic chaplains and offering a cross to a dying Catholic soldier. Bloch later died at the front in the arms of a Jesuit priest, Father Jamin.
The painting became the symbol of the “sacred union” between French Jews and the French State.
But less than 20 years later France had forgotten the Jewish effort in World War I. “Jews were seen as traitors and the pro-Nazi Marshal Petain introduced anti-Semitic measures. Jews who had fought in World War I were shocked,” Hoog concludes.
The museum, which was recently opened, is located in the heart of Paris, in the Marais.
Covering the period from the middle Ages until the 20th century, it shows the various facets of Jewish culture in France. It also illustrates the connection between Jewish tradition and French intellectual life.
The exhibition is at the Museum of the Art and History of Judaism until 29 May 2005, Sunday to Friday, 11 am to 6 pm. 71, rue du Temple, Paris, Tel: +33-1-5301-8660
