The Role Jews Play in the War in Facts and Figures
My Army is Bigger Than Yours: This graphic, which appeared in the Forverts in 1914, shows the size of each European country’s fighting force. Image by Forward Association
Jews play no small role in the current war. In the armies and navies fighting on land and sea a large number of Jews can be found.
The following list enumerates the number of Jewish soldiers in the various European regular armies:
Russia: 250,000
Germany: 6,150
Austria: 52,000
France: 10,000
Bulgaria: 4,500
Italy: 2,000
Holland: 7,000
Belgium: 1,000
Serbia: 700
In total there are 333,350 Jewish soldiers in all of these armies. If Turkey and Romania also mobilize their armed forces, there will be Jewish soldiers there as well. The total number of Jewish soldiers will equal around 400,000, which is four percent of the entire Jewish population of Europe.
The highest-ranking military title belongs to an Italian Jew, Ottolenghi. He is a general and for a time was Minister of War of Italy. In France there are ten Jewish generals.
After the last Balkan war the number of Jews in Serbia increased from 7,000 to 10,000. The additional 3,000 were Turkish nationals. In Serbia the Jews enjoy good relations with the Christian population.
If Greece now allies with Serbia, there will be 6,500 Jews in the Greek army (in Greece there are more than 85 thousand Jews).
In Austria, where Jews settled earlier than in other European countries, there are 1,313,687 Jews. In Hungary — 932,406; in Bosnia-Hertsegovina — 12,169. In total there are 2,558, 262 in the Austrian empire. The average percentage of Jews in the general population is 4 and a half overall. Only in Russia is it somewhat more.
In Austria Jews comprised 6 percent of the military and navy. Now, however, it is a great deal more, including many Jewish doctors.
Articles translated from the Yiddish by Chana Pollack, Ezra Glinter and Myra Mniewski.
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism so that we can be prepared for whatever news 2025 brings.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
