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.