“KAISERTREU” BRINGS DC-AREA ORGANIZATIONS TOGETHER

The German-American Heritage Museum of the USA, the Jewish War Veterans of the USA, the National
Museum of American Jewish Military History, and the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington

came together on Thursday, October 6th for a discussion surrounding the German-Jewish past.
Speakers John Friedman and Oliver Moss traced through documents, family stories, and personal
research the lives of their grandfathers, decorated WWI veterans of the Kaiser’s army and survivors of
the Holocaust. Lt. Col. Sheldon Goldberg, PhD of the National Museum of American Jewish Military

History moderated, and GAHF 1st Vice President Ron Kosmahl made introductory remarks.
Lt. Col. Goldberg poignantly summarized the history of Jewish military participation in the German states
and the Kaiserreich, beginning with the first soldiers in the early 19th century and concluding with the
100,000 patriotic Germans of Jewish faith who enthusiastically joined the Kaiser’s army on the eve of
World War I. Mr. Friedman and Mr. Moss then proceeded to relay their grandfathers’ stories as
decorated German veterans and later as refugees; to describe their personal journeys with this history;
and finally speak about restitution and their acquisition of German citizenship decades later. The event
was followed by a lively question-and-answer session and reception.