Today marks the 80th anniversary of the Allied invasion of northern Europe during World War II, otherwise known as D-Day. The youngest veterans of that battle are 98 years old, some of whom made their way to France for the celebration. This moment is an opportunity to contemplate what the war means today, 8 decades later.
D-Day was a major success for the Allies in 1944 and marked the beginning of the end for Nazi domination of Europe. As President Biden said to one of the veterans, “You saved the world.” But the sacrifice required to achieve the goal was staggering. Almost 10,000 American soldiers are buried in Normandy, along with tens of thousands from other countries.
In France, efforts are being made to remember some of the failures of the invasion as well. The president, Emmanuel Macron, visited the site of a brutal German crackdown far from the beaches of Normandy but connected to the invasion. French commandos and resistance fighters were given the task of preventing the Germans from reinforcing their positions in Normandy, but they were discovered, and their camp was destroyed. The Nazis burned villages and executed members of resistance in retaliation.
This battle is not much remembered in France, perhaps because the mission didn’t succeed, and the cost was so high. Survivors only began to speak out in recent decades when the far right in France began to question Nazi atrocities. They wanted to make clear that the Nazis not only perpetrated the Holocaust against Jews, they also committed brutal crimes against the French resistance.
Amongst the endless rows of crosses in the American cemetery in Normandy are Stars of David, reminders of the Jewish contribution to the war. In Israel, the new Chaim Herzog Museum of the Jewish Soldier in World War II aims to tell the story of the 1.5 million Jewish soldiers around the world who fought, including 250,000 who lost their lives.
Jews have been fighting in the world’s armies for millennia, but World War II is different because all the Jewish soldiers, no matter the country, were fighting on the same side, against fascism. 500,000 served in the United States, 500,000 for the Soviet Union, and another 500,000 with other allied military forces. By contrast, Jewish soldiers during World War I fought on all sides. My father’s father served in the Austro-Hungarian Army during the Italian campaign, where there may have been Italian Jewish soldiers shooting at him.
As I wrote about at the 75th anniversary of D-Day, my mother’s stepfather participated in the invasion, although he was not part of the initial landing. My cousin would like to possibly donate some of my grandfather’s military items to the Herzog Museum, so he looked at my grandfather’s uniform. Based on his insignia, he was a technician fourth grade with the Engineer Special Brigade.
During World War II, the U.S. Army had a great need for people with all kinds of special skills so it created the technician rank, which was designed for a person who could perform a specialized task and was not considered a regular combat soldier. Technicians could be anyone from a cook to a tank driver. I’m not sure what role my grandfather performed, but he was an engineer by training and was 34 years old at D-Day, so he was certainly not running up the beachhead with a machine gun.
So many people contributed to “saving the world” in France, from commandos to resistance volunteers to aging engineers. Their sacrifice not only saved the world, it created the world we live in, one secured by an international order and mutual defense. As we have seen in the last few years, the foundations established 80 years ago will constantly be tested. May we continue to be inspired by generations past to keep and defend the peace.
Rabbi Adler's Study 