A little-known story indeed. "In September 1941, a medical officer performed a deed so heroic he was awarded an Iron Cross by the German high command. With little regard for his own safety, and in the face of heavy Soviet shelling, Major Leo Skurnik, a district doctor who had once fostered ambitions of becoming a concert pianist, organised the evacuation of a field hospital on the Finnish-Russian border, saving the lives of more than 600 men, including members of the SS. Skurnik was far from the only soldier to be awarded the Iron Cross during the Second World War. More than four million people received the decoration. But there was one fact about him that makes the recommendation remarkable: he was Jewish. And Skurnik was not the only Jew fighting on the side of the Germans. More than 300 found themselves in league with the Nazis when Finland, who had a mutual enemy in the Soviet Union, joined the war in June 1941. The alliance between Hitler and the race he vowed to annihilate — the only instance of Jews fighting for Germany’s allies — is one of the most extraordinary aspects of the Second World War, and yet hardly anyone, including many Finns, know anything about it. “I lived here for 25 years before I heard about it, and I’m Jewish,” says John Simon, a New Yorker who moved to Helsinki in 1982. “It’s not a story that’s told very much.” The reasons why it’s rarely told go right to the heart of what it means to be Jewish and that race’s quest to be accepted by a long list of unenthusiastic host nations. The Jewish veterans – a handful of whom are still alive today – insist they’re not ashamed of what they did. But spend an evening in their company and talk to other members of the community who have examined the events in detail, and you soon realise the “accommodation”, a battlefield Sophie’s Choice, has left deep psychological scars. Aron Livson’s first taste of military action came in 1939. A 23-year-old son of a milliner from the city of Vyborg, he was drafted into the army when the Soviet Union invaded Finland. In common with many Jews, he was determined to do his duty to the best of his ability, laying down his life for his country if necessary. Almost without exception, the Jews of Finland descended from Russian soldiers who had been posted to the region during their military service. (Under Russian rule, Jews had been forced into the army at the age of 10 and made to serve for up to 25 years.) They were viewed with some suspicion by the rest of Finland, which itself had been ruled by Russia until its independence in 1917, and the war that broke out in 1939, known in Finland as the Winter War, was regarded by the small Jewish population as a chance to prove they were loyal Finnish citizens. Livson fought in the Karelian Isthmus and, although the army was eventually forced to retreat by the far larger Russian force, he fought so valiantly, demonstrating such great skill and initiative, that he was promoted to sergeant." http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/museums/10682975/The-Jews-who-fought-for-Hitler-We-did-not-help-the-Germans.-We-had-a-common-enemy.html
I can't post the link here, but if you go to YouTube and search on "Jews who fought for Germany," there's a 45-minute program on the subject. It's in the "Nazi Collaborators" series. DaveBj
Stay ahead of the Telegraph; read the book yourself, http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hitlers-Jewish-Soldiers-Descent-Military/dp/0700613587
LRusso That, indeed, is the link and I repeat it now for anyone who wishes to learn about this fascinating but harrowing tale of a group of people who were trying to stay alive in Nazi Germany. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l379T4484jY If you do watch it, don't be tempted to skip any of it but watch it through to it's inevitable end. Ron
AFAIK the Finnish Jews fighting for their country in the WW2 is or has been no secret but a well known matter of fact. They did not fight for Hitler but for Finland, which is and has been totally clear for everybody. Major Skurnik was not the only one to be awarded an Iron Cross. "Two Jewish officers of the Finnish army and one female Lotta Svärd member were awarded German Iron Crosses, but they refused to accept them." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Finland Some foreign Jews every now and then try to blame the Finnish Jewish veterans for their patriotism, which I find unfair and shameful.
Goring tried to pretend to Hitler that he was actually Aryan: An den Leiter der Reichsstelle für Sippenforschung.
