My Experience Being a Jewish POW in World War II

[@XxpauldadudexX]

All these old veterans, with great stories, always get me choked up.

[@tayloranderson456]

Wonderful to preserve this history and that he was willing to share. My Grandfather was in a similar situation as a Jewish-American soldier in Germany toward the end of the war. After about a month as a POW he feared his captors were planning to do something to him. He escaped alone (but with the help of his fellow prisoners), and backtracked for three days until he was fortunate enough find an American squad, he'll be 97 on July 2.

[@dumolebob]

Thank God for great American heroes like this gentleman, and what a great storyteller. God bless you sir and thank you for your service!

[@OfflineSetup]

I'm British, but I will say it anyway "thank you for your service".

[@--Skip--]

John, we we were all allies fighting those ba5tards.

[@willplume1555]

I'm glad you survived to tell this story. This is better than any book. Thank you.

[@scottnolan2833]

Every story like this I hear reminds me of how lucky we are to share the freedoms we do. Freedoms men like this purchased with their pain and sometimes lives. God bless you, sir.

[@safenders]

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!

[@timvest2192]

Truly inspirational! Thank you for sharing!😎🙀😷

[@prussianproductions9958]

This man made me proud to be 1/8 Ashkenazi Jewish. I always was told that my family was German Jewish and lived in Russia and came to the US. This goes to show how far we came. From nothing, to something. Thank you for your service 🇺🇸✡️

[@joshdabeard3681]

Thank you for your service sir

[@MrJm323]

3:55 ...This is the point where you tell your German captors, "Hindu, ....'H' as in Hindu".

[@thebeatnumber]

A Hindu named Harvey? 🤔

[@--Skip--]

Eastern religions like Hinduism Buddhism, Islam, or the Sikh religion did not gain traction until the late 1960's to early 1970's in the USA. The U.S. military did not readily recognize other religions except the above named by this speaker.

[@davidmoore6197]

What a lovely gentleman, inspirational!

[@CollectingCardboard]

God bless you, sir! And God bless EVERYONE of your generation; the GREATEST GENERATION, the world will ever know!

[@JohannaVanWinkle]

Thank you for sharing your story. This history is so very important!

[@dalebelseth3058]

Great story teller. Nice guy Mr. Horn

[@studywar7075]

Incredible story! Thank you so much for sharing your invaluable recollections with the world, sir.

[@JimHalpertFromTheOffice]

Very nice to hear your story, thank you so much.

[@tenbroeck1958]

Thank you for your service to America sir.

[@brianboccuzzi7300]

Thank you for your service and for your sacrifice. God bless you!!

[@lekmirn.hintern8132]

Inspired by some of the comments below: There are some beautiful stories out there about Jews in the American army during the war. The troop was captured by the Germans -- and when the Germans, at an assembly, ordered the Jewish soldiers to step forward and identify themselves, THE ENTIRE TROOP stepped forward. Knowing that the Germans, who at least paid lip service to the Geneva accords, would not send off the whole troop to concentration camps. God bless America. And may He curse those who wish to destroy the beautiful nation that this fine man risked his life to preserve.

[@stelleratorsuprise8185]

Thanks for reporting your history.

[@SupesMe]

Always wondered if Jewish POW's got different treatment, Or if they were shipped off to the camps as well. he didn't exactly receive hugs & kisses but his treatment was way better than I assumed it would be

[@CSUnger]

He's holding a lot back. Isn't telling everything. But, yes, he made it out alive.

[@F_Tim1961]

The Germans did this to captured Russian Jewish army prisoners - moving them to Auschwitz. They were not sure enough of winning to do it to other Allied prisoners.

[@haroldgoodman130]

Many Jewish POWs were sent to extermination camps and killed. Not all were so lucky as this man. That is why a lot threw away their dog tags so the Nazis wouldn't know they were Jewish. This man didn't. as he says, a big mistake but thank God he made it out alive.

[@georgemiller151]

It depends on who captured them. Some were sent to the concentration camps.

[@bdcochran01]

When I entered the US Army, I was given a choice of declaring a religion on my dog tags. Regardless of your professed religion, it is not a good idea to declare one - and I did not.

[@MrJm323]

"No Pref"

[@doc.voltold4232]

May I ask why?

[@dmk124]

That's smart of you. What in god's name were they thinking when they identified the jews this way knowing what this can mean if captured.

[@shimshonbendan8730]

Baruch HaShem! What a touching and moving story. Imagine being a Jew who has been captured by the Germans and is being held by the SS. I can't. What a brave and courageous man.

[@alm4655]

Great story, and what an all-round good guy

[@delprice3007]

God bless this amazing man.

[@douglasshadell5119]

TRULY THE GREATEST AMERICANS

[@howards8535]

Thank you for enabling us to live in freedom.

[@esta1ful]

My dad was in oflag xiiib Near Nuremberg. He wasn’t Jewish.

[@shirleybalinski4535]

When my uncle was taken as a POW, he was asked if he was German. He was in a field hospital( broken back) & being interrogated. His middle name was Augenstein( grandma's maiden name). My uncle had dark wavy hair, dark eyes & olive skin. When he replied his mother was German extraction & Protestant, the officer let go of his tags. He said it gave him a funny feeling.

[@francispitts9440]

We need people like him now more than ever. I’m very thankful for those men and women who sacrificed so much for my continued freedom.

[@jamesgibbs6970]

Why did the U.S. allow servicemen to do into combat against the Germans with Jewish markings? It's almost asking for trouble. They should have had different ID provided to them.

[@alexandermarcus1497]

The world, for the most part, was largely in the dark as to the seriousness of the plight of the Jewish people under the thumb of Nazi Germany, until the allies began liberating the camps at the very end of the war..

[@devinpetersen2387]

It's a damn shame the Germans didn't treat Jewish American soldiers like regular Americans. They should have

[@StevenRecknagelMusic]

Have you ever read the book “Germany Must Perish”? Many Germans were scared of what that book and other polices meant for their people.

[@davidgreen5099]

my friend had a great uncle sent to one of the juden POW camps. he barely survived.

[@MrJm323]

5:50 ....What the- ...? ....So, that SS captain saved your life! Did you ever try to find him after the War? Because he saved your life when he sent you back to the rest of your captured air crew. (What happened with your dog tags then? Those you have in your hand must not be the original; he must have confiscated and disposed of your original ones so you wouldn't have to worry about be separated and sent to a KZ.)

[@geoffdearth8575]

Why did he throw away his shoes?

[@XxpauldadudexX]

I thought that, I get that his feet were swollen so he took em off but, why didn't he tie em over his neck? Maybe he was so weak he just never had the energy to carry them?

[@stelleratorsuprise8185]

I read somewhere about the shoes the bomber crews wore on a plane. The where warm, they where comfortable but they where not made for marching. Maybe he was talking about the shoes he had on the plane when he mentioned 'slippers'. People from a bomber crew had to change a lot of theier gear before bailing out, even their shoes if they where planning to walk by themselfes.

[@edwardsullivan8041]

This Man IS not only an Inspiration and American Hero, He's an Inspiration to all Jews...

[@mitchyoung8791]

I gotta find my dogtags!

[@stevenobrien557]

Sound is terrible

[@mlfconv]

down

[@paulstieler4468]

Hells Belle Crew Stalag 17

[@neilpiper9889]

Chekoslovakia now Chek Republic and Slovakia

[@rambonaurampum9375]

neil piper i think he was trying to say Yagoslavia.