My family assimilated after World War II, because my father served in the U.S. Army, was captured by the enemy and incarcerated as a POW in Nazi Germany at Stalag 2-A. He and 18 other Jewish American men were assigned to a Work Kommando called Zachow 92/VI, and performed slave labor.
We moved from Chicago to Los Angeles in 1947. I studied Torah at Dominican College with Rabbi David Davis, attended Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach’s classes and visisted Israel.
I wanted to learn more about World War II after my father died in 1984 but avoided any books that told about the Holocaust. I had nagging questions, which prompted me to start looking for Jewish men who were POWs in Nazi Germany. I found two of the 19 men in Dad’s group. Their stories were similar to Dad’s and I decided to dig even deeper.
Today, at 63, I am in touch with the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., and the Jewish War Museum. I want to know more about the impact of war on Jewish men who were incarcerated by the Nazis. I am writing a book about my dad’s experiences and my own experiences as a child on the home front, and want to meet other Jewish veterans on World War II who were POWs in Nazi Germany.