About U.S., WWII Jewish Servicemen Cards, 1942-1947
After its efforts on behalf of Jewish soldiers and chaplains in WWI, the
National Jewish Welfare Board became the officially recognized civilian
social and religious support arm for Jewish personnel in the U.S. armed
forces. The Board and other affiliates established the Bureau of War
Records (BWR) during WWII to document the role of Jewish-American service
personnel during a conflict which saw approximately 550,000 Jews serve.
The BWR and its affiliates compiled service files on over 106,000 soldiers
that make up part of the Bureau of War Records, 1942-1947, collection,
with supporting documentation from War Department records, newspapers,
Anti-Defamation League manuscripts, correspondence by BWR volunteers,
POW lists, and other sources.
The cards that make up this database were extracted by the BWR from
these service files and serve as an annotated index to those files.
They typically provide a name, address, next of kin, rank, and source
information, as well as indicating whether soldiers received awards,
were taken prisoner, or were wounded, missing, or killed in action.
They may also include service number, theatre of action, branch of
service, when the soldier's name appeared on a military Honor Roll,
and even whether the subject turned out not to be Jewish. BWR staff
created two sets of cards-one alphabetical and the other geographical.
Only the alphabetical set is included in this database.
The original service files are now held by the American Jewish
Historical Society.