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Just when you think you've heard of all the crazy things that happened during WWII, here's one you might have missed. By Nazi law, anyone who was at least 25% Jewish was considered a Jew. The name they were given was "Mischlinge" ( the German word for Mutt), and at least 150,000 of them served in the Wehrmacht..some were drafted and others enlisted. I learned about them from a documentary by the same title: "Hitler's Jewish Soldiers." In this film four of these men talk freely about how and why they wound up in the army. Most said they knew nothing about the deathcamps until late in the war and most were booted out of the army by 1940-1941 anyway. However there was one man who won 3 Iron Crosses while serving in a Panzer unit and stayed in all the way until 1945. I could go on forever about the film but I don't read posts that are too long myself, so I will spare you the agony of doing it myself. This documentary is available through Amazon.com now if you are interested.

DD

PS- Happy Christmas to All!

Thanks DD for the info. I'll have to check that out.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. There were black Confederate soldiers during the Civil War.....

If those reading haven't seen it, check out the movie "Europa, Europa." It is the amazing true story of Solomon Perel, a Jewish boy who escapes the Nazis in Poland, goes to a communist boy's school, gets "acquired" by the Wehrmacht, and ends up as a Hitler Jungend! It is filmed in German, Yiddish, and Russian so be prepared to read.

Great movie!

Todd O

Couldn't agree with you MORE on Europa, Europa...it is a very entertaining film, with something for everybody. Getting back to Hitler's Jewish Soldier's documentary I forgot to add: In 1936 a photo was taken of a uniformed soldier that was to represent "The Ideal Wehrmacht Soldatten" and guess what...he was Jewish!

Dogdaddy