On Memorial Day…Honoring the Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America

Norman Hanenbaum commander of the Dept. of CT Jewish War Veterans of the United States, standing in Section C of the CT State Veterans Cemetery in Middletown which houses the graves of Jewish veterans and their spouses.

By Cindy Mindell

The Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America (JWV) is the oldest veterans’ group in the U.S. Founded on March 15, 1896 in New York City, the roll call of its first meeting includes 63 Jewish Civil War veterans, recorded as members of the Hebrew Union Veterans.

The JWV is organized into, in descending order of rank, a National Convention, a National Executive Committee, departments, district or county councils, and posts. Membership eligibility is established in the JWV’s National Constitution, which lists the forms of membership as active, associate, honorary, in-service, posthumous, life, and distinguished life.

The JWV mission states:

“We, citizens of the United States of America, of the Jewish faith, who served in the Wars of the United States of America, in order that we may be of greater service to our country and to one another, associate ourselves together for the following purposes:

“To maintain true allegiance to the United States of America; to foster and perpetuate true Americanism; to combat whatever tends to impair the efficiency and permanency of our free institutions; to uphold the fair name of the Jew and fight his or her battles wherever unjustly assailed; to encourage the doctrine of universal liberty, equal rights, and full justice to all men and women; to combat the powers of bigotry and darkness wherever originating and whatever their target; to preserve the spirit of comradeship by mutual helpfulness to comrades and their families; to cooperate with and support existing educational institutions and establish educational institutions, and to foster the education of ex-servicemen and ex-servicewomen, and our members in the ideals and principles of Americanism; to instill love of country and flag, and to promote sound minds and bodies in our members and our youth; to preserve the memories and records of patriotic service performed by the men and women of our faith; to honor their memory and shield from neglect the graves of our heroic dead.”

Connecticut is home to seven JWV posts and one Ladies Auxiliary, overseen by the Department of Connecticut Jewish War Veterans of the U.S.A. and a state commander. As per national JWV standards, the Connecticut posts promote activities in four areas: patriotic, Jewish, service, and affinity.

Members march in local parades on Memorial Day and Veterans Day, and each post sponsors educational and social action activities in its home community. As a statewide organization, JWV takes part in the annual Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Memorial Day) commemoration at the State Capitol and in programs that involve all Connecticut veterans’ organizations.

Over the last several years, JWV has “adopted” the Jewish Cadets Club at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, sponsoring annual Jewish holiday

Jerry Fisher, executive director of the Jewish Federation of Eastern Connecticut, with Jewish Coast Guard Cadets at the seder hosted by JWV and the Federation

programming and a Yom Hashoah observance, together with Jerry Fischer, executive director of the Jewish Federation of Eastern Connecticut. (Round challahs are provided by Stanley Schwartz, co-owner of Noah’s Restaurant in Stonington, and husband of Dr. Linda S. Schwartz, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Veterans’ Affairs.) Every year, Fischer and the JWV present kiddush cups to Jewish graduating cadets.

What’s true about the JWV in Connecticut is that the organization as a whole, and each post individually, have many fingers in many pies, and it is easy to lose track of the activities they are involved in.

Posts make monthly visits to the Veterans’ Affairs hospitals in West Haven and Newington, and to the Rocky Hill Veteran’s Home, and provide holiday gifts to the residents and patients. They put flags on veterans’ graves every Memorial Day. The Norwalk-Bridgeport Post Malcolm A. Tarlov Post #141 is making generous donations to the Jewish chaplains at each of the five U.S. service academies. Other posts made contributions to the Jewish Chaplains Memorial dedicated in October 2011 at Arlington National Cemetery.

In January, the Major General Maurice Rose Post #51 in Middletown organized a 70th anniversary commemorative program of The Four Chaplains — two Protestant pastors, a Catholic priest, and a rabbi who died on board the U.S. Army transport ship USAT Dorchester during World War II when it was hit by a German torpedo. Since 1945, the Fred Robbins Post #142 in Stamford has sponsored the annual City of Stamford Citizen of the Year Award dinner, and sponsors a local Boy Scout troop. The post also makes donations to the Marine Corps League in Stamford, which sends care packages to service men and women overseas.

Many posts provide academic scholarships to local high school seniors and relatives of JWV members. The Hartford-Laurel Post #45 sponsors an annual essay contest on a patriotic theme for students of Temple Sinai, the Bess & Paul Sigel Hebrew Academy in Bloomfield, and Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Hartford. In addition to helping Post #45, the JWV Ladies’ Auxiliary #45 in West Hartford sponsors an annual Poppy Drive before Memorial Day and holds annual drives for the Village for Families and Children in Hartford and for Foodshare in Greater Hartford.

So far, two JWV members have been inducted into the Connecticut Veterans Hall of Fame in Hartford – current state commander Norman Hanenbaum of Haddam and James Tierney of West Hartford. The Middletown post is working to have a stretch of Connecticut Route 9 in named for Major General Maurice Rose, after whom the United States Armed Forces Reserve Center in Middletown is named. The post is also involved in developing the Greater Middletown Military Museum. At the post’s monthly meetings, members say Kaddish for the yahrzeits of Jewish veterans and spouses buried in the State Veterans’ Cemetery in Middletown.

What’s also true about the JWV, as post commanders will attest, is that the 550 members throughout the state are veterans of older military conflicts. Like many organizations today, JWV finds it difficult to attract younger members.

In that case, says Ron Aarons of Post #141, “our goal should be to build an endowment for our national headquarters and the National Museum of American Jewish Military History. That way, the message of our organization and its mission will live on.”

Jewish Historical Society project lets Jewish war veterans tell it like it was

The Library of Congress Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center collects, preserves, and makes accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war.

In April, the Jewish Historical Society of Fairfield County (JHS) Oral History Committee began interviewing Jewish veterans in Stamford, starting with those who served during World War II. Organizers plan to expand the project into the rest of the county and interview veterans from later military conflicts, says Elissa Kaplan, co-vice president for education and programs at the JHS.

While the interviewers follow Library of Congress guidelines, they also gather information about the veterans’ Jewish background and include questions that train a Jewish lens on the military experience.

“World War II was the ‘big removal:’ people were moved from New York to the Mississippi, and from Mississippi to Wyoming,” Kaplan says. “So in addition to asking about enlistment and basic training, we also ask those questions from a Jewish point of view: did you experience antisemitism? Did you have access to Jewish resources? We’ve heard a wide variety of experiences from anti-Jewish drill sergeants – but then, drill sergeants are notoriously mean to all recruits – to Jewish soldiers being welcomed with open arms by small Jewish communities in small southern towns.”

There are funny and endearing stories and intensely emotional ones, Kaplan says, and long-buried memories triggered by the interviewer’s questions. “We’re very sensitive about how much each veteran wants to talk about his experiences,” she says.

Copies of each interview DVD are provided to the veteran, the JHS archives, and the Library of Congress.

The JHS is seeking Jewish veterans from Fairfield County and volunteer interviewers for the Veterans History Project. For more info: (203) 321-1373, ext. 150 / JewishHistSoc@gmail.com

Jewish War Veterans posts in Connecticut

Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America, www.jwv.org or (202) 265-6280.

Department of Connecticut Jewish War Veterans of the U.S.A.  Norman Hanenbaum, Commander  (860) 345-2191 / enbaum@comcast.net

Ansonia: Luben-Linett-Steiman Post #317  Bernard Horowitz, Commander  cthorw@sbcglobal.net

Hamden: Post #204  William Brody, Commander  (203) 483-0526

Hartford: Laurel Post #45  Marvin Goldfarb and Joseph Fleischmann, Co-Commanders  (860) 666-1715

Hartford: Ladies’ Auxiliary #45  Sandra Berinstein, President  (860) 233-0136 / golden210@aol.com

Middletown: Major General Maurice Rose Post #51  Morty Pear, Commander  (860) 347-5215

Newington: Sergeant Harry Berson Post #56  Harold Sandler, Commander  (860) 666-1440 / leesandler@aol.com

Norwalk: Malcolm A. Tarlov Post #141  George Cooper, Commander  (203) 866-4671

Stamford: Fred Robbins Post #142  Kurt Zimbler, Commander  (203) 322-4972 /

The JWV, together with the Jewish Federation of Eastern CT, hosts a Passover seder for Jewish cadets at the Coast Guard Academy each year. Picured here at the 2013 seder are three cadets with Federaton Executive Director Jerry Fischer (far left).

The new Jewish Chaplains Monument was dedicated at Arlington National Cemetery in October 2011. Among those on hand were five members of

Connecticut’s Jewish War Veterans: (l to r) Elliott and Elissa Donn of Windsor; Norman Hanenbaum of Haddam, Joanne and Jerry Blum of Colchester.

Jewish War

Veterans posts in

Connecticut