Description
Book Synopsis In the 1930s, Rabbi Roland Gittelsohn was a distinguished scholar and vocal pacifist. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, he had a change of heart and volunteered to serve as a chaplain in the US Navy. The first rabbi ever deployed with the Marine Corps, he found himself in the bloody battle at Iwo Jima. At war''s end at the dedication of the 5th Marine Division cemetery, he gave a renowned speech known as the Gettysburg Address of World War II.
This biography is based on multiple sources, including Gittelsohn''s personal papers, beginning with his family''s emigration from Russia to the United States. From the growing antiwar movement after World War I, to the training of military chaplains and the anti-Semitism among their ranks, important events further contextualize Gittelsohn''s life, including his illustrious postwar career and service on President Harry S. Truman''s Committee on Civil Rights.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Preface
Introduction
Prologue
Part I. Pacifist 7
One. Family Origins
Two. Gifted Student
Three. War No More
Four. Discovery
Five. The New Rabbi
Six. Speaking Out for Peace as the Temple Grows
Seven. Popular Front
Eight. "The Next War for Democracy Will Kill Democracy"
Nine. "On Three Things Does the Whole World Depend"
Ten. Munich
Eleven. A World on the Brink
Twelve. The War Begins
Thirteen. Private Life
Fourteen. A Vision of the Common Man at War and a Surprise
Part II. Warrior 115
Fifteen. Becoming a Chaplain
Sixteen. The First Marine Rabbi
Seventeen. The Road to Iwo Jima
Eighteen. Going Overseas with the 5th Marine Division
Nineteen. Invasion
Twenty. In the Heat of Battle
Twenty-One. Uncommon Valor
Twenty-Two. Coping with Hell on Earth
Twenty-Three. Endgame
Twenty-Four. The Purest Democracy
Twenty-Five. Aftermath
Twenty-Six. Why Pacifism Failed
Twenty-Seven. Once a Marine …
Twenty-Eight. Post-War Years
Epilogue
Chapter Notes
Bibliography
Index
