Dem Morgenrot Entgegen2002
by Oz Almog
TOWARDS THE LIGHT OF DAWN Heroes of the Soviet Union
In the Second World War, 1.5 million Jews fought with the Soviet Union and the Allies on the Russian Front, in Europe and Africa, in Near and Far East, at sea and in the air. There were 500,000 Jews in the Red Army alone, of whom 200,000 died in battle. Thousands of Russian soldiers of Jewish origin showed their courage in the struggle against the German army, and around 160,000 of them received medals and awards for bravery. More than 150 of them received the highest decorations – the Golden Star and the honorary title “Hero of the Soviet Union”. Three of them – D. A. Dragunski, M. J. Katukov and J. W. Smuskevich – were given the award twice.
During and after the war, anti-Semites in the Soviet Union would assert that Jews had...