X Troop & Jewish Identity

 

X Troop: The Secret Jewish Commandos of World War II by Leah Garrett tells the story of German Jewish (or Jews from mainland Europe, and some German dissenters) who fought as commandos for Great Britain.  Most of these men were detained as enemy aliens when the war began.  Some were sent to camps in Australia and New Zealand.  Then they volunteered for elite commando training in the army of the country that imprisoned them.  They fought in dangerous places with distinction.  After the war many of them had difficulty becoming naturalized British citizens.

I see Garrett’s book as a one of those footnotes of the complex and tragic fate of many Jews in the twentieth century.  These men gave up their identities, often did not marry Jewish women, and their children did not know of their Jewish origin until late in life in many cases.  This is the story of Jewish commandos, but also the shifting foundations of modern Jewish identity.