Lebensohn approached the chaplain. While sympathetic, the chaplain maintained that Orthodox services would cause many Jewish GIs not to attend. However, he agreed to abolish some of the most egregious issues, including the candle lighting ceremony.
Towards the end of December, Lebensohn was transferred to Camp Wheeler, Georgia. If he had thought he’d seen it all in Camp Upton, he was in for some surprises. He wrote, “There are about 400 Jewish soldiers here, and I regret [that I am] the only one who is putting on tefillin.”
He also inquired about religious services. To his consternation, he was informed that Jewish services were held on Sunday night as opposed to Shabbos. It didn’t end there. When Lebensohn showed up to services, he was outraged to discover that there was a decidedly non-Jewish crucifix suspended in front of the chapel! Lebensohn strode over to amud and forced the chazzan to stop the prayers. He then refused to allow the service to continue until the crucifix was removed.
In an interesting twist of hashgacha, less than one month prior to Lebensohn’s arrival in Camp Wheeler, Mr. Tress had received a postcard from another soldier, Gottfried Neuburger, who was stationed there. Private Neuburger wrote, “As far as anybody, including the Jewish chaplain, knows here, I am the only one eating kosher…” Now, Mr. Tress established contact between both men to each other’s delight.
However, of greater importance was the concrete action that Mr. Tress took on Lebensohn’s behalf. On December 5, 1942, an executive order by the president reduced the draft age from 45 to 38. Those older than 38 who were already in the army were entitled to be released as long as they could prove employment in aiding the war effort.
Mr. Tress arranged a job in a war production facility for Lebensohn and he was transferred back to New York. For Purim 1943, Lebensohn sent him a note expressing his gratitude with a poem based on the letters of Mr. Tress’s name.
In one of his letters to Mr. Tress, Private Lebensohn stated that as a soldier, one must also be prepared to do battle with the Yetzer Hara. He also paraphrased the old Yiddish saying “Vil-nar Gaon – If one truly wills, one can succeed academically,” to state, “If one truly wills, then even as a soldier, one can be a Jew.”
Lebensohn stressed, “On no account [should I be] admired. I rather consider it as self-evident and as an obligation for each Torah-true soldier to enforce the mitzvos, especially in places where they are seemingly impossible… It is impossible to describe to you what tremendous sacrifice it is…nevertheless, I’m very happy and I thank the L-rd for his help after each of those sacrifices.”
Private Lebensohn may not have thought so, but his life story was and continues to be an inspiration for all of us.
Correction: In last month’s article, Meyer H. Diskind’s army rank was misstated. His proper title should have read, Corporal Meyer H. Diskind.
