Jews on the Frontlines of World War II: A New Publication and Academic Conference at Tel Aviv University

On October 14, 2026, Tel Aviv University hosted a conference dedicated to the publication of the book "Jews in the Red Army: Front and Civilian Rear Correspondence, 1941–1945" by historian Leonid Smilovitsky. The study was published by the prestigious international academic publisher De Gruyter as part of the Studia Judaica: Rethinking Diaspora series.

The conference, organized by the Goldstein-Goren Diaspora Research Center at Tel Aviv University, brought together leading Israeli scholars of Soviet Jewish history, World War II, Russia, and Eastern Europe.

Welcoming remarks were delivered by Professor Roni Stauber, Director of the Goldstein-Goren Diaspora Research Center, Professor Simcha Goldin, and Professor Vera Kaplan, Director of the Cummings Center for Russian and East European Studies.

Dr. Semion Goldin of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem dedicated his presentation to the military experience of Russia and the Soviet Union in the 20th century through the lens of cultural international relations theory. Dr. Arkadi Zeltser of Yad Vashem addressed the issue of Jewish identity among Red Army servicemen between 1941 and 1945. The academic program concluded with a presentation by the author of the book, Dr. Leonid Smilovitsky.

The War Through the Eyes of Its Participants

The exceptional value of this new research lies in its focus on the personal correspondence of Jewish servicemen with their families and loved ones. Wartime letters offer a perspective on events not only through the lens of military operations and official dispatches but also through the eyes of individuals experiencing separation from their families, the loss of comrades, anxiety over the fate of loved ones, and news of the annihilation of the Jewish population in occupied territories.

Hundreds of thousands of Jews fought in the ranks of the Red Army. They defended their country, but for many, the fight against Nazism carried a distinct national significance. Nazi Germany aimed at the total destruction of the Jewish people, and the awareness of this threat served as an additional motivation for resistance.

The words of Lieutenant General Yakov Kreizer, one of the prominent military commanders of the Red Army, are highly characteristic:

"I am proud of the hundreds of thousands of Jews fighting on the fronts. As a general of the Red Army and a son of the Jewish people, I swear not to lay down my arms until the last fascist is wiped off the face of the earth."

In 1942, the writer Peretz Markish emphasized that Jews were fighting "for their homeland and for their Jewish people."

These testimonies reflect an important aspect of the self-awareness of Jewish wartime participants. For many of them, Soviet patriotism and their belonging to the Jewish people did not contradict one another, but rather formed a unified moral foundation for the struggle against Nazism.

Historical Memory and the Post-War Fate of Soviet Jewry

The history of Jewish participation in World War II is inextricably linked to the fate of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee, established during the war with the authorization of the Soviet leadership to mobilize international support for the fight against Nazism.

The Committee disseminated information about the heroism of Jews at the front and their dedicated labor in the rear, maintained ties with Jewish organizations abroad, and facilitated the flow of aid to the Soviet Union.

However, shortly after the Victory, the attitude of the authorities toward such activities changed radically. International contacts and expressions of Jewish national identity, which had been encouraged during the war years, began to be viewed as signs of political disloyalty.

Significant attention is paid to this historical contradiction in the book "Suitcase, Train Station, Israel: On the History of Antisemitism in the USSR" by Dr. Chaim Ben Yakov, Director General of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress. The author examines how accusations of so-called "dual loyalty" were transformed into an instrument of state antisemitism, which eventually led to the destruction of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee, the persecution of the Jewish intelligentsia, and the suppression of national cultural life.

It is particularly tragic that the efforts of individuals who made a substantial contribution to mobilizing the Jewish world to fight Nazism were subsequently used against them as evidence of alleged disloyalty to the Soviet state.

Academic Research as a Contribution to Preserving Memory

The publication of Leonid Smilovitsky's book by De Gruyter is a major milestone in the study of Soviet Jewish history. The English-language publication makes the personal testimonies of wartime participants accessible to the broader international academic community.

The conference held at Tel Aviv University demonstrated the high caliber of contemporary research in this field and highlighted the importance of further exploring the Jewish experience of World War II.

The Euro-Asian Jewish Congress attaches particular importance to preserving the historical memory of the Jewish contribution to the victory over Nazism, the tragedy of the Holocaust, and the fate of Soviet Jewry in the post-war decades.

Research based on archival documents, letters, and personal testimonies restores a human dimension to historical memory. Behind the statistics of military losses and lists of awards lie the destinies of specific individuals, their families, their convictions, their hopes, and their tragedies.

Leonid Smilovitsky's book and the academic conference dedicated to it serve as a reminder of the need to preserve this memory in its entirety, passing on to future generations authentic knowledge of the participation of Jews in the fight against Nazism and their place in the history of the 20th century.