05 January 2011

WWI Jewish Servicemen Questionnaires, 1918-1921

File this one under "you just never know where people are going to turn up."

Ancestry just added a database compiled as part of an effort to document the service of Jews in the American military in WWI by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) which sent out 16,000 questionnaires to soldiers they believed to be Jewish.

53 relate to people born in England, two in Scotland, four in Ireland, none in Wales and 12 in Canada.

The questions include were about:

  • present and legal address
  • parents’ birthplace
  • education
  • occupation
  • branch and unit of service
  • rank and promotions
  • how the soldier entered the service
  • dates entered and left service
  • length of time overseas or afloat
  • whether wounded
  • honors received
  • last unit
  • station or ship
  • actions participated in
  • names and addresses for other Jews in the service
Records are searchable via name, residence, birth year, and birthplace.

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