ARE THE JEWS A FIGHTING RACE?

New Zealand Mail, 15 February 1900, Page 25

ARE THE JEWS A FIGHTING RACE?

THEIR RECORD THEY O VW APPEAR TO BE SO.

. British Je'vs (says “Pearson’s Weekunorn fairing no mean part as soldiers ¥>-£ p“«t war with the Boers. They are represented m no fewer than x of the regiments (not exSle the Highlanders and the Guards) S have been in the volunteer companies which have been raised are very. numerous. Colonel Harris, who is in command of that regiment -of crack shots the Kimberley Rifles, has done plenty of 'fehting in his time, and excellent shots STthe Boers are considered, there are few who could be found superior to the colonel, who is one of the best shots L South Africa. The Ivatal Carab - - neers , a , body of men who were the first to actively distinguish themselves in the war, contain a number of Jewish troopers and several .Jewish officers, and the same may be said of practically all the colonial regiments whose, names are Just now figuring prominently in the columns of our newspapers. The' Dreyfus case, wherein the central figure is a captain of artillery belonging to the Jewish race, lias disturbed a very prevalent idea that the Jews of the present day are not possessed of military qualities—that they are ESSENTIALLY A NON-FIGHTING PEOPLE.

This impression has doubtless come about through the fact that their chief and prepondering distinction is in trade, through which circumstance their triumphs in other directions show themselves in a much less notable degree. In Biblical times the records, show that, the Israelites could fight equally as well as they pray; what victories were gained over them were in most oases won on the Sabbath, when the . Jews would not fight or offer resistance. Under Judas Maccabeus they performed deeds transcending anything done before 1 or since. In their harrowing and terrible wars with the Romans they bore every conceivable torture and distress of siege famine, and auardhy. Smitten hip ar.d thigh, they refused the appeal to surrender to the Roman general, who was loth to continue an unequal contest, and they prolonged the fearful fight after the capture of their sacred city in street, in passage, in room, or ‘ °r. housetop, until utterly exhausted, they were at last made captive by the greatest army Rome had ever sent against a foe. This was nearly two thousand years -ago, since when the Jews have lived as a nation in ' NO COUNTRY OF THEIR OWN. But have their fighting instincts died out of them during this period of their /.dispersion? That the ancient Jews 6 5 e ., a 1 ? 1 ? r . race n o one can deny, . audit wiU be generally agreed that no People have retained their purity in a Jaeasure _ than have the Jews. ..5®,!, seemed conclusive that they St? ?1 \r SeSS * be , .same inherent --L actual fapf° re °T e c’ tbls ls borne out % ures * The chap- • SkW JeW i S - h soldlers at Aldershot Le tW tlmo c statistics sliowH>g ta ® number of Jewish soldiers in -fi^r™ n maL E fr Pea r a^ies ’ ancl tliese the ast °aishmg revelation of T a greater ; iu E " ropo fumish^Lf‘li lolls o°- f Jews “» Europe ■ w ar strength 5 o^A, 3^ 000 men to the f The Czar takpc European armies, of: men from hif’Y 1 - a [ ger portion Service hls Jewish subjects for t™ fc r S B A rniy thaa he takes from sway and while 6 +k-° PU at^on undcr his tinct on He thls - may not he a dis<m whom it k a PP r6Cla^ ed - b -7 those upcertain that ~o n^®ned3 it is obviously so silked out if J ews would not be ooFworth their sak. S 0 ClU ’ eS they Were army to JeWS i U le Russian of the BritbhL , near, y half the whole ral who conmS ,a v a ™ y - The genecentral Asi-Anv t°r his country the ; Russia was" a P f Vm< i GS which belong to Crimea £ Br& t by , birth - At the from among , i laaa y prisoners ?«ssian sol( ? iere ii! the dent) one who d A° men tion an ineiJP- iCn by kir.dthe British armv L l’A ca P tors joined feeding f °A lght m mail y |he veterans or . e was am ong ° r Ma J est ?’* last jubidiera^vhosVjLpl distil iguislied solitary anlS m o? if C rectn " ded in the others. qx. j e y, Masscna and Principal generik oT'M Cd of the £ or -> was styled L +1 d , ,C n g - Gat Na P°' favoupte child of vU hat „ Elu Peror “the VeU deserved ICt ° ry > a titlG which Proportion of sn i f i dew \, su PP 1 y a larger pop u °l a t-on lerS p than do the rlst t . n t, which dem’nno+^i Cen t y > au inci- ,' e a ati-Semites An rat i e , s bow careful Jimmg the arm s t h °V ld be when ac--38 an outcome oTthl ty p l ace ln Paris j, A bodv 3 e Dreyfus affair, folding an excited do antl ‘ Semites wer e 3 corp was- S ee n da “ 0 ? Bt ration, when lection. Before k ° mm ,e their di,7 he was seized 16 C i OU d P ass them ] we the amv^ 3 cries of . g h> and, with f l i/ t i lp „ rais ? d shoulder nu'ther ones for the

army and vociferations against the Jews he was carried to the end of the thoroughfare. Here it was suddenly discovered that the corporal himself was a Jew, and the disgusted anti-Semites placed him upon his legs, and left him as quickly as they could. One of the principal chiefs of the Italian army is General Ottoleghi

A SOLDIER WHO BEARS A RECORD , for courage well known to his countrymen, and the Italian army contains many other Jews who have given marked service to their fatherland.

In Germany, notwithstanding the still prevalent anti-Semitism there, it is acknowledged on all hands that the Jews fulfilthcir military duties with the same loyal devotion, which characterises the spirit of the whole German nation. The strain of Jewish blood in Prince Bismarck at least never detracted' from his military qualities if it added nothing to them. At the principal gatherings of . veterans, gatherings which are common in Germany, it can be seen what a large proportion of the Jewish veterans wear decorations for distinguished bravery. More than five thousand were in the ranks of the army that marched into France thirty years ago. In Austria the Jews are proportionately twice,as many men. to the armv as do the rest of the population, and there are likewise a comparatively numerous body of Jews in the navy, although it is a small one. * The Sultan of Turkey has made the remark that there is not one of his Jewish subjects upon whom he cannot rely ip. time of war. Sueli words from a ruler whose people a.re essentially military require no addition. When the war with Greece broke out Jews from all over the Turkish Empire volunteered their services just as they did in the war with Russia.-

At the termination of the GreeoTurkish war no fewer than forty of these Jewish soldiers were rewarded by the Sultan with medals in special recognition. of their gallantry on the field. The Jews have always been treated with consideration, if not with favour, by the Turks, and hence their readiness to offer their services to the Sultan; otherwise, not being Mohammedans, they are exempt from conscription.. In the United States of America the same eagerness to prove their loyaltv was demonstrated when the war broke out with Spain.. The first man to volunteer was a Jew, and the first American to be killed in battle was a Jew. It will be remembered that the American generals were embarrassed through che utter want of drill and discipline that the thousands of volunteers brought with them.

Almost the only men who were able to take the field immediately were those forming the small army of regulars. From among the Jewish volunteers, however, there was formed instantly, an entire company of hussars, for as such these men had served in Russia. Most of them had left their native land through persecution, and were occupying flourishing farms in the States, when the demands of their adopted country called them away. Colonel Roosevelt has spoken in terms of highest praise of the Jews who were among his "rough-riders, and one of them is particularly remembered as a hero, who in an attempt to rescue a wounded sergeant was himself RIDDLED VvTTH BULLETS AND KILLED.

Several hundred J ews are in the Philippines now fighting in the ranks of the American army.

In the British army Jews are not numerous, for it must be remembered that the army is not large. Nevertheless, the proportion is a good one, and is increasing every year. There are many Jewish officers in the army, some, whose names are well known, holding important positions.

In the last Indian frontier campaign there was at least or.e Jewish soldier killed—a sergeant in a line regiment; and a Jewish lieutenant was killed in the last war with the Matabele. Most young men of the Jewish community of Bombay become soldiers, quite a large proportion of them being officers. And the fact may be here recalled that the Afridis and the other Pathan tribes, including the Afghans, claim with pride as warriors their descent from Hebrew stock, and their claim, once accepted only on account of their strongly marked Jewish features, is now established beyond doubt by other evidences. The tall and handsome Jewish mountaineers .of Daghestan make - the handling of their arms their chief employment, and are found formidable enough for their enemies to leave them in peace, and it may also be remarked that a tribe of Jews form the dominant race among the fierce fighting people of the Atlas Mountains.

What is above - written gives only a meagre, but general idea of the part Jews are at present tailing in the world as fighting men ; but were it part of our subject to trace their career from the time of their law-giver Moses, it would he found that never for a generation have they been unworthy of that great warrior—King David.