An Old Soldier’s Yizkor

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What some (uninformed) people might consider an anomaly: The grave of a German-Jewish Officer in Langemark German WWI cemetery in the Ypres salient in Belgium. Alas, the nazi genocide of WWII has often left the dead - especially the German-Jewish dead of WWI - who fought as much for (however misguided) Keiser and Country as any British or Commonwealth soldier - forgotten. Fact is that (in 1914-1918) statistically, coming from the then largest Jewish community in the world, Jewish officers and men represented a far higher proportion of soldiers on the German side (especially on the Western Front) than on the British/Allied (the Americans, as usual, came late). So, Im Namen des Keisers, from one Treue Yekke to so many that History choses to forget: "YisGadal veYisKadash, Shmei Rabah...."






Erev Yom Kippur 5772/2011

Tonight, I’ll light a Yizkor Candle in my heart.
It won’t be a real one; I’ve forgotten to buy one.
The Bracha escapes me. Emmes, I knew it once!

But tonight, I’ll light a Yizkor Candle in my heart.

It’ll be for all those I loved, and have then gone on before me.
For those they’ve cherished, but I never met.
And for all of those I marched with
Not just those that I’ve seen fall,

That tonight’ I’ll light a Yizkor Candle in my heart.

For those whose passing memories fade;
Like their braids and like their honours
As they line the walls of veterans’ homes
Like old worn-out battle colours.

Yes, tonight I’ll light a Yizkor Candle in my Heart.

In the emptiness of their eyes,
As they paint pictures of the past,
I’ll be praying to see light, just a glimmer or a flicker,
Of remembrance,

As tonight, I light a Yizkor Candle in my heart.

For one day when Last Post tolls and my name echoes on the rolls,
The most that I can hope for ere I fall,
Is that whoever still defends the ever-thinning line,
Spares a thought for me.

And that night will light a Yizkor Candle in their hearts. 

גמר חתימה טובה

– AMB

Reconstructed Canadian WWI trenches at Vimy Ridge, the Somme, France.

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