I bought the book and read it.It was well-researched and not at all sensationalist.History can't be presented in neat little packages to fulfill an expectation.What interested me greatly was Rigg's analysis of Jewish participation in World War 1 for Austria-Hungary and Germany.Jews served and died in large numbers for both empires without hesitation.My grandmother's brother enlisted in the Austro-Hungarian Army in the 1890's when he was a teenager-he took his mother's name which didn't sound "Jewish" as opposed to his father's,which did.The Emperor at that time,Franz Joseph was very decent to Jews,but that didn't carry over throughout the Army.His grandson received the Distinguished Flying Cross in Vietnam.The Anzacs at Gallipoli were commanded by Lt.General John Monash ,an Australian Jew,and his opposite number assisting the Turkish Army was Field Marshall Otto Liman von Sanders,a German who was half-Jewish.I find this kind of stuff interesting.In any event,the book was very interesting and thought-provoking.
What interested me greatly was Rigg's analysis of Jewish participation in World War 1 for Austria-Hungary and Germany.....The Anzacs at Gallipoli were commanded by Lt.General John Monash ,an Australian Jew,and his opposite number assisting the Turkish Army was Field Marshall Otto Liman von Sanders,a German who was half-Jewish.I find this kind of stuff interesting. One German Jew that was lionized by Germany during World War I was the 20 victory ace Lt. Wilhelm Frankl who was awarded the Pour le Merite (the Blue Max) and whose portrait was featured in Sanke cards that glorified Germany's heroes during the war.
When the Nazis assumed power, Frankl's named was dropped from the rolls of Pour le Merite winners. His name was reinstated after World War II.
Frankl's Albatros fighter was the cover illustration of the 1924 book Judische Flieger im Weltkrieg (Jewish Flyers in the World War). Frankl's Albatros was decorated with his personal insignia which was, ironically,........................ a swastika.
Of course, during World War I, the swastika was merely a good luck symbol popular both in Europe as well as in the USA. The Lafayette Escadrille ace Raul Lufbery also decorated his SPAD 7 aircraft with a swastika.
