Report: Jewish chaplains to return to German military

The German defense minister says that soldiers of all religions should benefit from equal spiritual care.

By World Israel News Staff

For the first time since its defeat and disbanding on the heels of World War I, the German military will again include rabbis as chaplains, reports the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA).

According to Israeli defense establishment archives, the Prussian War Ministry approved the service of eight rabbis as military chaplains at the beginning of World War I. In all, 30 military rabbis would serve in the German army on all fronts during the war, say the archives, adding that the rabbis had similar rights and duties as Christian chaplains.

“Their functions included conducting religious services for soldiers and prisoners of war, burials services, hospital visits, distributing religious literature and gift boxes, and assisting Jewish inhabitants in occupied territories,” according to the Israeli archives.

“All of these rabbis died or were driven out of Germany, and at least 4 were murdered during the Holocaust,” writes Peter C. Applebaum in his book, “Loyalty Betrayed: Jewish Chaplains in the German Army During the First World War.”

Now, German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen has announced that Jewish chaplains are to be appointed to the Bundeswehr based on recommendations from the Central Council of Jews in Germany, the umbrella organization which represents the approximately 100,000 members of the Jewish communities across the country, says JTA.

Germany was forced to disband its military after World War I.

Following World War II, Jewish military chaplains in Allied armies served in the camps housing “displaced persons,” JTA notes. No date for the appointment of the new rabbinical chaplains has been given, it adds.

In a statement, the German defense minister said that she was both “grateful and humbled to know that Jewish women and men serve in our Bundeswehr.” She stated that soldiers of all religions should benefit from equal spiritual care. The minister also singled out Muslims, as well as Jews, as deserving such services, and imams reportedly are to be appointed as military chaplains, as well, according to JTA.