Jews in the Red Army, 1941

About the Project

Between 350,000 and 500,000 Jews served in various roles in the Red Army during the Soviet-German War of 1941–1945. In the first months after the German invasion, a large number of Jews, especially members of the intelligentsia and university students, joined the Narodnoe opolchenie (National Guard or militia), the irregular military units whose task was to slow and, hopefully, halt the Wehrmacht assaults on major Soviet cities. These units were poorly trained and poorly armed, and most of those who served in them were killed in the first months of the war. Continue reading...

Jews in the Red Army, 1941–1945

About the Project

New Yad Vashem website redirection