April 14, 2014, - 4:09 pm
EXCLUSIVE – Passover at Anzio: Jewish US Soldiers Celebrate During Bloody WWII Battle Against Nazis
Tonight, the Jewish holiday of Passover begins. I’ll be posting more about that later. But, first, I wanted to share this photo with you of Jewish American soldiers celebrating Passover at the Anzio Beachhead in April, 1944. Here the soldiers are praying at Passover services, which they held at an old wine establishment. For those who do not know, the Battle of Anzio was part of what is known as “Operation Shingle” and was an important battle in World War II. It took place January 22-May 24,1944 at the beachhead at Anzio in Italy. There were 43,000 Allied casualties at Anzio, including 7,000 killed and 36,000 missing or wounded. As Jews proudly fought on behalf of America against the Nazis here, they also celebrated their freedom from Egyptian oppressors in the Passover story. (I am not sure if this is an actual Seder–the Passover ritual dinner–or actual prayer services. I have a copy of the prayer book they are using, and I believe there is a short version of the Haggadah–the book containing the Seder ceremony–in it.)
Pvt. Paul Winter, Cpl. Sidney Banney, and Pvt. Hyman Galanos Pray @ Passover Services, April 1944 @ Anzio Beachhead . . .
Check out my other pictures of Jewish American soldiers celebrating Passover in World Wars I and II (here and here.
An old friend of the family was there at Anzio. Seymour. He probably was at that sedar. A lifelong admirer of Joe DiMaggio and Sinatra. Quiet and stoic.
Not Ovenready on April 14, 2014 at 4:36 pm