Reichsbund jüdischer Frontsoldaten


The Reich Federation of Jewish Front-Line Soldiers was an organization of German-Jewish soldiers founded in February 1919 by Leo Löwenstein in the aftermath of World War I to demonstrate Jewish loyalty to the former German Empire and German nationalism.

History

The goal of Reichsbund judischer Frontsoldaten was to stop the spread of antisemitic based on the argument that Jews were disloyal to the countries they lived in. In 1918, German antisemites claimed that the Jews had stabbed Germany in the back.
The Reichsbund emphasized that 85,000 Jewish soldiers had fought for the German Empire in World War I, and 12,000 had died, which placed their loyalty to Germany beyond any reasonable doubt. Jews had received 30,000 medals and awards during the war. At its high point the Reichsbund had 55,000 members.
The Reichsbund regarded the German Reich as the mother country of all German Jews. Its activities were outlawed by the Nazi government in 1936, and in 1938 it was dissolved.
The RJF sees the basis of its work as complete allegiance to the German homeland. It does not have any goal or desire outside of this German homeland, and sharply rejects any movement which wishes to bring us German Jews to a position of outsiders in relation to this German homeland.