Source 1: Max Litwin · United States entered World War II, Litwin married Edith Fine and the...

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U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

Na tional Cemetery Ad ministration

~ I Department ~ F of History UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA

Readthe“JewishAmericansinWorld War II”passageset.

JewishAmericansinWorld War II

Source 1: Max Litwin WrittenforUCFVLPbySarahSchneider

1 MaxLitwinwasborninPolandonMay24, 1911toJosephandFannieLitwin.Three yearslaterin1914, Mr.LitwinimmigratedtotheUnitedStates.Hemostlikely camealoneto findahomeandtomakeenoughmoneytobringtherestofhisfamilyoverfromPoland.Seven yearslaterin 1921, Mrs.Litwin, Maxandhisthreesistersjoinedtheir fatherintheUnited States. Oncethefamilywasbacktogether, Mr.andMrs.Litwinhadtwomoresonsandby 1930 they were afamilyofeight.

2 TheLitwinswere oneofmanyJewish familieswholived inProvidence,RhodeIslandin theearly1900s.Duringthattime,thenumberofpeoplelivinginProvidencemorethan doubled. By1915, about66% of thepeoplelivinginProvidence were newJewishorItalian immigrantsandtheirchildren. TheLitwinswereeightofthemorethan8,000EasternEuropean Jewsinthecity.Thesenewcomersfoundworkinthenewfactoriespoppingupacrossthecity andstate.Mr.Litwinfoundajobasasalesmanatafurniturestore.

3 By1930, MaxLitwinwaslivingandworkingasaninsuranceagentandsalesmanin Providence.Butattheendofthe1930’s, hisfatherdiedleavinghismother totakecareof herselfandfour of his siblings thatstilllivedathome.Onesisterworkedasasecretaryand anotherasasocialworkertohelp hismothersupporttheirfamily.In1940, ayearbeforethe UnitedStatesenteredWorldWarII, LitwinmarriedEdithFineandthecouplemoved in withher parentsin Providence.Litwinwasstillworkingasasalesmanforaroofingcompanyandhisnew wifeworkedasastenographer, orapersonwho worksinacourtroomandtypesoutwhat peoplesayinashorthandcode.

4 DuringWWII,manyJewish Americans, liketheLitwins, workedhardtosupportthe UnitedStateswarefforts.Atthattime,JewishAmericanfamiliesmadeuponlyaboutfour percentofthetotalnumberofpeopleintheUnitedStates. Incomparison, Jewish men made upabouteightpercentofthemenservinginthemilitary.Jewishwomenalsosupportedthe UnitedStates’warefforts.About340,000Jewishwomenservedasnursesorinotherrolesin theUSmilitaryduringthewar.LitwinandhisbrotherAlfredweretwoofthemanyJewishmen whosupportedthewarbyjoiningtheUSArmy.AyearandahalfaftertheUnitedStates

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i U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

Natio nal Cemetery Administration

IN MEMORY O F

MAX Ll TWIN

US Al<M Y

WOHLD WA H II

M AY 211 1911

~ EB 10 199 5

,____~ ~ I Department ~ F of History UNIVERSITY OF CENTRA L FLORIDA

enteredWWI, AlfredenlistedintheUSArmyandLitwin followedhim afewmonthslater. LitwinenteredthemilitaryonAugust1943attheageofthirty-twoandrosetotherankof PrivateFirstClassinthe US Army bythetimehefinishedhisserviceinSeptember 1944.

5 DespitethepoortreatmentmanyJewsfacedinthemilitary, “militaryservicehad empoweredJewsasAmericansandasJews.”ManyAmericanJewishsoldierswereoptimistic thattheirhardworkandeffortsinWWIIwouldlead non-JewishAmericans, thegovernment andthemilitarytotreatthemmorepositivelyandto work towardsequality forall.

6 AfterWWII, Miamiwasoneofthe“fastest-growingJewishcommunities”inthe country, andLitwinmayhavebeenpartofthismovementofJewstothesunbelt.FromFebruarytoApril of1945aMaxLitwinpostedinthe JewishFloridian newspaperaboutabusinesscalled“Hotel RobertsTailors.”ThefirstpostingsinthenewspaperlistLitwinasbeinginbusinesswithMorris Enzer.By thepostingsin April,Litwinislistedasthe only owner.TherewasaHotelRobertsin Miami, sothebusinessprobablyprovidedtailoringservicesinthehoteloratalocationnearby. ThereisnotenoughinformationtoknowforsurethatthisisthesameMaxLitwin, butitis highly likely thatitis.

7 Inhislateryears, LitwinlivedonBayHarborIslandin Florida’sMiami-DadeCounty.Twoofhissistersand Alfred also movedtoSouthFlorida.HissistersjoinedhiminFloridainthe 1970s.TheywerebothactivelyinvolvedintheJewish communitiesofRhodeIslandandFloridathroughouttheirlives. LitwinmostlikelyhadastrongconnectionwiththeJewish communityaswell.Hediedattheageofeighty-threeon February18, 1995. AmemorialmarkeratFloridaNational CemeteryinBushnell, Floridapaystributetohislifeandservice.

Litwin’s memorial marker at Florida National Cemetery. Image courtesy of UCF VLP.

l8 U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

National Cemetery Administrat ion

._____>. i~ I Department ~ F of History UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA

Source 2:Sidney Malatsky

WrittenforUCFVLPby SarahSchneider

1 Between1900and1905, SimonandAnneMalatskyjoinedthemanyJewishfamilies leavingRussiatoimmigrate,ormove, totheUnitedStates.Theymostlylikelywantedtoescape theharassmentandpersecutionagainstJewishfamiliesthatwascommoninRussiaatthat time.TheyjoinedabigwaveofimmigrantsmovingfromRussiatoChelsea, Massachusetts.By 1915thereweremorethan11,00RussianimmigrantslivinginChelsea—the majorityofwhom wereJewish.SimonandAnneweremarriedonSeptember3, 1913inChelsea.Thecouplehad twobabyboyswhodiedintheirinfancybeforehavingthreegirlsandthen, finally, Sidney. SidneyJacobMalatskywasbornonFebruary1, 1924.

2 Sidney JacobMalatskygrewupinChelseawithhisdadasastorekeeper, hismomand hisolderthreesisters.HeattendedChelseaHighSchoolandwentbythenickname“Jackie.” In ayearbookentryabouthim from 1941, aclassmatewrote that, “‘Jackie’s’ faceisusuallyhidden behindhisbooks.”Jackielovedtolearn!Hemadehonorroll, participatedinthedebateclub andwasontheschoolyearbookstaff. Healsoenjoyedmusicandwasactiveinbandand orchestra.

3 AfterMalatskycompletedhighschool, heworkedinastorebefore he enlistedin, or signed up for, theUnitedStatesArmyAirCorpsReserves. JackieenlistedintheArmyAirCorps ReservesonNovember 13, 1942 whichwasalittlelessthanayearaftertheUnitedStates joinedGreatBritain, theSovietUnion, andtheotherAlliedcountriestofightinWorldWarII.He waseighteenwhenheenlistedthatNovemberandheenteredtheservicethatfollowing January.

4 Jewishservicemenoftenfaceddifficultsituationsinthemilitarybecause theywere Jewish. For example, Jewishmealsneverincludeporkbutmealsintheservicedid.So Jewish servicemen hadtodecideiftheywouldorwouldnoteattheporkmealsservedbythemilitary. SometimesJews even facedhostiletreatmentfor being Jewish.OthertimesJewshadtodeal withtheirfellowservicemenwhodidnotunderstandtheirJewish background.Some Jewish servicemen, however, did feelthattheirtransitionintomilitary lifewentsmoothly.AsaJew, Malatskymayhaveencounteredthesekindsofchallengesorhemayhavehadasmooth transitionintotheArmyAirCorpsReserves.

5 Malatskyservedinthe484th BombardmentGroupandrosetotherankof2nd Lieutenant during hisservice. Bombardmentgroupsweregroupsofbomberplanesthatflewforthe UnitedStatesArmyAirForcesduringWorldWarII.Malatsky’sbombardmentgroup attacked specificlocationslike “oilrefineries, oilstorageplants, aircraftfactories, heavyindustry, and

ELA Writing Prompt: Lives and Legacies of United States Veterans vlp.cah.ucf.edu

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National Cemetery Admini strat ion

IVEMO v c~ :re 'EY l ,lL,tT,S K Y

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IJS I- p cc 5

~> '1;, I Department ~ F of History U NIVERSITY OF CE N TRAL FLORIDA

communicationsinItaly, France, Germany, Austria”andothercountriesinEasternEurope.In thespringandsummerof1944, the484th BombardmentGroupbombedpartsofRome, Italyto helpAlliedtroopsmoveinonRome. They also carriedsuppliestotheAlliesinsouthernFrance andwerelaterrewardedwithtwoDistinguishedUnitCitations.Thecitationswereawardsfor success inthefaceofdifficultchallenges.

6 Malatskyplayedaroleinmanyofthesemissions.Heservedasthebombardieronthe plane.Thebombardierwasthepersonwhodirectedandreleasedthe bombs.Itwashisjobto hittheirtargets.InNovemberof1944, MalatskyleftfromanairfieldinItalyforamissionto bombVienna, Austria. Onthismission, Malatsky’splanewashitandwentintoenginefailure. Hiscaptaindecidedtotrytocrash-landtheplaneeastofItalyintheAdriaticSea.

7 Whentheplanehitthewater, itbrokeinhalf.The rearoftheplanesunktothebottom oftheseaandmostofthecrewmemberswerekilledinthiscrash.Attwentyyearsold, Malatskywasoneofthecrewmemberswhowaskilledinthecrash.Thepilotoftheplane survivedand inhis MissingAirCrewReporthewrotethatMalatsky’sbodyandfiveotherswere never found.

8 Sidney“Jackie”MalatskywasawardedanAir Medaland PurpleHeartforhismilitaryservice.Heisrecognizedonthe“Tablets oftheMissing”attheFlorenceAmericanCemeteryandMemorial justoutsideofFlorence, Italy.Heislifeandserviceisalsohonoredby amemorialmarkeratFloridaNationalCemeteryinBushnell, Florida.

Malatsky’s memorial marker at Florida National Cemetery. Image courtesy of UCF VLP.

i U.S. Department ofVeterans Affairs

National Cemetery Admini stration

L------~ I Department ~ F of History

Writing Prompt

Write an informative essay comparing the lives of these two Jewish Americans veterans before, during and after World War II. Use information from the passages in your essay.

Manage your time carefully so that you can

• read the passages; • plan your response; • write your response; and • revise and edit your response.

Be sure to include

• an introduction; • information from the passages as support; and • a conclusion that is related to the information presented.

Your response should be in the form of a multiparagraph essay. Write your response in the space provided.

Go On ELA Writing Prompt: Lives and Legacies of United States Veterans

vlp.cah.ucf.edu 5

National Cemetery Admin istra t ion

L------~ I Department ~ F of History UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA

___________________________________________________________________________________

Go On 6

National Cemetery Admin istrat ion

L------~ I Department ~ F of History UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA

___________________________________________________________________________________

Go On ELA Writing Prompt: Lives and Legacies of United States Veterans

vlp.cah.ucf.edu 7

National Cemetery Administ ration

& I Department ~ F of History UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA

___________________________________________________________________________________

Nat ional Cemetery Admi nistration

~ I Department ~ F of History UNIVERSITY OF CENTRA L FLORIDA

Malatsky Litwin Both

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Source 1: Max Litwin · United States entered World War II, Litwin married Edith Fine and the...

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