Comparing CSA to NAZI

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Comparing the Confederacy to Nazi Germany
From: regenstein@mindspring.com

The Philadelphia Inquirer

To the Editor:

Steven Halpern’s 19 December letter comparing the Confederacy to Nazi Germany and its leaders to Adolph Hitler is highly offensive, especially to those of us who are Jewish, and shows he knows little about either the Confederacy or the Nazis.

Some 3,500 to 5,000 Jews fought honorably and loyally for the Confederacy, including its Secretary of War and later State, Judah Benjamin. My great grandfather also served, as did his four brothers, their uncle, his three sons, and some two dozen other members of my Mother’s extended family (The Moses’ of South Carolina and Georgia). Half a dozen of them fell in battle, largely teenagers, including the first and last Confederate Jews to die in battle.

We know first hand, from their letters, diaries, and memoirs that they were not fighting for slavery but rather to defend themselves and their comrades, their families, homes, and country from an invading army that was trying to kill them, burn their homes and cities, and destroy everything they had.

If you want to talk about Nazi-like behavior, consider the actions of the leading Union commander, General Ulysses S. Grant, whose war crimes included the following actions:

• Ordering the expulsion on 24 hours notice of all Jews "as a class" from the territory under his control (General Order # 11, 17 December, 1862), and forbidding Jews to travel on trains (November, 1862);

• Ordering the destruction of an entire agricultural area to deny the enemy support (the Shenandoah Valley, 5 August, 1864).