A Pacifist at Iwo Jima

<p> In the 1930s Rabbi Roland Gittelsohn was a distinguished scholar and vocal pacifist. After the attack on Pearl Harbor he had a change of heart and volunteered to serve as a chaplain in the US Navy. The first rabbi ever deployed with the Marine Corps he found himself in the bloody battle at Iwo Jima. At war's end at the dedication of the 5th Marine Division cemetery he gave a renowned speech known as the Gettysburg Address of World War II.</p><p> This biography is based on multiple sources including Gittelsohn's personal papers beginning with his family's emigration from Russia to the United States. From the growing antiwar movement after World War I to the training of military chaplains and the anti-Semitism among their ranks important events further contextualize Gittelsohn's life including his illustrious postwar career and service on President Harry S. Truman's Committee on Civil Rights.</p>