A ROUND UP OF ALL ST. LOUIS HAS TO OFFER FOR YOUR DINING AND ENTERTAINMENT NEEDS THIS SUMMER.
1B-13B
A N O N P R O FIT, IN D EP EN D EN T N E W S S O U R CE TO I N F O R M , I N S P I R E , E D U C AT E A N D CO N N E C T T H E S T. LO U I S J E W I S H CO M M U N IT Y.
S T L J E W I S H L I G H T.O R G
4 S I VA N , 5 78 3
M AY 24 , 202 3
A Memorial Day salute to the WWII service of Jewish St. Louisans
Chesterfield elementary school fights antisemitism with education BY BILL MOTCHAN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH LIGHT
An estimated 550,000 Jews served in the United States armed forces between 1941 and 1945, according to the Jewish Welfare Board. As Memorial Day approaches, the Jewish Light salutes the Jewish St. Louisans who served during World War II. BY BILL MOTCHAN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH LIGHT
Base Hospital 21 The United States officially entered World War II on Dec. 8, 1941. Two months later, 55 officers were deployed to Fort Benning, Ga., to form Base Hospital 21. It was the successor to the World War I Base Hospital 21 in La Havre, France, which treated 60,000 patients over 18 months until it was demobilized in May 1919. In early 1942, after several months of stateside training, the troopship SS Mariposa carried Base Hospital 21 personnel to Liverpool, England. From there, the hospital went on a nomadic journey, moving first to Algeria, which was occupied by Free French Forces. The hospital finally admitted its first patient on Dec. 24, 1942. Eventually, it would ramp up to treat an average of 1,750
patients. By the end of 1943, Base Hospital 21 was on the move again, this time to Naples, Italy. Its third and final stop was Miercourt, France, where the 21st General Hospital was established from Oct. 21, 1944, to Sept. 12, 1945.
Cytologist (and violin aficionado) Harry Agress Base Hospital 21 was notable for another reason. Most of the officers who staffed it came from Barnes Hospital and Washington University School of Nursing. A number of the medical personnel was also Jewish, including Capt. Lawrence Milton Shefts and Lt. Col. Harry Agress Sr. Agress was a likeable, respected St. Louis doctor who was 38 years old when he was stationed at Base Hospital 21. He w a s born in St. Louis in 1908 and graduated from Washington University in 1932. After a residency at Jewish Hospital and graduate study at the University of Minnesota, Agress entered private practice in 1936. Like his colleagues at Base Hospital 21, Agress was a medical professional by trade, not a soldier. It’s easy to imagine Agress and his colleagues as dedicat-
VO L . 76 N O. 10
ed doctors with an unorthodox approach to the military, not unlike the crew of the fictional 4077th “M*A*S*H” unit on the TV show of the same name. In a passage from an oral history at the Washington University School of Medicine Becker Library, Agress said: “I might say that the Army had more trouble with us than we had with them. We had a bunch of really fine medical men … and we had fine, trained people. But they also happened to be characters.” Agress’ son, Harry Agress Jr., a retired radiologist who lives in New York, said: “These guys had guts. This whole group from Barnes, Jewish and Washington University Medical School — doctors, nurses, staff — they created this entire unit. They were right near the German border, less than 200 miles from the Battle of the Bulge.” Base Hospital 21 was a general hospital that treated wounded Allied troops and, from time to time, German POWs. “It had to be a pretty strange thing to know that someone you’re operating on may have killed hundreds, if not thousands, of Jews,” Agress Jr. said. “(The staff) just acted as doctors, and they were there to take care of people. They did their duty. They really were the greatest generation. They didn’t like to brag about it or
Earlier this year, an incident at Highcroft Ridge Elementary School in Chesterfield was marred by what some students and their parents viewed as a message of hate and antisemitism. At the school’s “International Night” a table representing Palestine displayed several anti-Israel posters, including an image of a hand holding a spray bottle adorned with Stars of David that read “ethnic cleansing.” In the aftermath of the January event, Chris Clark, principal of Highcroft Ridge, told parents that the school would add safeguards to prevent a similar episode in the future. In a letter to parents, Clark said the school would review participant materials prior to future events and that “these procedures should ensure any content represents our values of respect and inclusivity and celebrates our students and families.” On May 10, Highcroft Ridge took an additional step toward combating antisemitism. School faculty took part in a training session focusing on recognizing antisemitism and how to address it. The session was facilitated by Orna Bitton Dar and Jeny Dementeva from the Israeli American Council (IAC). “Parents approached the IAC because they wanted some proper education for their teachers and they wanted an Israeli and Jewish organization to be involved,” said Dementeva, the council’s national director of activism. “We offer this training to schools and See ANTISEMITISM on page 16A
See VETERANS on page 8A
Top Photo: Main Headquarters staff of 21st General Hospital - April 1945 Middle Photo: Dinner with Jascha Heifetz (bottom center) and Harry Agress (top center) at 21st General Hospital Naples Italy 1941
Jeny Dementeva of the IAC speaks to Highcroft Ridge Elementary faculty.