Habsburg Sons describes Jewish participation in the Habsburg Army, 1788-1918, concentrating on their role in World War I. Approximately 300,000-350,000 Jews fought in the Austro-Hungarian Armies on all fronts. Of these, 30,000–40,000 died of wounds or illness, approximately 25,000 were officers. At least 17% were taken prisoner in camps all over Russia and Central Asia. Many soldiers were Orthodox Ostjuden, and soldiers came into regular contact with Jewish civilians. Over 130 Feldrabbiner (chaplains) served mainly on Eastern and Italian Fronts. Antisemitism was present but generally not overt. The book uses personal diaries and newspaper articles (most available in English for the first time) to describe their experiences. The comparative experiences of Jews in German, Russian, Italian Armies is also summarized.

“Reflecting Appelbaum’s wide, deep, and multilingual research, the book cites extensively from diaries, memoirs, and reports from the Eastern, Balkan, Italian, and Palestine fronts and from soldiers taken as prisoners of war. In graphic and sometimes horrifying detail, some exemplify at a personal level the futility of war… I thoroughly commend Peter Appelbaum’s scholarship, which has extended the frontiers of knowledge into an authoritative and most readable book.”

— Jonathan Lewis, Antisemitism Studies

“Like many of Dr. Appelbaum’s previous books, which looked at the Jewish troops and chaplains in the German Army, [Habsburg Sons] reveals a landscape we know almost nothing about: the lives of Jewish soldiers who fought on the side of the Central Powers in World War I. Because of what the Germans and Austrians and their collaborators did to the Jews in World War II, we can hardly picture the patriotic Jewish sons of Germany or Austro-Hungary—but Dr. Appelbaum’s works open that world up for us. He does not simply present a dry history of these soldiers and chaplains. Instead, acting both as author and translator, he develops their story using their own words, from their contemporaneous accounts and later memoirs… [T]he records of how the Jews served their countries and how they felt about their efforts remain a poignant testament of their belief regarding where they belonged and what they were obligated to do.”

— Yossi Krausz, Ami Magazine

Peter C. Appelbaum is Emeritus Professor of Pathology, Pennsylvania State University. His publications include Loyalty Betrayed (2014), Loyal Sons (2014), and, as translator/editor, Hell on Earth (2017), Carnage and Care on the Eastern Front (2018), Voyage into Savage Europe (2020), and Jewish Self Hate (2021). He is the recipient of the 2019 TLS-Risa Domb/Porjes Prize for Hebrew-English translation.