A Jewish Chaplain in FranceLevinger, Lee J. (Lee Joseph)
Religion
A Jewish Chaplain in France
Levinger, Lee J. (Lee Joseph)
World War, 1914-1918 -- Jews
In addition to the billeting accommodations in every village, the area
contained several large camps of importance. The Classification Camp,
within the city, was an old French barracks turned over to our use,
which housed a constantly changing stream of casuals and replacements,
flowing from hospitals, camps and schools toward their various units.
The Spur Camp held a large group of construction units, engineers and
bakers. The Forwarding Camp was a replica of a training camp at home,
and contained a division at a time, at first in training, later in
transit toward the ports. The Belgian Camp, originally built for Belgian
refugees, now had long rows of wooden barracks for soldiers, a huge and
always busy rifle range, and special camps of various types, including
one for venereal patients, who underwent a mixture of medical treatment
and discipline.
The purpose of the Embarkation Center was to provide a stopping place on
the way to the busy ports of Brest and St. Nazaire, where the men might
be deloused, have fresh clothing and equipment issued to them, undergo
thorough inspections of every kind, and in all ways be divested of the
effects of war and prepared to return to America. This task usually took
a month or more, but sometimes a division had been partially equipped in
its former area and if the ships happened to be ready it might stay in
our area less than a week. On the other hand, it might not pass the
various inspections at once, or at the time the transportation home
might be lacking, and hence its departure would be delayed time and
again. This uncertainty of tenure made all work very difficult,
especially work such as the chaplains' which depended entirely on
personal contact.
The problem of these divisions, as of the 27th, was chiefly to preserve
the splendid morale of the front while the men were in the dreary tedium
of waiting. This was done by cutting down the drill to an hour a day,
which made enough work in addition to the delousing, inspecting and
other necessary activities. The rest of the time was devoted to
athletics, an educational program, and a great amount of entertainment,
all three under the Welfare Officer appointed by the commanding general
of the Embarkation Area, while all the welfare agencies contributed to
these various ends under his general supervision. My work, of course,
was directly under the Senior Chaplain, according to army regulation.
And as the various units moved toward their goal more rapidly and more
steadily, the need for special efforts to keep up morale grew less. Men
keep up their own morale when they really know they are going home; the
difficulties had been largely caused by the complete uncertainty and
endless delays.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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