Military surveyed views on Jews in ’40s

The U.S. military conducted surveys about troops’ attitudes toward Jews between 1946 and 1947.

Thinkprogress.org uncovered the survey at the National Archives. The survey, which consisted of “agree” or “disagree” questions about stereotypes of Jews, noted that “no official Army action was being considered with respect to Jewish soldiers.”

According to the survey, 86 percent of soldiers agreed that “There is nothing good about Jews,” but only 27 percent agreed that “Jews are out to rule the world.” Other statements included: “The Jews always get the best of everything,” to which 30 percent agreed; “You can always tell a Jew by the way he looks” with 61 percent in agreement; and “A Jew will always play you for a sucker,” to which 48 percent agreed.

According to Thinkprogress.org, eight to 13 of the statements on the survey have negative connotations about Jews.

During this time the military also administered surveys about troops’ attitudes toward blacks because they were considering integrating the forces. Recently, the military administered a similar survey about the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy, which penalizes openly gay troops. — jta