The General: William Levine, Citizen Soldier and Liberator

by Alex Kershaw, Richard Ernsberger Jr., Colonel Jennifer N. Pritzker IL ARNG (Retired) (Foreword)

As William P. Levine, a young Jewish U.S. Army intelligence officer, moved deeper into the Dachau concentration camp, he was speechless at the horrors he encountered. Even though liberated, the prisoners were still at risk. Levine caught a young Jewish prisoner, Maurice Pioro, as he was about to collapse and carried him to safety. It was in this moment, in hindsight, that Levine realized that the world needed a strong America.

Following World War II, Levine embodied the sentiment of The American Century believing that it was America's responsibility and his duty to prevent such atrocities in the future. He chose to remain in the U.S. Army Reserve to fight for freedom and democracy around the globe. Levine served as one of the highest ranking Jewish soldiers in American history, a major general, the highest ranking in the U.S. Army Reserve at the time.

Although Levine served honorably in the U.S. Army for decades, his family knew little of his WWII experiences. They didn't know he was on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. They didn't know about his role in the liberation of Dachau. They didn't know about the Jewish Soviet Soldier named Leon Kotlowsky who Levine encountered in Germany when their units met at the Elbe River. Their shared knowledge of Yiddish allowed them to celebrate the Allied victory together.

In the early 1980 s, Levine was reunited with the Dachau prisoner and the Soviet soldier. In those moments, he was inspired to break his decades of silence and finally share the haunting story of his experiences during WWII.

Genres: Biography, Military History, World War II, History, Nonfiction, Holocaust

128 pages, Hardcover

First published February 2, 2017

About the author

Alex Kershaw is the author of the widely acclaimed best sellers Against All Odds, The First Wave, The Bedford Boys, The Longest Winter, The Few, #TheLiberator, the basis for the Netflix drama, and Escape from the Deep, as well as biographies of Jack London, Raoul Wallenberg and Robert Capa. His latest book is Patton's Prayer, published May 2024.

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short bio of a very interesting American. Not particularly a lot of depth in this portrait or great writing but the story of the guy is fascinating.

[Lisa Chan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was written by two different authors and, maybe I’m biased, but I preferred Kershaw’s portion. The book was a short, quick read about the life of William Levine.