Writing Against Infamy: Selected Letters of Harold Kirson, 1943-1945 (World War II: the Global, Human, and Ethical Dimension)

A rare documentation of a Jewish American serviceman in the war. Writing Against Infamy presents a personal account of the Second World War through the correspondence of Harold Kirson, a Jewish American soldier and ambulance driver in Patton’s Third Army.Drawn from an archive of more than 600 letters, the collection chronicles the rhythms of his wartime life: evacuating wounded soldiers, securing daily necessities, maintaining relationships, navigating Jewish identity and belonging, and grappling with the moral complexity of war and its aftermath.The letters trace his journey from the United States to the United Kingdom and across Europe, where he supported combat troops by transporting the wounded from clearing stations to evacuation hospitals.After V-E Day, as a part of the Army of Occupation, he continued public health work, moving soldiers, former prisoners of war, Holocaust survivors, and displaced persons across occupied zones.The narrative unfolds gradually, mirroring how war wa