Thread by @lennybendavid

A 101-year-old #Passover mystery picture.
I saw this pic in the Library of Congress & asked the wonderful librarians to digitize & post it. The caption did not help me too much.
My research tells a story of great valor by the hardscrabble "Statue of Liberty Division."

The NYC "Liberty Division" was one of the 1st draftee units deployed in WWI combat. They fought in Argonne Forest, Oct 2018. One battalion of Irish, Jewish, Italian, Polish "gangsters" was so effective, they went thru German lines so fast they left the units on flanks behind. 2/

3/ The film "The Lost Battalion" tells their story. They held out for a week w/o food & water. No communication with HQ. Of 550 men, almost 200 KIA, 150 POW or MIA.
How they were rescued is a tale of the heroism of Private Abraham Krotoshinsky, a new immigrant, who volunteered.

4/ He crawled thru enemy lines. A German soldier stepped on his hand. "First of all I was lucky enough not to be wounded. Second, after five days of starving, I was stronger than many of my friends who were twice my size. You know a Jew finds strength to suffer."

5/ The Matza was sent to Kroto's Division.
Little doubt that a non-Jew would have gotten the Cong'l Medal of Honor.
Unemployed after the war, Kroto tried farming in Palestine. No luck. Back in NY, he was appointed by Coolidge as a postal clerk in 1927. israeldailypicture.com/2014/04/why-wa…