The Cantor’s Remembrance Day: My Father-in-Law, A War Hero

By Cantor Benjamin Maissner.

Remembrance Day 2016  

It is my honor to share this love romantic story with all of you in recognition of spirited heroism of a generation gone by. A story of a Jewish Pilot in the USA

A Heroic Leap

On December 27, 1944, the USA Army Air Force plane piloted by Joe Fry and George Weisfeld (1922-2004) my wife Hope’s father, my father in law, was hit by German fire. The crew jumped from the burning plane, as instructed, but Weisfeld and Fry stayed on until the glider they were towing – filled with ammunition to resupply troops during the Battle of the Bulge – safely detached. Burned severely on his face and neck when he finally jumped, Weisfeld suffered serious scarring and medical issues for many years.

Belle Rabinowitz (1924-2014) converted George’s parachute from that jump into her wedding gown the following year.

“If it was good enough to save her sweetheart’s life, surely it was worthy of being married in”.

In the pictures

1. Wedding gown of Belle Rabinowitz, 1945
2. National Museum of American Jewish History 2011.158.1
3. Gift of Belle Weisfeld and family in memory of George Weisfeld
4. Belle Rabinowitz and Lt. George Weisfeld, Philadelphia, 1945
5. National Museum of American Jewish History, 2011.158.6