Dr. John D. Singer correspondence
Extent and Medium
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Creator(s)
- John D. Singer
Biographical History
John David Singer was born on 25 December 1904, near Mogilev, in the Russian Empire. When he was around 7 or 8 years old, he immigrated to the United States with his mother, and they settled in Chicago. They lived on the northwest side of Chicago, where he attended Tooley High School. He obtained a degree as a doctor of medicine (MD) from the University of Illinois in 1931, and after that, both had a general medical practice in Chicago, where he focused on internal medicine, and he served as a lecturer in the medical school at the University of Illinois from 1939 to 1942. In 1935, he married Genise Adler, and the Singers had three children: Loren, Susan, and Deborah. During World War II, he volunteered to serve in the medical corps of the United States Army, entering service in November 1942. He was assigned to the Third Army, 773rd Tank Battalion, in the European Theatre, initially as a surgeon at the rank of captain, and subsequently as commanding medical officer in that battalion, at the rank of major. He saw action with the 773rd in France and Germany, including heavy fighting in the region of the Moselle and Saar Rivers, where he participated in the capture of a German fort and administered a hospital that treated wounded German prisoners-of-war. In April 1945, he was present at the liberation of the Buchenwald concentration camp, and supervised the treatment of liberated prisoners and displaced persons. He was honorably discharged from active service in November 1945, and was honored by the French government with a Croix de Guerre for his service with the 773rd in 1946. Returning to Chicago, he resumed his medical practice, working at Edgewater Hospital, where he practiced medicine for close to fifty years, including several years as chief of staff.
Archival History
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Deborah Silvestri
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Susan Siegel
Gift of Deborah Silvestri and Susan Siegel, daughters of John D. Singer, 2016.
Scope and Content
The Dr. John D. Singer correspondence consists of letters sent from John D. Singer, M.D., during the period when he served in Europe with the United States Army, Third Army, 773rd Tank Destroyer Battalion, as a surgeon and commanding medical officer, 1944-1945. The letters, addressed to his wife Genise in Illinois, describe various experiences, including the first post-liberation Jewish new year's celebration at a synagogue in Nancy, France, in September 1944; and his experiences visiting and working as a doctor at the newly-liberated camp of Buchenwald in April 1945. Collection also contains photographs of Singer in his army uniform, photocopied documents pertaining to his military service, samples of German propaganda leaflets directed at Allied forces, and a report from the 773rd Tank Battalion, September 1944, summarizing their landing at Normandy in August 1944, and subsequent engagements with German forces.
System of Arrangement
The John D. Singer correspondence is divided into two series: I. Correspondence, II. Other documents. The first series is arranged in chronological order, the second in alphabetical order by folder title.
People
- Singer, John D., 1904-
Corporate Bodies
- United States. Army. Tank Destroyer Battalion, 773rd
- Buchenwald (Concentration camp)
Subjects
- Propaganda, German.
- World War, 1939-1945--Concentration camps--Liberation--Germany.
- Propaganda, German.
- Germany.
- World War, 1939-1945--Medical care--United States.
- United States. Army--Medical personnel--Correspondence.
- World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Western Front.
- World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--France.
- World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Germany.
- Jews--France--Nancy.
- France.
Genre
- Correspondence.
- Document