Hugo Gutmann the Jewish Officer and Adolf Hitler

 Yet, another historical and profound and ironic fact,  given Hitler's subsequent role in the Holocaust. Was the tragic irony of Jewish soldiers', veterans of WWI , and their deep loyalty to Germany and their subsequent persecution by the Nazi regime.

Approximately 100,000 German Jews served in the German Army during WWI, with around 12,000 killed in action and 18,000 receiving the Iron Cross. Many believed their wartime service proved their patriotism and would guarantee their place in German society.

For a period, some Jewish WWI veterans—especially those decorated (like with the Iron Cross) or wounded—were given limited, temporary privileges and exemptions from the most severe Nazi persecutions. This was partly due to the influence of sympathetic senior military officers and the elderly, highly respected Paul von Hindenburg, a WWI Field Marshal, who was the President of the Weimar Republic and who personally intervened to protect "Frontline Fighters" (Frontkämpfer).

This protection by President of the Weimar Republic Paul von Hindenburg, a WWI Field Marshal was slowly and systematically stripped away as the Nazi regime consolidated power. The Nuremberg Laws and subsequent decrees gradually eliminated any privileges based on their service. The Reichsbund jüdischer Frontsoldaten (Reich Federation of Jewish Front-Line Soldiers), the Jewish veterans' organization, was outlawed in 1936 and dissolved in 1938.

Ultimately, for the vast majority of Jewish veterans, their decorated service provided no immunity. They were subject to the same deportations and extermination as all other Jews. Many decorated and wounded veterans were specifically targeted for the Theresienstadt Ghetto beginning in 1942, which was falsely portrayed as a "model ghetto" for privileged veterans, but was, in reality, a transit and death camp.

While it is difficult to detail the fate of every Jewish soldier who served in Hitler's List Regiment (Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment 16), their stories generally reflect the wider, horrific fate of Jewish German veterans.

Among these stories is the story of The Jewish officer Lieutenant Hugo Gutmann. who recommended Adolf Hitler for the Iron Cross First Class during World War I.

Gutmann was Hitler's superior officer, serving as the adjutant (administrative officer) of the battalion in the Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment 16 (known as the List Regiment) where Hitler was a corporal and a dispatch runner.

On August 4, 1918, Lieutenant Hugo Gutmann made the recommendation for Hitler to receive the Iron Cross First Class decoration which was a relatively rare award for a soldier of Hitler's low rank (Gefreiter).

Gutmann's case is one of the rare exceptions. He was arrested by the Gestapo in 1938 but, according to some accounts, was released through the help of former comrades from the List Regiment. 

He managed to emigrate to the United States in 1940 and survived the war. Some historians suggest Hitler himself may have intervened on his behalf, as he reportedly did for a few individuals with ties to his life (like his mother's Jewish doctor).

Despite his service to the German army and his action recommending Hitler for the medal, Gutmann was persecuted under the Nazi regime. 

He was allowed to emigrate and ultimately fled to the United States in 1940, where he changed his name to Henry G. Grant.