Argent Towers
07-18-2006, 03:34 PM
I was just reading the Wikipedia article on Dwight Eisenhower and it claims that he has Jewish ancestry. "The Eisenhower family is of Jewish German descent (Eisenhauer) and came from Germanic Forbach, Lorraine region of France but had lived in America since the 18th century. "
I realize that Wikipedia is inaccurate. So - I did a search of my own. This is what I found:
"The Terrible Swedish Jew." (http://judicial-inc.biz/Hopie_5.jpg)
This image is from an anti-Semitic and holocaust-denying website. I normally discount anything from such circumstances. However, it does appear to be a scanned page from his West Point yearbook. Is this page a forgery? There is blurriness around the edges of the letters, making me wonder if there is some digital manipulation.
This genaeology website (http://www.houseofnames.com/xq/asp.fc/qx/eisenhower-family-crest.htm) lists Eisenhower as a Jewish name and claims that:
The prominent surname Eisenhower is a proud symbol of Jewish heritage. Before the late Middle Ages, people were known only by a single name. However, as the population increased and travelers set out on their journeys, it became necessary for people to adopt a second name to identify themselves. Jewish hereditary surnames were adopted from a variety of different sources. There are three possible derivations of the surname Eisenhower. In the first case, it may be a metonymic occupational name for an ironworker or smith, derived from the Yiddish word ayzn, and the German word eisen, which means iron. Another interpretation suggests that this surname is of patronymic origin, and derived from the surname Isaac. A third alternative suggests that the surname Eisenhower is an ornamental surname. This explanation comes from the fact that there are many compound names, such as Eisenstein, which means iron stone.
I have no idea how accurate this website is, so its validity may be in question.
Also, there's no question that Eisenhower looks kind of Jewish.
So, so far we have Wikipedia, which is often inaccurate; an anti-semitic website; and a genaeology site of questionable credentials. All adding up to look like a very weak-looking case for Eisenhower being Jewish. However, there's still that yearbook page that claims him to be a "Swedish-Jew." Could there be something to this, or is it some kind of forgery, or a joke?
I realize that Wikipedia is inaccurate. So - I did a search of my own. This is what I found:
"The Terrible Swedish Jew." (http://judicial-inc.biz/Hopie_5.jpg)
This image is from an anti-Semitic and holocaust-denying website. I normally discount anything from such circumstances. However, it does appear to be a scanned page from his West Point yearbook. Is this page a forgery? There is blurriness around the edges of the letters, making me wonder if there is some digital manipulation.
This genaeology website (http://www.houseofnames.com/xq/asp.fc/qx/eisenhower-family-crest.htm) lists Eisenhower as a Jewish name and claims that:
The prominent surname Eisenhower is a proud symbol of Jewish heritage. Before the late Middle Ages, people were known only by a single name. However, as the population increased and travelers set out on their journeys, it became necessary for people to adopt a second name to identify themselves. Jewish hereditary surnames were adopted from a variety of different sources. There are three possible derivations of the surname Eisenhower. In the first case, it may be a metonymic occupational name for an ironworker or smith, derived from the Yiddish word ayzn, and the German word eisen, which means iron. Another interpretation suggests that this surname is of patronymic origin, and derived from the surname Isaac. A third alternative suggests that the surname Eisenhower is an ornamental surname. This explanation comes from the fact that there are many compound names, such as Eisenstein, which means iron stone.
I have no idea how accurate this website is, so its validity may be in question.
Also, there's no question that Eisenhower looks kind of Jewish.
So, so far we have Wikipedia, which is often inaccurate; an anti-semitic website; and a genaeology site of questionable credentials. All adding up to look like a very weak-looking case for Eisenhower being Jewish. However, there's still that yearbook page that claims him to be a "Swedish-Jew." Could there be something to this, or is it some kind of forgery, or a joke?