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Positive but stereotypical depiction of Jews/Judaism in the film


Disclaimer: I'm Jewish and I grew up watching & loving war movies and later served in the infantry, myself. As a result, when I watch a war/military-themed movie I'm looking closely at two things: how Jews are depicted, if at all and the authenticity of equipment, tactics, language, etc.

Breathrough is an excellent movie even considering it's formulaic plot, stereotypical characters and cardboard Nazis (all Germans in WWII are Nazis, don't try to convince me otherwise)driving dressed-up M-26 Pershings.

Pvt. Rothman was the Jew in the platoon. During the horror-filled ride to the beach in the Landing Craft he recites the first few lines of the "Sh-mah Yisrael", a prayer that a Jew is supposed to recite upon impending death, among other times.

And just in case the audience didn't figure out by now that Private ROTHMAN was Jewish, he sets up an impromptu Brooklyn delicatessen during a lull in the bocage fighting and shares a salami from home. How he managed to hide a ten-foot salami in the tiny confines of the M-1936 Musette Bag I have no idea and it would have been heavy to schlepp around even a short distance.

And, to further emphasize his Jewishness, he uses some liberated paint to decorate a scrap of wood with "Rothman's Delicatessen" in English and below, the word "kosher" written in Hebrew/Yiddish.

An enjoyable and fairly realistic war movie but it's a shame that the producers didn't mention or give proper homage to the tanks equipped with the "Cullin Cutter" which allowed the tanks to plow right through the thick hedgerows.

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