Was Voss Jewish?

Good stuff Hannes, thanks. I agree that Kilduff would be one who should know, but I DEFINATELY read SOMEWHERE that Voss' father was Jewish. It appears that Ira's thoughts on this are likely correct.

Apparently Mr. Norman Franks believes that Voss had Jewish ancestors as can be seen in the epilogue of his Grub Street book " Who Downed the Aces in WWI?"

In the epilogue he conjectures what might have happened had some of the well known aces survived the first world war.

"Voss? How would his Jewish background have survived in Nazi Germany. Another high-scoring Jewish pilot who died in the war had his name actually removed from the list of air heroes at one stage, but Voss seemed to be too well known and respected. But perhaps like Ball, he would not have wished to continue in a service life, but might well have done well in aviation. His flying ability was too remarkable to be lost. He also had that adventurous streak that might have led him to long-distance flying, helping to open up the air routes of the world in the 1930s. And then, might the problem of living with the Nazi regime perhaps have forced him to leave Germany altogether?"

So perhaps someone should ask Mr. Franks about his sources.

V/R
Dave Johnson