7. A Jarring Contrast Between a Comedic Persona and Serious Wartime Experiences
Mel Brooks was aware of the jarring contrast between his comedic persona and his serious wartime experiences. He once mused to reporters: “I was a combat engineer. Isn’t that ridiculous? The two things I hate most in the world are combat and engineering“. On a more serious note, though, as a Jew, WWII had a special resonance for Brooks: it mattered to him that he had played his part in freeing Jews from the horrors of Nazism. His unit did not liberate any concentration camps, but Brooks came across many Jewish refugees who had survived the Third Reich, and their plight affected him.
The end of the war in Europe came while Brooks and the 1104th Engineer Combat Battalion were engaged in reconnaissance in the Harz Mountains of northern Germany. Brooks, who by then had been promoted to corporal, had survived the war, healthy and hale. He had grown up and matured real fast from the teenager who had enlisted just a year earlier. He closed his days in Europe by taking part in organizing shows and entertainments for American soldiers, as well as for Germans.
