Gorfinkle, Bernard Louis, 1889-1973

Col. Bernard L. Gorfinkle (1889-1973)

A U.S. attorney and community leader, Bernard L. Gorfinkle was born on October 29, 1889 to Harris and Sarah (Miliontaler) Gorfinkle in Boston, Massachusetts. He married Frieda Edinberg on June 7, 1921 and had three children-Herbert, Ruth (later Ruth Gorfinkle Roberts) and Sara.

After graduating from Boston University Law School in 1911, he was admitted to the Massachusetts and Federal Bar the same year and practiced law in Boston, Massachusetts. Upon his discharge from the Army in 1919 he returned to private corporate law practice, and worked in every department of a large bank with legal work, establishing branches and new departments, supervising brokerage houses and businesses of all sorts.

Bernard L. Gorfinkle's military career began in 1913 when he enlisted in the Massachusetts cavalry and served at the Mexican border as a sergeant under General Pershing. Upon the entrance of the U.S. into World War I he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the American Expeditionary Forces. He participated in seven major battles and was wounded twice at Verdun, and promoted on the battlefield from second lieutenant to Captain Judge Advocate in the 26 th Yankee Division. After the Armistice he was assigned to the American Peace Commission as secretary and military aide to Bernard M. Baruch. He was appointed Secretary of the Raw Materials Section of the Supreme Economic Council, and Paris representative of the Rhineland Commission. He was present at the signing of the Versailles Treaty in 1919 as a military aide to President W. Wilson.

Bernard L. Gorfinkle was decorated by the U.S. government, the French government and knighted by the King of Belgium at the close of World War I.

In 1919 he became a member of the Reserve Corps of the Army with the rank of Colonel. After the entrance of the United States in World War II, upon recommendation of President Roosevelt and approval of the U.S. Senate, he was appointed as Field Supervisor of the War Manpower Commissions for New England. In 1962, he was promoted to Brigadier General by Governor John Volpe from Massachusetts.

His wide-ranging interest in Jewish life led him to be co-founder and commander of the Jewish War Veterans Post of Newton, Massachusetts. He also was the founder, first president and honorary president of the Newton Squash and Tennis Club. He served as director of the Hebrew Rehabilitation Center for the Aged, the Multiple Sclerosis Society and the Boston Brandeis Club, and was an honorary trustee of Beth Israel Hospital. He was organizer and first president of the New England graduates of Zeta Beta Tan, and past president and administrator of the New Century Club and its students aid fund. He was active in many different local, state and national organizations, such as the Gorfinkle Foundation and the YMHA of France. He served in an executive capacity in many businesses, communal, athletic and social organizations. He was a member of the Temple Ohabei Shalom in Brookline, Massachusetts, American Friends of Hebrew University, the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans and the American Jewish Historical Society. 1

1 Compiled on the basis of archival documents in the Papers of Bernard L. Gorfinkle as well as from data presented in "The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, vol. 5, p. 67 (1941); Who's Who in World Jewry (1965 and 1972), p. 354; Biographical Encyclopedia of American Jews (1935), p. 191.

• 1889: BLG born in Boston, Massachusetts
• 1906: Graduates from Boston English High School
• 1911: L.L.B., Boston University Law School
• 1913: Pvt., Massachusetts Cavalry
• 1916: Sergeant, Mexican Border Service
• 1917: Second Lieutenant, American Expeditionary Forces
• 1918: Promoted in the field to Captain Judge Advocate in the 26th Yankee Division; wounded twice in France
• 1918: Acting Jewish Chaplain
• 1918: Trail Judge Advocate
• 1919: Delegate, American Peace Commission & Commission on Germany
• 1919: Secretary & Military Aide to Bernard M. Baruch
• 1919: Secretary of the Raw Materials Section of the Supreme Economic Council
• 1919: Paris Representative, Rhineland Commission
• 1919: Colonel, U.S. Army Reserve Corps.
• 1919: Military Aide to President Woodrow Wilson
• 1919: Judge Advocate, Maritime Affairs, New York
• 1921: Marries Frieda Edinberg
• 1932: State Department Judge Advocate, JWV
• 1942 - 1945 : New England Field Supervisor, War Manpower Commission
• 1953 - 1957 : Colonel, military aide to Governor Herter of Massachusetts
• 1962: Military aide to Governor John Volpe of Massachusetts
• 1962: Brigadier General, promoted by Governor J. Volpe, Massachusetts
• 1973: BLG dies
• Military Honors: U.S. Service Medal, seven stars (1919)
• Purple Heart (1919); Medals of Verdun, Chateau Thierry, St. Mihiel, Le Havre, BelleWoods (1919)
• Belgian Order of the Crown (1919)

From the guide to the Bernard Louis Gorfinkle papers, undated, 1916-1979, (American Jewish Historical Society)