Many of the 15,200 selected were Jewish soldiers who fled Nazi-controlled Germany, which was systematically killing Jews. One or more of Hendersons Ritchie Boys was present at every major moment of the American war in Europe: landing on Omaha Beach, speeding with Pattons tanks, liberating concentration camps. Readers may be amazed to learn that the Ritchie Boys included five Marines who died on Iwo Jima, including two who graduated with a specialty of Terrain Intelligence) and were killed in action on the day the Marines stormed Iwo Jima (19 February 1945). Captain Harvey J. Cook served as the Intelligence Officer for the Second Ranger Battalion and was among those who scaled the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc at Omaha Beach on D-Day. Dabringhaus went on to write a book about the experience called Klaus Barbie: The Shocking Story of How the U.S. Used this Nazi War Criminal as an Intelligence Agent.. There were roughly 9000 of these Jews in America and they specialized in the interrogation of German prisoners. I can look anybody straight in their eye and say I think I've earned the right to be an American. Guy Stern: I was called to the company office and told you're shipping out. One can also point to a Ritchie Boy who was given the opportunity to shape the critically important program of psychological warfare by training nearly all the 850 members of the Mobile Radio Broadcasting Companies. Approximately 20,000 menmany of whom were immigrants and refugees from more than 70 countries, including 2,800 German and Austrian refugees who fled Nazi persecution and had arrived in the United States as enemy alienswere trained there. The soldiers were sent for training to The Ritchie Boys exhibit is at the Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills, Mich., July 24, 2011. Washington, DC 20024-2126 David Frey: It was a very broad range And they did it all generally in eight weeks. He was shot right away and killed. 97-year-old Max Lerner, an Austrian Jew fluent in German and French, served as a special agent with the counterintelligence corps, passing information to French underground resistance groups. Because they would know this information. And that has been the driving force in my life. Jon Wertheim: This is going behind enemy lines. The Ritchie Boys, some of whom landed on the beaches at Normandy, helped to interpret documents and gather intelligence, and conducted enemy warfare. Wayne State University Professor Ehrhard Dabringhaus, another attendee, was ordered shortly after the war to become the American control officer to Klaus Barbie, the notorious war criminal. One can readily point to the case of Ritchie Boy William R. Perl who outwitted Adolf Eichmann and saved an estimated 40,000 lives. We were delighted to get a chance to do something for the United States. Guy Ritchie's The Covenant and why Hollywood is afraid of the Ritchie Boy Singer. Starting in 1942, more than 11,000 soldiers went through the rigorous training at what was the army's first centralized school for intelligence and psychological warfare. Some of these books, Frey says, were nearly 500 pages long by the end of the war. And, it is thanks to them (their native speaking German skills, knowledge of the German culture, and patriotism), that America and her allies were able to defeat Hitler. Broadcast associate, Elizabeth Germino. Ritchie Boys were heroes who used their innate skills to gather information from all sources Bruce Hendersons account of the Ritchie Boys, as the camps graduates came to be known, is full of arresting moments like Sellings arrival, almost all of them virtually unknown. Did your dog tag identify you as Jewish? Although Ritchie Boy Private Henry Kolm did not have the opportunity to serve overseas, he was able to make a significant contribution as an interrogator at Fort Hunt and as the principal facilitator in the integration of German Paperclip scientists and engineers such as Wernher von Braun into our society. Jon Wertheim: Was it your knowledge of the language or your knowledge of the psychology and the German culture? Guy Stern: Well I think not (laugh) but I don't run as fast, I don't swim as fast but I feel happy with my tasks. From that point on, Ritchie Boys were involved in every major battle in Europe, using their language skills to gather intelligence, interpret enemy documents, and engage in psychological warfare encouraging German soldiers to surrender by dropping leaflets, through radio broadcasts, and in trucks equipped with loudspeakers. We now know that this perception needs to be broadened. The Ritchie Boys key asset was language skills, and the militarys hunger was for battlefield POW interrogators. Nina Wolff Feld told her fathers story in Someday You Will Understand: My Fathers Private World War 2. How the Ritchie Boys, Secret Refugee Infiltrators, Took on the Guy Stern: I think it was the continuous flow of reliable information that really helped expedite the end of the war. As was philanthropist David Rockefeller and media baron and billionaire John Kluge. Victor Brombert: Our interrogations - it had to do with tactical immediate concerns. Jon Wertheim: Why did you want to enlist initially? and he said "no, military secret.". Victor Brombert: Yes, well with a stick. How The Ritchie Boys Helped Win Guy Stern: We were on a PT boat taking off from Southampton. He added that the military chose intelligent people because they had to process a tremendous amount of information." For decades, they didn't discuss their work. The Jewish Refugees Who Fled Nazi GermanyThen Returned to The Ritchie Boys In civilian life, he became a noted sculpture and fine arts teacher and rose to the presidency for the Center for Creative Studies at Detroit's College of Art and Design. Personal, of course, but also this country - I was really treated well. They knew the psychology and the Jon Wertheim: This dog tag says Hebrew. David Frey teaches history to cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. You sort of swing it around the neck from behind and then pull. Every day, Americas service members selflessly put their lives on the line to keep us safe and free. When U.S. soldiers fought Germany during World War II, there was one group that was particularly motivatedabout 2,000 mostly German and Austrian Jewish refugees who fled the Nazis and then returned to Europe to take on their tormentors as members of American military intelligence. Following the war, some of the Ritchie Boys were used as interrogators during the Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals. ahollinger@ushmm.org. The Ritchie Boys exhibit at the Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills, Mich., July 24, 2011. Salinger, author of the classic book The Catcher in the Rye.. Max Lerner: Or they had an effort to erase it. At a time when the U.S. military urgently needed foreign language speakers, the Ritchie Boys offered a key resource. This was our kind of war. Jon Wertheim: This had a real material impact on World War II. Ritchie Boy We see those who are the greatest of the greatest generation. Ritchie Boys Jon Wertheim: How do you think we should be recalling the Ritchie Boys? Eventually, Just two weeks shy of turning 100, Guy Stern drips with vitality. Jon Wertheim: You let him know you were Jewish? They never met for reunions, they did not join veteran associations. 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You know a lot about them already. In any major military conflict, there will likely be both individual heroes and groups of heroes. The soldiers were sent for training to Camp Ritchie, Md., beginning June 19, 1942, where they trained at the Military Intelligence Training Center thus their nickname, the Ritchie Boys. The soldiers were sent for training to Camp Ritchie, Maryland, beginning June 19, 1942, where they trained at the Military Intelligence Training Center thus their nickname, the Ritchie Boys.. Starting in 1942, more than 11,000 soldiers went through the rigorous training at what was the Army's first centralized school for intelligence and psychological warfare. The knowledge that his adopted country would not let him fight their common enemy was bitterly frustrating. Many of the Jewish refugees lost family members, and at the end of the war, they searched for them. By Julia M. Klein August 26, 2017. David Frey: I think we look at this group and we see true heroes. Jon Wertheim: That's the kind of thing you would know. Some of the prisoners were actual German POWs brought to Camp Ritchie so the Ritchie Boys could practice their interrogation techniques. In trying to assess the contribution of a single participant to an endeavor as gigantic as World War II, the question is often asked How much difference can one man make? Considering how remarkable Ritchie Boys were as individuals, does it make sense to try to find just one or perhaps two Ritchie Boys whose individual contributions stand out in terms of the difference it made? And so I fell back behind because I didn't want to be seen crying to a hardened soldier and then he looked around to look where I was, how I was delayed, and he, this good fellow from middle of Ohio was bawling just as I was. Angress followed up leads that took him to an Amsterdam address just five days after VE Day. Already available are biographies and memoirs by and about individual Ritchie Boys as well as the book by the NYT best-selling author Bruce Henderson and books about Austrian-born Ritchie Boys by Robert Lackner and Florian Traussnig. That was potentially lethal in Europe under fluid battlefield conditions, especially during the Battle of the Bulge, when the Wehrmacht infiltrated American lines with soldiers dressed in U.S. uniforms. The USO is a not-for-profit organization and not part of the Department of Defense (DoD). Jon Wertheim: What was it like for you, leaving Nazi Germany, escaping as a Jew, and the next time you go back to Europe it's to fight those guys? And that's what-- that's what it did for me. As members of the Ritchie Boys, German and Austrian refugees offered language skills and knowledge that proved vital to American military intelligence. David Frey: I think they did. Newsday It was wonderful to see these people again. Established by Hitler and led by Heinrich Himmler, the SS was responsible for security and intelligence collection in Germany. They certainly saved lives. Jon Wertheim: So there's all sorts of impact years and years and years after the war from this this camp in Maryland? And it was not until a few years ago that the son of Italian-Jewish Ritchie Boy. Walter Midener, an attendee, was awarded the Silver Star. We hope you find the data, stories, and images here of interest. Still, if they were captured, they knew what the Nazis would do to them. He is among the last surviving Ritchie Boys - a group of young men many of them German Jews who played an outsized role in helping the Allies win World War II. Besides their language ability, these soldiers were familiar with the culture and thinking of enemy soldiers, which would aid them in their efforts. The very aspect of these SOBs now being at my command (laugh) gave me also some personal satisfaction. One can readily point to the case of Ritchie Boy, who outwitted Adolf Eichmann and saved an estimated 40,000 lives. Isn't it a miserable thing? Web34K views 1 year ago. And to take those heights against heavy firing, going up those steep cliffs, and of course, it had been done. And incredibly, they were responsible for most of the combat intelligence gathered on the Western Front. It was his service in the military during World War II. You want to give them that feeling that you know who they are, they know who you are. By highlighting those individuals who, in the midst of evil, stood for the best, rather than the worst of human nature, the Holocaust Memorial Center seeks to contribute to maintaining an open and free society, he added. Our country owes them an enormous debt of gratitude for their courage and sacrifices. WebThe army recruited not just those fluent in German, French, Italian, and Polish (approximately a fifth were Jewish refugees from Europe), but also Arabic, Japanese, Dutch, Greek, Norwegian, Russian, Turkish, and other languages as well as some 200 Native Americans and 200 WACs. Jon Wertheim: This-- This is a remarkable story. very important because you save life if you know where the mine "where is the machine gun nest?" The Ritchie Boys: Americas Secret Weapon Against the Nazis | by United States Holocaust Memorial Museum | Memory & Action | Medium 500 Apologies, but something went wrong on our end. But ask him about his most formative experience - and he doesn't hesitate. When Hitler came to power, the Bromberts fled to France, and then to the U.S. And it was not until a few years ago that the son of Italian-Jewish Ritchie Boy Alessandro Sabbadini told the story of his fathers motivation and bravery in the book Unavoidable Hope. You playacted. The so-called Ritchie Boys were among roughly 15,000 graduates of training programs at Camp Ritchie, a former National Guard Camp in Maryland named for the late Maryland Governor, Albert C. Ritchie. They fought with the American military in the lands they had recently escaped, helping to turn the course of the war. David Frey: The purpose of the facility was to train interrogators. Ritchie Boys There were recruiting posters all over town, I never calculated that there is such a thing as terror, fear. The boys were members of a military intelligence unit; strongly discouraged from talking about their war, they didnt hold their first reunion until 60 years after it ended. 202.437.1221 Jon Wertheim: I understand there are some Ritchie Boys [that] became fairly prominent figures. David Frey: They were incredibly effective. Embedded in every Army unit, they interrogated tens of thousands of captured Nazi soldiers as well as civilians extracting key strategic information on enemy strength, troop movements, and defensive positions. Now in their late 90s, these humble warriors still keep in touch, swapping stories about a chapter in American history now finally being told. The unit got its name from where they did their training, Camp Ritchie, Maryl Cast & Crew Read More Christian Bauer Director David Frey: The purpose of the facility was to train interrogators. They were all forced to do it. Dead people. You know where the strong points are, and you know you what to avoid and what to attack. Victor Brombert was with the first American armored division to land on Omaha Beach. David Frey: Right. David Frey: Much of it originated at Camp Ritchie because it had never it hadn't been done before. "where are your reserve units?" Immigrant Soldier, The Story of David Frey: Some became ambassadors. Jon Wertheim: So this is you on the job. Guy Stern: Defeating the Wehrmacht and the Waffen SS and all the fancy troops they had was a satisfaction both as a team member and as a personal satisfaction. It was an impact on war crimes. The USO relies on your support to help service members and their families. We were crusaders.". Victor Brombert: It was very, very hard, very difficult and very rare to have a German denounce another German at that point. We believe it will also recognize the value of a group as large as 20,000. Eager to fight the Nazis, he, too joined the Army. 60-plus percent of the actionable intelligence gathered on the battlefield was gathered by Ritchie Boys. David Frey: All in service of winning the war. And like so many war films it Sometimes, not even information about their fate: it was the 1990s before Werner Angress could confirm his father perished in Auschwitz. "How to kill a sentry from behind." He project detailed every aspect of the German army's operations during the war, including how they were structured, how they mobilized and how they used intelligence. Jon Wertheim: And you think because it had that signature, somehow that certified it. Jon Wertheim: How effective were they at gathering intelligence? In trying to assess the contribution of a single participant to an endeavor as gigantic as World War II, the question is often asked How much difference can one man make? Considering how remarkable Ritchie Boys were as individuals, does it make sense to try to find just one or perhaps two Ritchie Boys whose individual contributions stand out in terms of the difference it made? In the age of mechanized warfare, you need to know what these large armies look like, what their capabilities are, how theyre arrayed, Frey says. Their mission: to use their knowledge of the German language and culture to return to Europe and fight Naziism. Guy Stern: None of my family survived. It was the viewing of that film that converted Dan into a Ritchie Boy Wannabe and launched him on a quest to help publicize this heroic group. Jon Wertheim: Do you remember saying goodbye to your family? David Frey: They made a massive contribution to essentially every battle that the Americans fought - the entire sets of battles on the Western Front. A significant number of people, even those with some knowledge of Camp Ritchie, appear to visualize a graduate of the Armys Military Intelligence Training Center as follows: A physically-challenged man of the Jewish faith, who was born in Germany or Austria, joined the U. S. Army, and after being trained at Camp Ritchie served in the European Theater in World War II as an interrogator in relative safety behind the lines. Max Lerner: You know how to tell an SS man? David Frey: They were in fact. HistoryNet I was the only one to get out. The U.S. Army had evidently decided that Martin Selling was a useful asset after all. His Jewish family left Germany in 1933 when he was 10. After the war, a number served as translators and interrogatorsespecially during the Nuremberg Trials. A PHOTO FROM A RITCHIE BOY REUNION HELD IN WASHINGTON DC. An official website of the United States Government. That information is of critical importance because it tells you where certain units are, and if you know where certain units are, you know where the weak spots are. Guy Stern: I preferred not having it. Ritchie Boys served as the Intelligence Officer for the Second Ranger Battalion and was among those who scaled the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc at Omaha Beach on D-Day. Contact. . In 1943, he was drafted into the Army and in 1944 landed in Normandy after D-day as a "Ritchie Boy." Guy Stern: Yes, that's my interrogation tent. Immigrants like Guy Stern. This books publish date is Sep 01, 2021. Guy Stern: This one was our most effective leaflet and why was that? Nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Maryland it was away from prying eyes and prying spies but close enough to decision makers at the Pentagon. Download our app to find events, locations and programs near you. 70 ratings17 reviews. And when their identity was discovered, they were summarily executed by the Germans that had captured them. But joy turned to horror as Allied soldiers and the world learned the full scale of the Nazi mass extermination. Guy Stern: Yes, doing my job interrogating. We worked harder than anyone could have driven us. Frey noted similarities between the Jewish refugeeswho were considered enemy aliens until mid-1942 because they had come from countries the United States was at war withand Japanese Americans who had been interned. Most chose the eldest son, to carry on the family name. Guy Stern: I went to my father one day and I said, "classes are becoming a torture chamber". And only in the early 2000's did we begin to see reunions of the Ritchie Boys. David Frey: If we take Camp Ritchie in microcosm, it was almost the ideal of an American melting pot. He is still haunted by what he experienced that day. I gave myself all the accouterments of looking like a fierce Russian commissar. I have some that were shot. G. Guy Ritchie's The Covenant is an intense action movie, full of gunfire and explosions that make you feel caught in the midst of danger. We were crusaders.. Two Ritchie Boys were identified as German-language interrogators working for the Americans after they were captured in a Nazi counterattack; revealed to be Jewish, the men were summarily executed. Paul Fairbrook: You can learn to shoot a rifle in six months but you can't learn fluent German in six months. Already available are biographies and memoirs by and about individual Ritchie Boys as well as the book by the NYT best-selling author Bruce Henderson and books about Austrian-born Ritchie Boys by Robert Lackner and Florian Traussnig. Given their foreign accents, they were in particular danger of being mistaken for the enemy by their own troops, who instituted passwords at checkpoints. You really know an awful lot of the subtleties when you're having a conversation with another German and we were able to find out things in their answers that enabled us to ask more questions. Then shaping the cold war era, they really played a significant role. The U.S. War Department used this collection of German documents to study Germany's battles with the Soviets on the Eastern Front, in order to be better prepared for any future conflict with Russia. The Ritchie Boys exhibit at the Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills, Mich., July 24, 2011. Photo credit DoD/Holocaust Memorial Center, Why Marlene Dietrich Was One of the Most Patriotic Women in World War II, In World War I, African American 'Hellfighters from Harlem,' Fought Prejudice to Fight for Their Country, VE Day Marked End of Long Road for World War II Troops, Programs for Service Members and Their Families. Fortunately, a book written by historian Beverley Eddy tells the story of Camp Ritchie and the Ritchie Boys in great detail and with professional skill. Of the nearly 20,000 Ritchie Boys who served in WWII, around 140 were killed in action, including at the costly Sixty-plus percent of the actionable intelligence gathered on the battlefield was gathered by Ritchie Boys. Guy Stern arrived in the U.S. alone at age 15, settling with an uncle in St. Louis. What was that like? But Hildesheim was now in ruins. Camp Ritchie served the Maryland National Guard until 1942. "It was a terrible situation. Web4.73K subscribers The Ritchie Boys of World War Two were more than 15,000 servicemen who fled Nazi Germany and Austria, becoming instrumental in the allied war effort with | "By highlighting those individuals who, in the midst of evil, stood for the best, rather than the worst of human nature, the Holocaust Memorial Center seeks to contribute to maintaining an open and free society," he added. WebTheir Unique History and Demographics. It was published by Stackpole Books and has a total of 432 pages in the book. An African-American Ritchie Boy William Warfield If you have ever heard a recording of William Warfield singing Ol Man River, from the musical Showboat by Jerome Kern, you will not have forgotten his deep, rich, bass-baritone voice. That was the mantra. Jon Wertheim: That's what you were told. At the time though, the military wouldn't take volunteers who weren't born in the U.S. Drawing on archival research, memoirs and interviews with several Ritchie Boys (there were 1,985 in all), he focuses on a half dozen. On the front lines from Normandy onwards, the Ritchie Boys fought in every major battle in Europe, collecting tactical intelligence, interrogating prisoners and civilians, all in service of winning the war.
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