Victor Brombert: And at great effort we found people, we arrested them, we were proud of doing that. As the world observes International Holocaust Remembrance Day, some may remember the so-called "Ritchie Boys," who greatly aided allied forces in their fight against Germany and other Axis nations in World War II. Jon Wertheim: Why were the Ritchie Boys so successful? We were all on the same wavelength. Both refugees like Fairbrook and Stern, as well as a number of American-born recruits with requisite language skills - were drafted into the Army and sent to Camp Ritchie. Paul Fairbrook: (laugh) You bet your life I'm proud of the Ritchie Boys. Im a military history writer and Id never heard of them.. The soldiers were sent for training to You really have to understand it helps to have been born in Germany in order to in order to do a good job. What did work Is complicity. I know all about you. Knowing how to shape that appeal was pretty critical to the success of the mobile broadcast units. You're in Belgium? Still, if they were captured, they knew what the Nazis would do to them. So I experienced viscerally, fear. Wehrmacht Captain Curt Bruns, convicted by a military tribunal of ordering the murder of those two Ritchie Boys, was executed by a firing squad in June, 1945. Never. We now know that this perception needs to be broadened. The appearance of DoD visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement. The U.S. Army had evidently decided that Martin Selling was a useful asset after all. Besides their language ability, these soldiers were familiar with the culture and thinking of enemy soldiers, which would aid them in their efforts. 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. And there's nothing that forges unity better than having a common enemy. In addition to the Holocaust Museums award, the U.S. Senate passed a resolutionin 2021 honoring the bravery and dedication of the Ritchie Boys, and recognizing the importance of their contributions to the success of the Allied Forces during World War II.. Engraved on the award are the words from Wiesels Nobel Prize acceptance speech, One person of integrity can make a difference., About the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The Ritchie Boys exhibit is at the Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills, Mich., July 24, 2011. Our country owes them an enormous debt of gratitude for their courage and sacrifices. (Photo: US Army/US Department of Defense), https://www.history.com/news/ritchie-boys-wwii-jewish-refugees-military-intelligence, The Jewish Refugees Who Fled Nazi GermanyThen Returned to Fight. Ritchie Boys of Approximately 14%, or 2,200, of them To do so, they learned photo analysis, terrain analysis, aerial reconnaissance, enemy army analysis, interrogation, signals intelligence and much more.. It was wonderful to see these people again. David Frey: Absolutely. Some of the prisoners were actual German POWs brought to Camp Ritchie so the Ritchie Boys could practice their interrogation techniques. Fort Ritchie, as it later became known, closed in 1998. I think that's quantifiable. Guy Stern speaks at the opening of the Holocaust Memorial Centers Ritchie Boys exhibit and reunion at Farmington Hills, Mich., July 24, 2011. Many had fled Nazi Germany but returned as American soldiers, deploying their knowledge of German language and culture to great advantage. And arrived in the United States penniless. The purpose of the tattoo was to identify a soldier's blood type in case a transfusion was needed or if his dog tags went missing. All SS members were subject to automatic arrest. Harmony Jones, a military child, shares how being raised in a military family helped shape her future for success. And to take those heights against heavy firing, going up those steep cliffs, and of course, it had been done. Associate producer, Jennifer Dozor. Guy Stern: None of my family survived. 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. "where are your reserve units?" Additional valuable information on the Ritchie Boys may be found in a forum-type Facebook page, , ably managed with considerable devotion by Bernie Lubran, son of Ritchie Boy, , and by Josh Freeling, whose great uncle was Ritchie Boy. Jon Wertheim: As a way to honor your family that perished. An official website of the United States Government. I asked them to leave it off. The Allies liberated Paris in August and drove Nazi troops out of France. Paul Fairbrook helped write this compact manual, known as the red book, which outlined in great detail the makeup of virtually every Nazi unit, information every Ritchie Boy committed to memory. How The Ritchie Boys Helped Win World War II For America. Now in their late 90s, these humble warriors still keep in touch, swapping stories about a chapter in American history now finally being told. And I made sure he knew that it was a Jew who controlled him. Jon Wertheim: So it sounds like this gave the officers in the field a guide to the German Army so they could then interrogate the German POW's more efficiently. Investment banker David Rockefeller and civil rights activistWilliam Sloane Coffin were among the Ritchie Boys, who were assigned to every Army and Marines unitand to the Office of Strategic Services and the Counter Intelligence Corps. And incredibly, they were responsible for most of the combat intelligence gathered on the Western Front. 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. "I had no choice." In 1944, the Ritchie Boys headed to Europe to fight in a war that was, for them, intensely personal. This is Guy Stern 80 years ago. Established in 2011, the Elie Wiesel Award recognizes individuals whose actions embody the Museums vision of a world where people confront hate, prevent genocide, and promote human dignity. Of the nearly 20,000 Ritchie Boys who served in WWII, around 140 were killed in action, including at the costly Some Ritchie Boys were recruited to go on secret missions during the war. Jon Wertheim: Sixty percent of the actionable intelligence? 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. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941, Stern, by then a college student, raced to enlist. But ask him about his most formative experience - and he doesn't hesitate. 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 ahollinger@ushmm.org. David Frey: Right. And notably, professor Frey says, more than 250 Ritchie Boys continued to work in the field of intelligence after the war, becoming professional spies. Marlene Dietrich was many things, but to soldiers in World War II, she was a morale-boosting entertainer willing to go right to the front lines to support our nations military. Paul Fairbrook: Oh that is a very good question. 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. They fought with the American military in the lands they had recently escaped, helping to turn the course of the war. Victor Brombert: Yes, well with a stick. Background. Surviving soldiers were among the attendees. Nina Wolff Feld told her fathers story in Someday You Will Understand: My Fathers Private World War 2. Guy Stern: They were killed either in Warsaw or in Auschwitz. Salinger were among the camp gradsbut 2,000 German-language refugees, almost all Jewish, were the prize pupils. and if you don't get it from one prisoner, you might get it from the other. Bill. He is a frequent contributor to The Washington Post, and has also written for The New York Times, The Atlantic, Politico Magazine, and CNN.com. Fortunately, some of the Ritchie Boys are still around to tell their tales, and that includes the life force that is Guy Stern, age 99. Guy Stern: Yes, doing my job interrogating. WebThe Ritchie Boys were a secret unit of the US Army during the Second World War. To Allied investigators it became a sort of Nazi hunter's bible. Many of the 15,200 selected were Jewish soldiers who fled Nazi-controlled Germany, which was systematically killing Jews. 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. Of the approximately 19,000 Ritchie Boys who served during the war, about 200 are still living, ranging 95 107 years old. Besides their language ability, these soldiers were familiar with the culture and thinking of enemy soldiers, which would aid them in their efforts. 4.39. 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? . They all rose to the top of their fields, as did a number of other Ritchie Boys. Many had fled Nazi Germany but returned as American soldiers, deploying their knowledge of German language and culture to great advantage. We strive for accuracy and fairness. Guy Stern: Yes, that carried weight and the belief in the printed matter was very great. Many of the 15,200 selected were Jewish soldiers who fled Nazi-controlled Germany, which was systematically killing Jews. Approximately 20,000 menmany of whom were immigrants and refugees from more than 70 countries, including 2,800 German and Austrian refugees who fled Giving out some cigarettes also helps a lot. So many of them were Jewish. Step back in time and remember the lead up to VE Day, or "Victory in Europe Day," when soldiers and civilians alike across the world celebrated the end of the years-long World War II in Europe. The intelligence they gathered was coveted by higher commanda postwar Pentagon report ascribed more than half of the credible battlefield intelligence gathered in Europe to the 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. Photo credit DoD/Holocaust Memorial Center, | Ritchie Boys also collected evidence which led to the prosecution of many high ranking Nazis including Hermann Goering, head of the Luftwaffe; Rudolph Hess, deputy furher to Adolf Hitler; and Wilhelm Keitel, chief of the Wehrmacht, Germany's armed forces. (See Since the story of the Ritchie Boys remained relatively unknown for a half-century or more, it was often left to their children and grandchildren to bring their accomplishments to light. WebThe Ritchie Boys were the US special military intelligence officers and enlisted men of World War II who were trained at Camp Ritchie in Maryland. 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. They spoke the same German as the Wehrmacht soldiers they were up against, they shared experiences, education and culture with them, explains Henderson. All were convicted for their crimes and many were executed. There were roughly 9000 of these Jews in America and they specialized in the interrogation of German prisoners. Ritchie Boys were a military intelligence unit made up of mostly German, Austrian and Czech refugees and immigrants, many of whom were Jewish. The Ritchie Boys landed on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day and helped liberate Paris. That changed over the years as the Ritchie Boys began to receive more recognition. You know a lot about them already. And when their identity was discovered, they were summarily executed by the Germans that had captured them. Sensing danger, Stern's father tried to get the family out. Other Ritchie Boys were able to express their motivation and accomplishments in memoirs with titles such as I Must Be a Part of This War and A Few Who Made a Difference. And I said "Well, huh, in slang, there ain't nothing special about you, but if you were saved, you got to show that you were worthy of it. 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. At one point, Max Lerner disguised himself as a German officer and snuck behind enemy lines - leading a team of American soldiers into a German depot at night and destroying the equipment. The Ritchie Boys were members of a secret American intelligence group whose mastery of the German language and culture proved critical to the Allies' victory over Hitler. Making such a distinction in this case is very difficult. Follow him at @ffrommer. Stern also said that its important for people everywhere to remember those who perished and those who survived the Holocaust and, in a world increasingly faced with sectarian strife and intolerance, to set forth the lessons of the Holocaust as a model for teaching ethical conduct and responsible decision-making. So was Archibald Roosevelt, grandson of Theodore Roosevelt. "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. Making such a distinction in this case is very difficult. 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. Did it give you any satisfaction? Guy Stern: Handkerchiefs, I couldn't know at that point that I would never see my siblings or my parents again nor my grandmother and so forth and so on. WebTheir Unique History and Demographics. Because they served in so many different capacities. They were asked, in some cases, to memorize battle books, which told soldiers about the enemys organization, structure, capacity, leadership and experience. As Nazi persecution of Jews intensified in the late 1930s, desperate families often found they could get only a single child out of Germany via the efforts of Jewish relief agencies. 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. There were at least 30 languages spoken at Camp Ritchie, but the preference obviously was for German speakers because most of the enemy forces would be German, Frey says. Now 98, Fairbrook is the former dean of the Culinary Institute of America. Guy Stern: I think it was the continuous flow of reliable information that really helped expedite the end of the war. They took their name from the place they trained - Camp Ritchie, Maryland a secret American military intelligence center during the war. Early on in the war, the Army realized it needed German- and Italian-speaking U.S. soldiers for a variety of duties, including psychological warfare, interrogation, espionage and intercepting enemy communications. He responded with just the information I needed. Jon Wertheim: So this is you on the job. -This story was originally published on defense.gov. | About 200 Ritchie Boys are estimated to be alive today. In a different way, the contributions made by a small team or by a large group of individuals may also save lives and deserve to be called heroic. The Ritchie Boys trained for war against these fake Germans with fake German tanks made out of wood. David Frey: Because it involves military intelligence, much of it was actually kept secret until the - the 1990's. Guy Stern: Yes and it's theatrics in a way yes. Another bit of indispensable Ritchie Boy handiwork: the order of battle of the German army. David Frey: You had a whole load of immigrants who really wanted to get back into the fight. Jon Wertheim: This-- This is a remarkable story. His mother answered the door. Essentially they were intellectuals. Hed endured a lot already, including three brutal months in Dachau concentration camp after Kristallnacht in 1938, before finding haven in America. My father was 49 years old and-- and my mother was 48 and they left everything they had built up behind. At a time when the U.S. military urgently needed foreign language speakers, the Ritchie Boys offered a key resource. Eager to fight the Nazis, he, too joined the Army. Guy Stern: Yes, even last night. Produced by Katherine Davis. The largest set of graduates were 2,000 German-born Jews. The U.S. Army leased the post for $5 a year and established The Military Intelligence Training Center. According to the Holocaust Museum, two Jewish soldiers were taken captive and executed after being identified as German-born Jews, and there were about 200 Ritchie Boys alive as of May 2022. Jon Wertheim: This is going behind enemy lines. So to get that kind of information, particularly from those you capture on the battlefield, you need people who are trained to get that information. We were briefed that the Germans were not going to welcome us greatly. Now is it because they were afraid that the Nazis might come back, that it's not over? It was also in Europe that some of them, like Guy Stern, learned what had happened to the families they left behind. Divisions that liberated concentration camps included hundreds of Ritchie Boys, who interviewed survivors. A PHOTO FROM A RITCHIE BOY REUNION HELD IN WASHINGTON DC. The soldiers were sent for training to You had people coming from all over uniting for a particular cause. For decades, they didn't discuss their work. 202.437.1221 Museum to Confer its Highest Honor, The Elie Wiesel Award, Secret Unit Formed 80 Years Ago Was Instrumental in Nazi GermanysDefeat and Included Many Who Had Fled the Regime. Many were foreign-born or had lived abroad for significant amounts of time. And that's why civilians could be useful and soldiers could be useful, "where is the minefield?" There were Ritchie Boys who were in virtually every battle that you can think of and some actually suffered the worst fate. 70 ratings17 reviews. Jon Wertheim: Give us a sense of the kinds of courses they took. David Frey: Part of what the Ritchie Boys did was to convince German units to surrender without fighting. The Ritchie Boys earned a reputation for delivering important tactical information fast, making a major contribution to every battle on the Western Front. All had experienced harrowing escapes from Europe and dangerous but productive returns. Mr. Jon Wertheim: Did you enjoy hunting Nazis? 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. Drawing on archival research, memoirs and interviews with several Ritchie Boys (there were 1,985 in all), he focuses on a half dozen. Many of the 15,200 selected were Jewish soldiers who fled Nazi-controlled Germany, which was systematically killing Jews. Walter Midener, an attendee, was awarded the Silver Star. Contact. Some of them were trained as spies and some of them went on to careers as spies. Broadcast associate, Elizabeth Germino. Recruits were chosen based on their knowledge of European Language and culture, as well as their high IQs. Max Lerner: They were all justifying themselves. Sons and Soldiers concentrates on six of them, two deadincluding Selling, who passed away at 86 in 2004but who left detailed memoirs, and four still flourishing 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. That is the key to being a good interrogator. As part of denazification, photos of Nazi atrocities were posted in German shop windows and Ritchie Boys led the country's citizens on tours of the concentration camps to educate the local population about the evil Hitler had perpetrated. They chose their eldest son. There are valid reasons to consider that the Ritchie Boys as a group made a unique and enormous contribution to our military success in World War II. Jon Wertheim: And you're saying that some of that originated at Camp Ritchie? Martha Cesaro, a military spouse, shares what inspired her to start giving back to the military community through the USO. WebOne can readily point to the case of Ritchie Boy William R. Perl who outwitted Adolf Eichmann and saved an estimated 40,000 lives. David Frey: I think we look at this group and we see true heroes. told the story of his fathers motivation and bravery in the book Unavoidable Hope. Guy Stern returned to Normandy in 2016 to pay his respects to the more than 9,300 men buried in the American cemetery there, on the bluff overlooking the hallowed beach. Aren't we all sort of, tired of it?". And it was not until a few years ago that the son of Italian-Jewish Ritchie Boy. After following in his familys footsteps and serving in the military, Air Force veteran Lyle Apo turned to USO Hawaii for the opportunity to volunteer and help current service members. 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. 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. Be the first to learn about news, service member stories and fundraising updates from USO. In August 2021, the bipartisan US Senate Resolution 349 officially recognized the bravery of those troops. By providing your mobile phone number, you opt in to receive calls and texts from USO. 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. Before the Tuskegee Airmen, there were the Hellfighters from Harlem, a group of African American National Guard Soldiers of New York's 15th Infantry Regiment who fought for the right to serve in combat during World War I. 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. Many of them about 14% were Jewish refugees like Kantor. 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. Fred is a former longtime Associated Press journalist, where he worked as a reporter and editor. You on one side and we on this side. But Hildesheim was now in ruins. Jon Wertheim: That's how you looked at it. Dead people. A contribution made by a single individual, especially if one or more lives are saved, is generally recognized as truly heroic. Jon Wertheim: This dog tag says Hebrew. Of late, the Ritchie Boys have been the subject of growing media attention including, in May, on the television news program 60 Minutes. We hope you find the data, stories, and images here of interest. A friendly approach - trying to be human. I never calculated that there is such a thing as terror, fear. Director, Communications Given their foreign accents, they were in particular danger of being mistaken for the enemy by their own troops, who instituted passwords at checkpoints. 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. One can readily point to the case of Ritchie Boy William R. Perl who outwitted Adolf Eichmann and saved an estimated 40,000 lives. Mothers Day.. At the time though, the military wouldn't take volunteers who weren't born in the U.S. Edited by Stephanie Palewski Brumbach and Robert Zimet. The award will be presented this spring.

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