how many ritchie boys were there how many ritchie boys were there

I don't know. Guy Stern: I preferred not having it. 70 ratings17 reviews. The SS controlled the German police forces and concentration camps and directed the so-called "Final Solution" to kill all European Jews. Enter. 4.39. Striecher was later tried and convicted at the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, where concentration camp survivors who bore witness to the mass murder faced down their Nazi tormentors. 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. Dan Gross and several invited guests joined the Ritchie Boys for the photo. So was Archibald Roosevelt, grandson of Theodore Roosevelt. And that has been the driving force in my life. Many of them about 14% were Jewish refugees like Kantor. All had experienced harrowing escapes from Europe and dangerous but productive returns. History professor David Frey runs the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Background. Although members of the Ritchie Boys were awarded more than 65 Silver Stars, their group was not very well known during the war. Guy Stern: God no. Victor Brombert: One had to playact with some of the people were acting as prisoners and some of them were real prisoners. David Frey: All in service of winning the war. Originally a resort, Camp Ritchie was a curiously idyllic setting to prepare for the harshness and brutality of war. Eager to fight the Nazis, he, too joined the Army. Max Lerner: It was my war. Following the war, some of the Ritchie Boys were interrogators during the Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals. Why do so few Americans know about this? The largest set of graduates were 2,000 German-born Jews. Guy Stern: Yes, even last night. 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. Harmony Jones, a military child, shares how being raised in a military family helped shape her future for success. Please enter valid email address to continue. 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. When Hitler took power in 1933, Stern says the climate grew increasingly hostile. 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. It was published by Stackpole Books and has a total of 432 pages in the book. David Frey: This is where the having an intelligence officer from Camp Ritchie was of critical importance. 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. After Hitler's defeat, many of them took on a challenging new assignment using their language and interrogation skills to find and arrest top Nazi war criminals. Mothers Day.. What did work Is complicity. Fort Ritchie, as it later became known, closed in 1998. Immigrant Soldier, The Story of a Ritchie Boy, based on the true experiences of a refugee from Nazi Germany, combines a coming of age story with an immigrant tale and a World War II adventure. Many of the 15,200 selected were Jewish soldiers who fled Nazi-controlled Germany, which was systematically killing Jews. Guy Stern arrived in the U.S. alone at age 15, settling with an uncle in St. Louis. Another was, , a member of the Mormon faith, who was awarded the prestigious Medal of Honor posthumously for his heroic actions in the Battle of the Philippines. They all became American success stories, businessmen or academics. David Frey: Well the most important part of the training was that they learned to do interrogation, and in particular of prisoners of war. Victor Brombert: Yes of course. 98-year-old Victor Brombert says they relied on their Camp Ritchie training to get people to open up. Text STOP to opt out, HELP for help. Many of the 15,200 selected were Jewish soldiers who fled Nazi-controlled Germany, which was systematically killing Jews. Ritchie Boy Wannabe Dan Gross and several invited guests joined the Ritchie Boys for the photo. Recruits were chosen based on their knowledge of European Language and culture, as well as their high IQs. But certainly what did not work was violence or threat of violence. And if you get up early enough, you might catch him working out at his local park in the suburbs of Detroit. They significantly helped the war effort and saved lives. who was awarded a Silver Star medal posthumously for gallantry beyond the call of duty. Paul Fairbrook: I was proud to be in the American Army and we were able to do what we had to do. 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. 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. The Ritchie Boys discovered that the Nazis were terrified of ending up in Russian captivity and they used that to great effect. 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. Guy Stern: We were on a PT boat taking off from Southampton. 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. But Hitler was determined to continue the war. The U.S. Army had evidently decided that Martin Selling was a useful asset after all. 2022 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. Victor Brombert: There were long and demanding exercises and close combat training. It is a story of a remarkable synergy between a diverse group of well trained and motivated individuals. I gave myself all the accouterments of looking like a fierce Russian commissar. Guy Stern: I was called to the company office and told you're shipping out. Victor Brombert: The shared experience, exactly. Max Lerner recalls that in one respect at least, identifying most SS members was easy. This was our kind of war. David Frey: All in service of winning the war. One of these was Staff Sergeant Stephen (Moose) Mosbacher who was awarded a Silver Star medal posthumously for gallantry beyond the call of duty. I wanted, desperately, to do something. How do you appeal to people in their own language? Besides their language ability, these soldiers were familiar with the culture and thinking of enemy soldiers, which would aid them in their efforts. (See The Ritchie Boys connected with prisoners on subjects as varied as food and soccer rivalries but they weren't above using deception on difficult targets. I'm denouncing this and I was forced to do it. In New York, Paul Fairbrook, had a similar impulse. One can readily point to the case of Ritchie Boy William R. Perl who outwitted Adolf Eichmann and saved an estimated 40,000 lives. I never calculated that there is such a thing as terror, fear. Jon Wertheim: What do you think is the greatest contribution of the Ritchie Boys? Message & data rates may apply. Its not just a story about Jewish emigres, Frey says, its also a story of what I would call marginal soldiers and their defense of this country.. Some of the prisoners were actual German POWs brought to Camp Ritchie so the Ritchie Boys could practice their interrogation techniques. Additional valuable information on the Ritchie Boys may be found in a forum-type Facebook page, Ritchie Boys of WWII, ably managed with considerable devotion by Bernie Lubran, son of Ritchie Boy Walter Lubran, and by Josh Freeling, whose great uncle was Ritchie Boy Kurt Kugelmann. Our country owes them an enormous debt of gratitude for their courage and sacrifices. 98-year-old Paul Fairbrook helped set up the German military documents section at Camp Ritchie a vast catalog of more than 20,000 captured German documents. Guy Stern, a Bronze Star Medal recipient who attended, said: "It was an emotional reunion, definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience. He added that the military chose intelligent people because they had to process a tremendous amount of information." Victor Brombert: Our interrogations - it had to do with tactical immediate concerns. And they were motivated like few other American soldiers. Guy Stern speaks at the opening of the Holocaust Memorial Centers Ritchie Boys exhibit and reunion at Farmington Hills, Mich., July 24, 2011. 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. He still works six days a week. Max Lerner: They have a tattoo of their blood group under their left arms. We worked harder than anyone could have driven us. Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Courtesy of the Holocaust Memorial Center, Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil, https://www.defense.gov/Explore/Spotlight/WWII/. Another was Private First Class Leonard C. Brostrom, a member of the Mormon faith, who was awarded the prestigious Medal of Honor posthumously for his heroic actions in the Battle of the Philippines. Most of the guys in basic training were Southerners who hated the Jewish boys from New York and busted our chops most of the time, George Sakheim, who had fled to the United States by way of Palestine, told POLITICO Magazine. The Ritchie Boys exhibit is at the Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills, Mich., July 24, 2011. 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. 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. You on one side and we on this side. We had to-- we got a lot of German prisoners who were willing to help us catalog all those documents. I don't think we're heroes. They were members of a secret group whose mastery of the German language and culture helped them provide battlefield intelligence that proved pivotal to the Allies' victory. Not just any Nazi party member. 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. And there's nothing that forges unity better than having a common enemy. "How many machine guns do you have there?" Web34K views 1 year ago. You sort of swing it around the neck from behind and then pull. By 1937, violence against Jews was escalating. Did it give you any satisfaction? Jon Wertheim: Do you remember saying goodbye to your family? By the spring of 1945, Allied forces neared Berlin and Hitler took his life in his underground bunker. In 1943, he was drafted into the Army and in 1944 landed in Normandy after D-day as a "Ritchie Boy." Guy Stern: We were walking along and you saw these emaciated, horribly looking, close to death people. How German-Jewish refugees who fled the Nazis gathered military intelligence in Europe for the U.S. By Brian Bethune David Frey: The purpose of the facility was to train interrogators. Jon Wertheim: What were you trained to do? The Ritchie Boys, some of whom landed on the beaches at Normandy, helped to interpret documents and gather intelligence, and conducted enemy warfare. WebThe Ritchie Boys were a secret unit of the US Army during the Second World War. In any major military conflict, there will likely be both individual heroes and groups of heroes. Divisions that liberated concentration camps included hundreds of Ritchie Boys, who interviewed survivors. All were convicted for their crimes and many were executed. Paul Fairbrook: They sent us back to Camp Ritchie and they created something that I call the equivalent of the Library of Congress. Longtime Yale and Princeton professor Victor Brombert helped enact the official Allied policy of removing Nazi influence from german public life known as denazification. 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. David Frey: Absolutely. Max Lerner: It gave me a great deal of satisfaction. Jon Wertheim: And you were able to confront the people that had caused this this trauma. Ritchie Boys were a military intelligence unit made up of mostly German, Austrian and Czech refugees and immigrants, many of whom were Jewish. Every day, Americas service members selflessly put their lives on the line to keep us safe and free. If a German POW wouldn't talk, he might face Guy Stern dressed up as a Russian officer. Jon Wertheim: I see a tent in the background of that photo right in front of you. And incredibly, they were responsible for most of the combat intelligence gathered on the Western Front. That is the key to being a good interrogator. Approximately 14%, or 2,200, of them David Frey: Because it involves military intelligence, much of it was actually kept secret until the - the 1990's. Washington, DC 20024-2126 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. You want to convince them that you're trustworthy. But joy turned to horror as Allied soldiers and the world learned the full scale of the Nazi mass extermination. Essentially they were intellectuals. WebOne can readily point to the case of Ritchie Boy William R. Perl who outwitted Adolf Eichmann and saved an estimated 40,000 lives. Victor Brombert: What happened to one of the Ritchie Boys - at night on the way to the latrine, he was asked for a password and he gave the name - the word for the password - but with a German accent. There were roughly 9000 of these Jews in America and they specialized in the interrogation of German prisoners. 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. Divisions that liberated concentration camps included hundreds of Ritchie Boys, who interviewed survivors. Salinger was a Ritchie Boy. 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. 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. This books publish date is Sep 01, 2021. 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. 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. Produced by Katherine Davis. David Frey: They were incredibly effective. Essentially they were intellectuals. Making such a distinction in this case is very difficult. David Frey: They made a massive contribution to essentially every battle that the Americans fought - the entire sets of battles on the Western Front. As members of the Ritchie Boys, German and Austrian refugees offered language skills and knowledge that proved vital to American military intelligence. The evidence was before us. Walter Midener, an attendee, was awarded the Silver Star. Victor Brombert was with the first American armored division to land on Omaha Beach. Individual Ritchie Boys were cited for their contributions by being awarded over 60 Silver Star Medals for bravery. At a time when the U.S. military urgently needed foreign language speakers, the Ritchie Boys offered a key resource. By providing your mobile phone number, you opt in to receive calls and texts from USO. St. Joseph Communications uses cookies for personalization, to customize its online advertisements, and for other purposes. Andrew Hollinger 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. WebTheir Unique History and Demographics. After the war, Guy Stern, Victor Brombert, Paul Fairbrook and Max Lerner came home, married, and went to Ivy League schools on the G.I. And that's what-- that's what it did for me. We hope you find the data, stories, and images here of interest. All SS members were subject to automatic arrest. And like so many war films it Jon Wertheim: Did the Ritchie Boys redefine what it means to be a soldier and contribute to a military? We were all on the same wavelength. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. 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. Giving out some cigarettes also helps a lot. 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 Fred Frommer is a historian and writer, and author of several books, including You Gotta Have Heart: Washington Baseball from Walter Johnson to the 2019 World Series Champion Nationals. These are people who made massive contributions. Salinger were among the camp gradsbut 2,000 German-language refugees, almost all Jewish, were the prize pupils. First published on January 2, 2022 / 6:52 PM. But Hildesheim was now in ruins. Salinger, author of the classic book "The Catcher in the Rye.". Many were German- and Austrian-born Jews who had fled Adolf Hitlers genocidal Nazi regimemaking them most determined enemies of the Third Reich. Max Lerner: There were no Nazis. They were heroes not necessarily or predominantly based on bravery but on their intelligence and deserving of the name Secret Heroes. Jon Wertheim: And you think because it had that signature, somehow that certified it. He grew up in a close-knit family in the town of Hildesheim, Germany. Jon Wertheim: That's how you looked at it. Then came the surprise transfer to secretive Camp Ritchie in backwoods Maryland, where his first sight was a platoon of soldiers marching byin full-dress Wehrmacht uniforms. The soldiers were sent for training to Jon Wertheim: As a former German who understood the psychology and the mentality. Jon Wertheim: Did you enjoy hunting Nazis? And I had no choice." K. Lang-Slattery, Katie Lang-Slattery. There were Ritchie Boys who were in virtually every battle that you can think of and some actually suffered the worst fate. The Ritchie Boys were members of a secret American intelligence unit that fought in World War II. Spy. Max Lerner recalls being put in charge of one prominent captured German prisoner at a jail in Weisbaden, Germany: that was Julius Streicher the founder and editor of the Nazi paper "Der Stuermer" and one of the country's leading antisemites. It was his service in the military during World War II. We are honored to recognize the unique role they played serving the United States and advancing our victory over Germany., Outgoing Museum Chairman Howard M. Lorber added, We selected the Ritchie Boys because of their remarkable actions and heroism in helping to end the war and the Holocaust. 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. "I would have been killed if I hadn't gone along. Martha Cesaro, a military spouse, shares what inspired her to start giving back to the military community through the USO. The 10 digit ISBN is 0811769968 and the 13 digit ISBN is 9780811769969. Many of the 15,200 selected were Jewish soldiers who fled Nazi-controlled Germany, which was systematically killing Jews. It was wonderful to be part of them. The knowledge that his adopted country would not let him fight their common enemy was bitterly frustrating. Guy Stern: I went to my father one day and I said, "classes are becoming a torture chamber". The Ritchie Boys earned a reputation for delivering important tactical information fast, making a major contribution to every battle on the Western Front. Now is it because they were afraid that the Nazis might come back, that it's not over? Victor Brombert: By complicity I mean, "Oh we are together in this war. After the German army's surrender, Guy Stern and the other Ritchie Boys took on a new assignment: hunting down top Nazi officers responsible for the atrocities that killed so many, including many of their loved ones. 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. By the spring of 1944, the Ritchie Boys were ready to return to Western Europe this time as naturalized Americans in American uniforms. Established by Hitler and led by Heinrich Himmler, the SS was responsible for security and intelligence collection in Germany. 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. Guy Stern: It was absolutely, we won kid. Jon Wertheim: What you describe, it almost sounds like these were precursors to CIA agents. Sometimes entire German towns were forced to pay respects to the dead. Jon Wertheim: Is that when you first realize I'm I'm in a war here? So little was known about the Ritchie Boys until the excellent documentary film The Ritchie Boys came upon the scene in 2004. The Ritchie Boys exhibit at the Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills, Mich., July 24, 2011. In 1944, the Ritchie Boys headed to Europe to fight in a war that was, for them, intensely personal. David Frey: I think they did. Actress. Victor Brombert: I remember being up on a cliff the first night over Omaha beach. When they landed on the beaches of Normandy, Wehrmacht troops were waiting for them well armed and well prepared. You're in Belgium? "I had no choice." Their job: to provide battlefield intelligence. 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. Jon Wertheim: Why did you want to enlist initially? 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.