Please take a moment to let our troops know how much we appreciate their service and sacrifice. 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. 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. Max Lerner: Wear civilian clothes, pass messages, kill. But ask him about his most formative experience - and he doesn't hesitate. They significantly helped the war effort and saved lives. We worked harder than anyone could have driven us. We were all on the same wavelength. I mean this is you're taking your life in your hands here. 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. Jon Wertheim: What do you think is the greatest contribution of the Ritchie Boys? You know where the strong points are, and you know you what to avoid and what to attack. They were all forced to do it. 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? Web"The Ritchie Boys" is the untold story of a group of young men who fled Nazi Germany and returned to Europe as soldiers in US-uniforms. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Ritchie Boy Text STOP to opt out, HELP for help. 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. A website by Dan Gross and Ritchie History Museum. Jon Wertheim: You let him know you were Jewish? Guy Stern: None of my family survived. Guy Stern: We were on a PT boat taking off from Southampton. The USO is a not-for-profit organization and not part of the Department of Defense (DoD). Wounded people. Victor Brombert was with the first American armored division to land on Omaha Beach. You playacted. Divisions that liberated concentration camps included hundreds of Ritchie Boys, who interviewed survivors. Following the war, some of the Ritchie Boys were interrogators during the Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals. This was our kind of war. 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. Victor Brombert: And at great effort we found people, we arrested them, we were proud of doing that. Many of these soldiers landed at Normandy, France, on D-Day, June 6, 1944, and others followed to perform their specialized tasks, which provided advanced intelligence to allied forces regarding German war plans and tactics. 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Be the first to learn about news, service member stories and fundraising updates from USO. The very aspect of these SOBs now being at my command (laugh) gave me also some personal satisfaction. And incredibly, they were responsible for most of the combat intelligence gathered on the Western Front. David Frey: If we take Camp Ritchie in microcosm, it was almost the ideal of an American melting pot. History professor David Frey runs the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. According to the Holocaust Museum, two Jewish Early on in World War II, 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. 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. Eventually, The Ritchie Boys to Receive Museums 2022 Elie Wiesel Paul Fairbrook: I was proud to be in the American Army and we were able to do what we had to do. And arrived in the United States penniless. It was an impact on war crimes. Guy Stern: I had a war to fight and I did it. In trucks equipped with loudspeakers, Ritchie Boys went to the front lines under heavy fire, and tried, in German, to persuade their Nazi counterparts to surrender. 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. You want to give them that feeling that you know who they are, they know who you are. 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. By Julia M. Klein August 26, 2017. 4.39. David Frey: They made a massive contribution to essentially every battle that the Americans fought - the entire sets of battles on the Western Front. One of these was. Max Lerner was assigned to interivew German civilians to help gauge the degree to which they had served the Nazi cause and determine which ones should be punished. 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. Ritchie Boys were heroes who used their innate skills to gather information from all sources Guy Stern: Yes, that's my interrogation tent. Elie Wiesel, the Museums founding chairman, was the first recipient of the award, which was subsequently named in his honor. And I needed to get my own back. My father was 49 years old and-- and my mother was 48 and they left everything they had built up behind. 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.. Ritchie To Allied investigators it became a sort of Nazi hunter's bible. There were Ritchie Boys who were in virtually every battle that you can think of and some actually suffered the worst fate. The intent of this web page, in addition to providing demographics and statistics not available elsewhere, will be to highlight individual secret heroes whose contributions were also singularly significant. 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. Naturally, I turned to Dan Gross, the unofficial archivist for the Ritchie Boys. WebThe surviving Ritchie Boys are in their eighties now. He added that the military chose intelligent people because they had to process a tremendous amount of information." Some of the prisoners were actual German POWs brought to Camp Ritchie so the Ritchie Boys could practice their interrogation techniques. Eager to fight the Nazis, he, too joined the Army. 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. 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. And there's nothing that forges unity better than having a common enemy. But there were the odd grace notes among the wreckage of a continent. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941, Stern, by then a college student, raced to enlist. 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. Their mission: to use their knowledge of the German language and culture to return to Europe and fight Naziism. Besides their language ability, these soldiers were familiar with the culture and thinking of enemy soldiers, which would aid them in their efforts. David Frey: This is where the having an intelligence officer from Camp Ritchie was of critical importance. St. Joseph Communications uses cookies for personalization, to customize its online advertisements, and for other purposes. The Department of Defense provides the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation's security. 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. It was wonderful to see these people again. 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. Another bit of indispensable Ritchie Boy handiwork: the order of battle of the German army. Little did he know he was whining to a Jewish refugee from Nazi-controlled Austria - a refugee who was now a Ritchie Boy, one of the most valuable interrogation units in the Allied forces. I don't know. The Ritchie Boys were members of a secret American intelligence unit that fought in World War II. The Ritchie Boys practiced street fighting in life-size replicas of German villages and questioned mock civilians in full scale German homes. Untold story of the Ritchie Boys - edmondlifeandleisure.com Ritchie Boys Guy Stern: We were walking along and you saw these emaciated, horribly looking, close to death people. 5 likes. When Hitler came to power, the Bromberts fled to France, and then to the U.S. The Ritchie Boys consisted of approximately 15,200 servicemen who were trained for U.S. Army Intelligence during WWII. Still, if they were captured, they knew what the Nazis would do to them. 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. Long-overdue Recognition Comes to the Ritchie Boys. We see those who are the greatest of the greatest generation. Now in their late 90s, these humble warriors still keep in touch, swapping stories about a chapter in American history now finally being told. We believe it will also recognize the value of a group as large as 20,000. Making such a distinction in this case is very difficult. David Frey: The purpose of the facility was to train interrogators. They chose their eldest son. 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.. Ritchie Boys of WWII - YouTube He was born in Berlin to a Russian Jewish family. 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. (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. Isn't it a miserable thing? All SS members were subject to automatic arrest. 70 ratings17 reviews. This particular edition is in a Hardcover format. 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW Max Lerner: There were no Nazis. The case of, stands out in my mind as the essence of the reason why the Ritchie Boys were able to use their intelligence (and motivation) to make an enormous difference. told the story of his fathers motivation and bravery in the book Unavoidable Hope. 98-year-old Victor Brombert says they relied on their Camp Ritchie training to get people to open up. By 1937, violence against Jews was escalating. Individual Ritchie Boys were cited for their contributions by being awarded over 60 Silver Star Medals for bravery. Mr. Dozens of Ritchie Boys worked at the Nuremberg Trials as prosecutors, interrogators and translators. 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. Victor Brombert: Our interrogations - it had to do with tactical immediate concerns. David Frey: Right. Facing significant intelligence deficiencies, in April 1942, the US Army activated a plan to convert Fort Ritchie, a Maryland National Guard Camp, into an intelligence training center. 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). Director, Communications A nonpartisan, federal educational institution, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is Americas national memorial to the victims of the Holocaust dedicated to ensuring the permanence of Holocaust memory, understanding, and relevance. Jon Wertheim: I see a tent in the background of that photo right in front of you. Jon Wertheim: Did you worry what might happen if you were captured? They did counterintelligence training. The award will be presented this spring. How the Ritchie Boys, Secret Refugee Infiltrators, Took on the 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. 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. Following the war, some of the Ritchie Boys were used as interrogators during the Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals. HistoryNet And like so many war films it It has been edited for USO.org. The Ritchie Boys Jon Wertheim: Was it your knowledge of the language or your knowledge of the psychology and the German culture? Paul Fairbrook: (laugh) You bet your life I'm proud of the Ritchie Boys. Eight Week Classes - Dates & Graduation Numbers. Guy Stern: I preferred not having it. You on one side and we on this side. Making such a distinction in this case is very difficult. At a time when the U.S. military urgently needed foreign language speakers, the Ritchie Boys offered a key resource. The USO relies on your support to help service members and their families. Victor Brombert: I saw immense debris. Web34K views 1 year ago. TTY: 202.488.0406, Guidelines for Teaching About the Holocaust, The Presidents Commission on the Holocaust, United States Holocaust Memorial Council (Board of Trustees), Holocaust Survivors and Victims Resource Center. Jon Wertheim: Why were the Ritchie Boys so successful? Salinger were among the camp gradsbut 2,000 German-language refugees, almost all Jewish, were the prize pupils. 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. Giving out some cigarettes also helps a lot. I know all about you. 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. Victor Brombert: It was very, very hard, very difficult and very rare to have a German denounce another German at that point. This books publish date is Sep 01, 2021. 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. 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. Longtime Yale and Princeton professor Victor Brombert helped enact the official Allied policy of removing Nazi influence from german public life known as denazification. I think that's quantifiable. One can also point to a Ritchie Boy A few years ago, says the Menlo Park, Calif., author of Sons and Soldiers, I was reading an obit in the paper about a local man, a ninetysomething Jewish guy who had left Germany on the Kindertransporthis parents didnt survivemade it to America and become a Ritchie Boy. A what? David Frey: A lot of what was learned and the methods used are important to keep secret. By providing your mobile phone number, you opt in to receive calls and texts from USO. Andrew Hollinger Ritchie Boys After the war, the Ritchie Boys continued their work. Max Lerner recalls that in one respect at least, identifying most SS members was easy. Not all the boys were immigrantsfuture banker David Rockefeller and writer J.D. Among the unusual sights at Ritchie: a team of U.S. soldiers dressed in German uniforms. 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. 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. 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. And there's nothing that I wanted more is to get some revenge on Hitler who killed my uncles, and my aunts and my cousins and there was no question in my mind, and neither of all the men in Camp Ritchie. David Frey: You had a whole load of immigrants who really wanted to get back into the fight. Ritchie Boys were a military intelligence unit made up of mostly German, Austrian and Czech refugees and immigrants, many of whom were Jewish. 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. Broadcast associate, Elizabeth Germino. Jon Wertheim: What is it like when you get together and reflect on this experience going on 80 years ago? By the summer of 1944, German troops in Normandy were outnumbered and overpowered. 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. We worked harder than anyone could have driven us. Many of the 15,200 selected were Jewish soldiers who fled Nazi-controlled Germany, which was systematically killing Jews. Many of the 15,200 selected were Jewish soldiers who fled Nazi-controlled Germany, which was systematically killing Jews. Please enter valid email address to continue. You sort of swing it around the neck from behind and then pull. Jon Wertheim: How did you find out you were going to go to Camp Ritchie? Jon Wertheim: So physical combat training as well as intelligence? The Ritchie Boys | The Story Max Lerner: Or they had an effort to erase it. 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 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. The Ritchie Boys, as they were known, trained in espionage and frontline interrogation. 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. Singer. Who helped shape what it meant to be American and who in some cases gave their lives in service to this country. It was published by Stackpole Books and has a total of 432 pages in the book. Most chose the eldest son, to carry on the family name. WASHINGTON The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum will confer its highest honor, the Elie Wiesel Award, on the Ritchie Boys, a little-known special World War II US military intelligence unit that included many Jewish refugees from Nazism and was instrumental to the Allied victory. Approximately 20,000 menmany of whom were immigrants and refugees from more than 70 countries, including 2,800 German and Austrian refugees who fled Apart from the fighting, there were other threats confronting the Ritchie Boys. Jon Wertheim: Is that when you first realize I'm I'm in a war here? and if you don't get it from one prisoner, you might get it from the other. Jon Wertheim: This-- This is a remarkable story. Guy Stern speaks at the opening of the Holocaust Memorial Centers Ritchie Boys exhibit and reunion at Farmington Hills, Mich., July 24, 2011. Victor Brombert, now 98 years old, is a former professor of romance languages and literature at Yale and then Princeton. Photo credit DoD/Holocaust Memorial Center, | The knowledge that his adopted country would not let him fight their common enemy was bitterly frustrating. And if you get up early enough, you might catch him working out at his local park in the suburbs of Detroit.
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