Of the nearly 20,000 Ritchie Boys who served in WWII, around 140 were killed in action, including at the costly 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. The Ritchie Boys exhibit is at the Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills, Mich., July 24, 2011. Guy Stern: The Bronze Star was given to me right at the end of hostilities. Im a military history writer and Id never heard of them.. Ritchie Boys of That was the biggest weakness that the army recognized that it had, which was battlefield intelligence and the interrogation needed to talk to sometimes civilians, most of the time prisoners of war, in order to glean information from them. David Frey: I think we look at this group and we see true heroes. Main telephone: 202.488.0400 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. Enter. Still, if they were captured, they knew what the Nazis would do to them. An official website of the United States Government. Background. Paul Fairbrook: You can learn to shoot a rifle in six months but you can't learn fluent German in six months. Because Eisenhower had signed it and the Germans had an incredibly nave approach to everything that was signed and sealed. Paul Fairbrook: They sent us back to Camp Ritchie and they created something that I call the equivalent of the Library of Congress. 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.. After the war, Frey says, a survey of battalion commanders concluded that intelligence gathered by graduates of Camp Ritchie was responsible for at least 60 percent of actionable intelligence for the Western Front Theater.. 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. His mother answered the door. Jon Wertheim: That's the kind of thing you would know. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941, Stern, by then a college student, raced to enlist. The USO is a not-for-profit organization and not part of the Department of Defense (DoD). But Hitler was determined to continue the war. And we all were scared. They never met for reunions, they did not join veteran associations. Gross wrote to me saying, My Victor Brombert: I remember being up on a cliff the first night over Omaha beach. Some of the prisoners were actual German POWs brought to Camp Ritchie so the Ritchie Boys could practice their interrogation techniques. Some of them were very involved with the collection of information that became the basis of the trials at Nuremberg and subsequent war crimes trials, Frey said. So many of them were Jewish. I don't know. Guy Stern: I had an immediate visceral response to that and that was this is my war for many reasons. The largest set of graduates were 2,000 German-born Jews. It is a story of a remarkable synergy between a diverse group of well trained and motivated individuals. Guy Stern: We were on a PT boat taking off from Southampton. Guy Stern: I had my whole uniform with medals, Russian medals. Just two weeks shy of turning 100, Guy Stern drips with vitality. In August 2021, the bipartisan US Senate Resolution 349 officially recognized the bravery of those troops. Among them were the Ritchie Boys, some 15,200 men who attended the Military Intelligence Training Center at Camp Ritchie, Md. Many of them were Jewish refugees from Europe, who fled their homeland, came to America and joined the U.S. Army. We were delighted to get a chance to do something for the United States. Jon Wertheim: Why were the Ritchie Boys so successful? 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. David Frey: The purpose of the facility was to train interrogators. Because they served in so many different capacities. The SS controlled the German police forces and concentration camps and directed the so-called "Final Solution" to kill all European Jews. In the Ardennes region of Belgium, the Germans mounted a massive counteroffensive, which became known as the Battle of the Bulge. Jon Wertheim: So in May of 1945, Germany surrenders, and you're assigned to the denazification process. Guy Stern: We were walking along and you saw these emaciated, horribly looking, close to death people. At the time though, the military wouldn't take volunteers who weren't born in the U.S. Surviving soldiers were among the attendees. 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. 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. And we were strafed and I said to myself, uh, "now, it's the end' because I could you could feel the machine gun bullets. For decades, they didn't discuss their work. Produced by Katherine Davis. 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. Longtime Yale and Princeton professor Victor Brombert helped enact the official Allied policy of removing Nazi influence from german public life known as denazification. One of these was Staff Sergeant Stephen (Moose) Mosbacher who was awarded a Silver Star medal posthumously for gallantry beyond the call of duty. 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. David Frey is a professor of history and director of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. 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. Jon Wertheim: I see a tent in the background of that photo right in front of you. The USO relies on your support to help service members and their families. By the spring of 1944, the Ritchie Boys were ready to return to Western Europe this time as naturalized Americans in American uniforms. 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. Those were the heroes. After Pearl Harbor brought America into the war, many of those sons were eager to return to Europe and find their families. We strive for accuracy and fairness. Germany surrendered on May 8th of that year. This group became known as The Ritchie Boys, who were the basis of a documentary film of the same name. History professor David Frey runs the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. All SS members were subject to automatic arrest. Paul Fairbrook: (laugh) You bet your life I'm proud of the Ritchie Boys. 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. David Frey: Part of what the Ritchie Boys did was to convince German units to surrender without fighting. 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. Be the first to learn about news, service member stories and fundraising updates from USO. 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW Many of the Ritchie Boys went on to have successful civilian careers, including J.D. After Germany's surrender, the Ritchie Boys took on the difficult task of identifying and tracking down Nazi criminals. Guy Stern: I was called to the company office and told you're shipping out. And incredibly, they were responsible for most of the combat intelligence gathered on the Western Front. Walter Midener, an attendee, was awarded the Silver Star. Ritchie Boys Image by Sons and Soldiers. Max Lerner: Because I remembered my parents. Not just any Nazi party member. 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. 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. 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. Walter Midener, an attendee, was awarded the Silver Star. David Frey: All in service of winning the war. Many of the German and Austrian Jewish refugees reported to Camp Ritchie while still designated as "enemy aliens." The award will be presented this spring. Victor Brombert was with the first American armored division to land on Omaha Beach. 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Jewish soldiers were in great danger if captured, and two were captured and executed due to being identified by their captors as German-born Jews. It turns out that author J.D. I can't recommend this book enough! This is the good conduct medal which I'm not really entitled to (laugh) and this here is the European theatre of operations medal with five battles in which I participated. Jon Wertheim: This was one of the leaflets that was dropped out--. Victor Brombert: We improvised according to the situation. How do you appeal to people in their own language? David Frey: They were incredibly effective. Dead people. Guy Stern, a Bronze Star Medal recipient who attended, said: "It was an emotional reunion, definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience. One can readily point to the case of Ritchie Boy, who outwitted Adolf Eichmann and saved an estimated 40,000 lives. Mr. Mothers Day.. In 1944, the Ritchie Boys headed to Europe to fight in a war that was, for them, intensely personal. By providing your mobile phone number, you opt in to receive calls and texts from USO. Individual Ritchie Boys were cited for their contributions by being awarded over 60 Silver Star Medals for bravery. What was that like? Following the war, some of the Ritchie Boys were used as interrogators during the Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals. One can readily point to the case of Ritchie Boy William R. Perl who outwitted Adolf Eichmann and saved an estimated 40,000 lives. After the war, Guy Stern and the other Ritchie Boys were celebrated for their achievements. I know all about you. The Department of Defense provides the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation's security. Victor Brombert: There were long and demanding exercises and close combat training. I was the only one to get out. 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. What what did that entail? Approximately 14%, or 2,200, of them I asked them to leave it off. WebThe surviving Ritchie Boys are in their eighties now. Jon Wertheim: Did the Ritchie Boys redefine what it means to be a soldier and contribute to a military? 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. Martin Selling, 24, was undergoing training as a U.S. Army medical orderly in February 1943 and chafing under a Pentagon policy that kept hima Jewish refugee from Germany and hence an enemy alienaway from any combat unit. Dan Gross and several invited guests joined the Ritchie Boys for the photo. 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. And there's nothing that forges unity better than having a common enemy.This is Guy Stern 80 years ago. A friendly approach - trying to be human. Victor Brombert: By complicity I mean, "Oh we are together in this war. Washington, DC 20024-2126 Now in their late 90s, these humble warriors still keep in touch, swapping stories about a chapter in American history now finally being told. Many Ritchie Boys took the precaution of anglicizing their names and altering their dog tags by replacing the H for Hebrewa guide to their burial service should the worst happenwith P for Protestant. But ask him about his most formative experience - and he doesn't hesitate. 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. After the war, a number served as translators and interrogatorsespecially during the Nuremberg Trials.