But the opportunity to help fight and win the war was a wonderful way. Jon Wertheim: I understand there are some Ritchie Boys [that] became fairly prominent figures. And incredibly, they were responsible for most of the combat intelligence gathered on the Western Front. 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. Spy. Guy Stern speaks at the opening of the Holocaust Memorial Centers Ritchie Boys exhibit and reunion at Farmington Hills, Mich., July 24, 2011. 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. Jon Wertheim: SS men, you're saying, have a tattoo under their left arm with their blood type? How the Ritchie Boys, Secret Refugee Infiltrators, Took on the The Ritchie Boys - Introduction 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. It took dedicationthe course at Camp Ritchie required polishing the English needed to communicate with their own side, combat training and intensive study of the German armyas well as courage and the thick skins they had already developed. David Frey: They were in fact. (See Jon Wertheim: That's how you looked at it. For decades, they didn't discuss their work. Many had fled Nazi Germany but returned as American soldiers, deploying their knowledge of German language and culture to great advantage. David Frey: Right. After the war, Guy Stern and the other Ritchie Boys were celebrated for their achievements. I wanted, desperately, to do something. Ritchie Boys But within a few months the government realized these so-called enemy aliens could be a valuable resource in the war. Jon Wertheim: Was it your knowledge of the language or your knowledge of the psychology and the German culture? 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. 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 Ritchie Boys practiced street fighting in life-size replicas of German villages and questioned mock civilians in full scale German homes. II prisoner-of-war camps in One can readily point to the case of Ritchie Boy William R. Perl who outwitted Adolf Eichmann and saved an estimated 40,000 lives. The 10 digit ISBN is 0811769968 and the 13 digit ISBN is 9780811769969. David Frey: All in service of winning the war. Enter. 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. David Frey: Techniques where you want to get people to talk to you. 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. Jon Wertheim: You let him know you were Jewish? They fought with the American military in the lands they had recently escaped, helping to turn the course of the war. Guy Stern: I preferred not having it. USO Tour Veteran. 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. Jon Wertheim: Because you were Jewish you were ostracized? Divisions that liberated concentration camps included hundreds of Ritchie Boys, who interviewed survivors. 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. Many landed on the beaches of Normandy soon after D-Day. The Department of Defense provides the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation's security. Many had fled Nazi Germany but returned as American soldiers, deploying their knowledge of German language and culture to great advantage. A friendly approach - trying to be human. The Ritchie Boys were one of World War IIs greatest secret weapons for U.S. Army intelligence, said Stuart E. Eizenstat, shortly before becoming chairman of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2022, when the museum bestowed the Ritchie Boys with the Elie Wiesel Award, its highest honor. There were Ritchie Boys who were in virtually every battle that you can think of and some actually suffered the worst fate. January 2, 2022 / 6:52 PM Guy Stern: I had my whole uniform with medals, Russian medals. 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. July 20, 2017, Martin Selling questions German prisoners near the front in France, 1944. This was our kind of war. Jon Wertheim: As a former German who understood the psychology and the mentality. All had experienced harrowing escapes from Europe and dangerous but productive returns. and he said "no, military secret.". Making such a distinction in this case is very difficult. 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. Jon Wertheim: I imagine all of a sudden no one wants to admit to being a Nazi. Max Lerner: There were no Nazis. After Pearl Harbor brought America into the war, many of those sons were eager to return to Europe and find their families. "where are your reserve units?" You playacted. Jon Wertheim: I see a tent in the background of that photo right in front of you. Recruits were chosen based on their knowledge of European Language and culture, as well as their high IQs. Victor Brombert: My parents were pacifists so the idea of my going to war was for them calamitous, however they realized that it was a necessary war, especially for us. Ritchie Boys The Ritchie Boys consisted of approximately 15,200 servicemen who were trained for U.S. Army Intelligence during WWII. Jon Wertheim: Did the Ritchie Boys redefine what it means to be a soldier and contribute to a military? It is a story of a remarkable synergy between a diverse group of well trained and motivated individuals. Max Lerner recalls that in one respect at least, identifying most SS members was easy. It was not only that short term impact on the battlefield. To Allied investigators it became a sort of Nazi hunter's bible. Another bit of indispensable Ritchie Boy handiwork: the order of battle of the German army. 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.. In 2011, the Holocaust Memorial Center, in Farmington Hills, Michigan, hosted an exhibit of the Ritchie Boys' exploits. Wounded people. 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. African-American Ritchie Boy William Warfield Guy Stern: Thank you for asking. Guy Stern: I was a soldier doing my job and that precluded any concern that I was going back to a country I once was very attached to. The Ritchie Boys trained for war against these fake Germans with fake German tanks made out of wood. Jon Wertheim: All in service of winning the war? Contact. 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. They did counterintelligence training. The Ritchie Boys discovered that the Nazis were terrified of ending up in Russian captivity and they used that to great effect. How do you appeal to people in their own language? We now know that this perception needs to be broadened. 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.. Now 98, Fairbrook is the former dean of the Culinary Institute of America. Jon Wertheim: Give us a sense of the kinds of courses they took. We were crusaders.". Guy Stern: I think it was the continuous flow of reliable information that really helped expedite the end of the war. 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. Web34K views 1 year ago. It turns out that author J.D. Please take a moment to let our troops know how much we appreciate their service and sacrifice. As a Jew, I knew I might not be treated exactly by the Geneva rules. 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? I mean this is you're taking your life in your hands here. And that's why civilians could be useful and soldiers could be useful, "where is the minefield?" By the spring of 1944, the Ritchie Boys were ready to return to Western Europe this time as naturalized Americans in American uniforms. 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. Apart from the fighting, there were other threats confronting the Ritchie Boys. Some Ritchie Boys were recruited to go on secret missions during the war. The unit got its name from where they did their training, Camp Ritchie, Maryl Cast & Crew Read More Christian Bauer Director Jon Wertheim: You didn't want to be identified as Jewish going back to Western Europe. "How to kill a sentry from behind." You want to convince them that you're trustworthy. An official website of the United States Government. stories from a Nazi interrogator, now a Mill 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 Now is it because they were afraid that the Nazis might come back, that it's not over? Dead people. "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. The appearance of DoD visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement. 202.437.1221 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. 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. This was our kind of war. And like so many war films it And if you get up early enough, you might catch him working out at his local park in the suburbs of Detroit. According to the kind of unit, according to the kind of person we were interrogating. Andrew Hollinger It was Sunday, May 13, 1945, Henderson marvels. It was also in Europe that some of them, like Guy Stern, learned what had happened to the families they left behind. Max Lerner: Because I remembered my parents. I think that's quantifiable. I don't know. Ritchie Boys 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. Knowing how to shape that appeal was pretty critical to the success of the mobile broadcast units. Not all the boys were immigrantsfuture banker David Rockefeller and writer J.D. Never. 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. 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. This group became known as The Ritchie Boys, who were the basis of a documentary film of the same name. And I needed to get my own back. We worked harder than anyone could have driven us. You know a lot about them already. Max Lerner: It was my war. Jon Wertheim: This was one of the leaflets that was dropped out--. Jon Wertheim: This-- This is a remarkable story. Paul Fairbrook: Well, because it was an unusual part of the United States Army. And I gave myself the name Commissar Krukov. Jon Wertheim: Do you remember saying goodbye to your family? David Frey: The purpose of the facility was to train interrogators. 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. One of these was Staff Sergeant Stephen (Moose) Mosbacher who was awarded a Silver Star medal posthumously for gallantry beyond the call of duty. Because they would know this information. 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, Guy Stern, Victor Brombert, Paul Fairbrook and Max Lerner came home, married, and went to Ivy League schools on the G.I. Choose which Defense.gov products you want delivered to your inbox. Copyright 2023 Camp Ritchie Museum, Inc. David Frey: All in service of winning the war. Victor Brombert: And at great effort we found people, we arrested them, we were proud of doing that. And when their identity was discovered, they were summarily executed by the Germans that had captured them. He added that the military chose intelligent people because they had to process a tremendous amount of information." 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. Your average commander in the field might not. Guy Stern: I went to my father one day and I said, "classes are becoming a torture chamber". Making such a distinction in this case is very difficult. 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. David Frey: You had a whole load of immigrants who really wanted to get back into the fight. David Frey is a professor of history and director of the Center for Holocaust Studies at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. But joy turned to horror as Allied soldiers and the world learned the full scale of the Nazi mass extermination. If a German POW wouldn't talk, he might face Guy Stern dressed up as a Russian officer. 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. 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: I think we look at this group and we see true heroes. We worked harder than anyone could have driven us. 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? Victor Brombert: Yes of course. 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. We were briefed that the Germans were not going to welcome us greatly. The group also included large numbers of first- or second-generation Americans who still spoke German or other languages at home, Frey says. 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. 5 likes. We hope you find the data, stories, and images here of interest. WebTheir Unique History and Demographics. 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 story of Camp Ritchie and the men (and women) who came there is a story that needs to be broadcast more widely. 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. So I experienced viscerally, fear. Hundreds of Ritchie Boys were attached to divisions that liberated concentration camps and interviewed former prisoners to document the atrocities that took place. Individual Ritchie Boys were cited for their contributions by being awarded over 60 Silver Star Medals for bravery. 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. Of the approximately 19,000 Ritchie Boys who served during the war, about 200 are still living, ranging 95 107 years old. And arrived in the United States penniless. . The Ritchie Boys train at Camp Ritchie, Md., sometime during World War II. Ritchie Boy When the war was over, their German accents and unusual 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.