That is the key to being a good interrogator. Still, if they were captured, they knew what the Nazis would do to them. Among the unusual sights at Ritchie: a team of U.S. soldiers dressed in German uniforms. One can readily point to the case of Ritchie Boy, who outwitted Adolf Eichmann and saved an estimated 40,000 lives. and he said "no, military secret.". Max Lerner: Because I remembered my parents. 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, some of whom landed on the beaches at Normandy, helped to interpret documents and gather intelligence, and conducted enemy warfare. The SS controlled the German police forces and concentration camps and directed the so-called "Final Solution" to kill all European Jews. Some of these books, Frey says, were nearly 500 pages long by the end of the war. Jon Wertheim: That's how you looked at it. 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. WebOne can readily point to the case of Ritchie Boy William R. Perl who outwitted Adolf Eichmann and saved an estimated 40,000 lives. The USO relies on your support to help service members and their families. The case of Hans Habe 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. David Frey: It was a very broad range And they did it all generally in eight weeks. 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. (U.S. Army Signal Corps). 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.. David Frey: They were incredibly effective. 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Victor Brombert: We were supposed to arrest important Nazi officials. When Hitler took power in 1933, Stern says the climate grew increasingly hostile. One can readily point to the case of Ritchie Boy William R. Perl who outwitted Adolf Eichmann and saved an estimated 40,000 lives. Their mission: to use their knowledge of the German language and culture to return to Europe and fight Naziism. 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. Paul Fairbrook: I was proud to be in the American Army and we were able to do what we had to do. The Ritchie Boys were one of World War IIs greatest secret weapons for US Army intelligence, said incoming Museum Chairman Stuart E. Eizenstat. Jon Wertheim: How do you think we should be recalling the Ritchie Boys? Never. 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. All students of World War II need to learn about the the Ritchie Boys. Ritchie Boy Dr. Photo credit DoD/Holocaust Memorial Center, | I asked them to leave it off. I tell you when we landed on Omaha beach, there were-- the whole heights had been occupied by the German artillery and I looked up on those heights and there were our American soldiers in full occupation on the day D plus 3 and I said to myself, "that can't be done." 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. But within a few months the government realized these so-called enemy aliens could be a valuable resource in the war. ", Jon Wertheim: "Unprincipled and dishonorable and I'm sorry?". How do you appeal to people in their own language? 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. Eventually, Message & data rates may apply. He was born in Berlin to a Russian Jewish family. These are people who made massive contributions. A friendly approach - trying to be human. Jon Wertheim: Did you ever worry your accent might get you killed? And arrived in the United States penniless. Jon Wertheim: I imagine all of a sudden no one wants to admit to being a Nazi. Jon Wertheim: Give us a sense of the kinds of courses they took. 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. Guy Stern: Yes, doing my job interrogating. 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. Surviving soldiers were among the attendees. They spoke the same German as the Wehrmacht soldiers they were up against, they shared experiences, education and culture with them, explains Henderson. 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. And I needed to get my own back. Germany surrendered on May 8th of that year. They fought with the American military in the lands they had recently escaped, helping to turn the course of the war. Hed endured a lot already, including three brutal months in Dachau concentration camp after Kristallnacht in 1938, before finding haven in America. By providing your mobile phone number, you opt in to receive calls and texts from USO. Isn't it a miserable thing? David Frey: A lot of what was learned and the methods used are important to keep secret. It was here that over 19,000 Ritchie Boys, many of them German-Jewish immigrants from Europe 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. The Ritchie Boys exhibit at the Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills, Mich., July 24, 2011. 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 is a professor of history and director of the Center for Holocaust Studies at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. 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. Naturally, I turned to Dan Gross, the unofficial archivist for the Ritchie Boys. He grew up in a close-knit family in the town of Hildesheim, Germany. The danger from the German side, of course, was far higher. Guy Stern: I went to my father one day and I said, "classes are becoming a torture chamber". We strive for accuracy and fairness. And it was not until a few years ago that the son of Italian-Jewish Ritchie Boy. Max Lerner: Or they had an effort to erase it. It is a story of a remarkable synergy between a diverse group of well trained and motivated individuals. Eight Week Classes - Dates & Graduation Numbers. I don't know. And I gave myself the name Commissar Krukov. Victor Brombert: And at great effort we found people, we arrested them, we were proud of doing that. 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. So little was known about the Ritchie Boys until the excellent documentary film The Ritchie Boys came upon the scene in 2004. In 2011, the Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills, Michigan, hosted an exhibit of the Ritchie Boys exploits. Some of them requested new dog tags with very good reason. Jon Wertheim: I understand there are some Ritchie Boys [that] became fairly prominent figures. Originally a resort, Camp Ritchie was a curiously idyllic setting to prepare for the harshness and brutality of war. 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. He is still haunted by what he experienced that day. Jon Wertheim: What is it like when you get together and reflect on this experience going on 80 years ago? 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. Guy Stern: Well I think not (laugh) but I don't run as fast, I don't swim as fast but I feel happy with my tasks. Besides their language ability, these soldiers were familiar with the culture and thinking of enemy soldiers, which would aid them in their efforts. K. Lang-Slattery, Katie Lang-Slattery. Max Lerner: He spent several days in my jail. Contact. The Ritchie Boys trained for war against these fake Germans with fake German tanks made out of wood. We were all on the same wavelength. Salinger, author of the classic book "The Catcher in the Rye.". How German-Jewish refugees who fled the Nazis gathered military intelligence in Europe for the U.S. By Brian Bethune Even after the Pentagons change of heart about handing weapons to enemy aliens, suspicion of their bearing and accents remained widespread among regular American soldiers, sometimes reaching higher ranks. Individual Ritchie Boys were cited for their contributions by being awarded over 60 Silver Star Medals for bravery. 98-year-old Victor Brombert says they relied on their Camp Ritchie training to get people to open up. Guy Stern: And some we didn't break but 80% were so darned scared of the Russians and what they would do. One of the ways they identified subjects wanted for interrogation was by consulting a book - the Central Registry of War Criminals and Security Suspects which listed enemy nationals suspected of committing tens of thousands of war crimes in Europe everyone from low ranking members of the armed forces to top Nazi officials. It was Sunday, May 13, 1945, Henderson marvels. The unit got its name from where they did their training, Camp Ritchie, Maryl Cast & Crew Read More Christian Bauer Director History professor David Frey runs the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. The Ritchie Boys, a group of more than 19,000 refugees trained in Maryland to be U.S. intelligence specialists during World War II, are being honored in a Produced by Katherine Davis. It's 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, Stern said. They did counterintelligence training. 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. Jon Wertheim: Because you were Jewish you were ostracized? David Frey: There are a whole variety of prominent Ritchie Boys. You on one side and we on this side. Actress. He responded with just the information I needed. But after a year, he joined the U.S. Army and became one of the 20,000 Ritchie Boys, a special group of soldiers trained at Camp Ritchie (formerly a Maryland National Guard site) to serve in military intelligence during World War II. But the Sterns could only send one of their own to the U.S. 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. One of these was Staff Sergeant Stephen (Moose) Mosbacher who was awarded a Silver Star medal posthumously for gallantry beyond the call of duty. Beginning in September 1944, the United States military trained Japanese Americans at Camp Ritchie, and their language skills were also used in the war effort, this time against Japan. St. Joseph Communications uses cookies for personalization, to customize its online advertisements, and for other purposes. On June 6, 1944, D-Day the Allies launched one of the most sweeping military operations in history. We had to-- we got a lot of German prisoners who were willing to help us catalog all those documents. Ritchie Boy Wannabe Dan Gross and several invited guests joined the Ritchie Boys for the photo. The Allies liberated Paris in August and drove Nazi troops out of France. Many of the German and Austrian Jewish refugees reported to Camp Ritchie while still designated as "enemy aliens." David Frey: I think we look at this group and we see true heroes. In 2011, the Holocaust Memorial Center, in Farmington Hills, Michigan, hosted an exhibit of the Ritchie Boys' exploits. 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. Jon Wertheim: Is that when you first realize I'm I'm in a war here? Guy Stern: I preferred not having it. They knew the psychology and the Immigrants like Guy Stern. David Frey: The purpose of the facility was to train interrogators. What what did that entail? Martha Cesaro, a military spouse, shares what inspired her to start giving back to the military community through the USO. And I made sure he knew that it was a Jew who controlled him. They significantly helped the war effort and saved lives. According to the kind of unit, according to the kind of person we were interrogating. 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. Guy Stern: We always find another anecdote to tell. I thought, "I'm never going to do that," but I was shown how to do it. Tonight, we'll introduce you to members of a secret American intelligence unit who fought in World War II. 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. Victor Brombert: Yes, well with a stick. Guy Stern: We were on a PT boat taking off from Southampton. 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. A mighty onslaught of more than 160,000 men, 13,000 aircraft, and 5,000 vessels. 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. Apart from the fighting, there were other threats confronting the Ritchie Boys. Jon Wertheim: So this is you on the job. Fort Ritchie, as it later became known, closed in 1998. Mr. 202.437.1221 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. Andrew Hollinger Ritchie Boys Image by Sons and Soldiers. On a cold November morning in 1938, Herman watches in horror as his Jon Wertheim: How did you find out you were going to go to Camp Ritchie? The appearance of DoD visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement. And only in the early 2000's did we begin to see reunions of the Ritchie Boys. And that has been the driving force in my life. Max Lerner: It gave me a great deal of satisfaction. David Frey: I think they did. I don't think we're heroes. I was the only one to get out. This was because he could speak fluent German; and indeed many of the interrogators at Nuremberg were German or Austrian Jews who had emigrated to America before WWII and were known as the Ritchie Boys. At a time when the U.S. military urgently needed foreign language speakers, the Ritchie Boys offered a key resource. I'm denouncing this and I was forced to do it. 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. Knowing how to shape that appeal was pretty critical to the success of the mobile broadcast units. David Frey: Some became ambassadors. The Ritchie Boys discovered that the Nazis were terrified of ending up in Russian captivity and they used that to great effect. 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. Enter. When the war was over, their German accents and unusual Victor Brombert: By complicity I mean, "Oh we are together in this war. Spy. "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. Guy Stern speaks at the opening of the Holocaust Memorial Centers Ritchie Boys exhibit and reunion at Farmington Hills, Michigan in 2011. ahollinger@ushmm.org. Fred is a former longtime Associated Press journalist, where he worked as a reporter and editor. Of the approximately 19,000 Ritchie Boys who served during the war, about 200 are still living, ranging 95 107 years old. -This story was originally published on defense.gov. Wounded people. 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW Now 98, Fairbrook is the former dean of the Culinary Institute of America. In 1943, he was drafted into the Army and in 1944 landed in Normandy after D-day as a "Ritchie Boy." Some of the prisoners were actual German POWs brought to Camp Ritchie so the Ritchie Boys could practice their interrogation techniques. Jon Wertheim: And you think because it had that signature, somehow that certified it. They chose their eldest son. Jon Wertheim: So there's all sorts of impact years and years and years after the war from this this camp in Maryland? Paul Fairbrook: Oh that is a very good question. All the while, they tracked down evidence and interrogated Nazi criminals, later tried at Nuremberg. Some faced antisemitism from their fellow soldiers. Among them were the Ritchie Boys, some 15,200 men who attended the Military Intelligence Training Center at Camp Ritchie, Md. 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. And I had no choice." Following the war, some of the Ritchie Boys were used as interrogators during the Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals. It was wonderful to see these people again. 70 ratings17 reviews. It turns out that author J.D. Jon Wertheim: What were you trained to do? Many of them were Jewish refugees from Europe, who fled their homeland, came to America and joined the U.S. Army. Some Ritchie Boys were recruited to go on secret missions during the war. Guy Stern, a Bronze Star Medal recipient who attended, said: "It was an emotional reunion, definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience. This was our kind of war. Jon Wertheim: This was really a broad range of intelligence activities. Guy Stern: I was called to the company office and told you're shipping out. 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.. 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. Many of the 15,200 selected were Jewish soldiers who fled Nazi-controlled Germany, which was systematically killing Jews. 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. 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. Singer. Guy Stern, a Bronze Star Medal recipient who attended, said: Ritchie Boy Dr. Although Ritchie Boy. Please take a moment to let our troops know how much we appreciate their service and sacrifice. Jon Wertheim: Why were the Ritchie Boys so successful? ", Dr. Following the war, some of the Ritchie Boys were interrogators during the Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals. 4.39. 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. 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. 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. Eager to fight the Nazis, he, too joined the Army. Individual Ritchie Boys were cited for their contributions by being awarded over 60 Silver Star Medals for bravery. Victor Brombert: There were long and demanding exercises and close combat training. Jon Wertheim: And you're saying that some of that originated at Camp Ritchie? 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. Guy Stern: It was absolutely, we won kid. Jon Wertheim: So there's a real element of - costumes and deception and accents. 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. WebMany of them, like Brombert, were Jewish. My father was 49 years old and-- and my mother was 48 and they left everything they had built up behind. Jon Wertheim: I understand you you had sparring partners. To Allied investigators it became a sort of Nazi hunter's bible. There were 1,985 German born Ritchie Boys. 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.
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