Many of the 15,200 selected were Jewish soldiers who fled Nazi-controlled Germany, which was systematically killing Jews. 98-year-old Victor Brombert says they relied on their Camp Ritchie training to get people to open up. "I had no choice." Jon Wertheim: So this is you on the job. Jon Wertheim: Did you ever worry your accent might get you killed? Jon Wertheim: This was really a broad range of intelligence activities. 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. 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. I was the only one to get out. 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. 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? Many of the 15,200 selected were Jewish soldiers who fled Nazi-controlled Germany, which was systematically killing Jews. One of these was Staff Sergeant Stephen (Moose) Mosbacher who was awarded a Silver Star medal posthumously for gallantry beyond the call of duty. That was the mantra. All were convicted for their crimes and many were executed. We were all on the same wavelength. All Rights Reserved. Jon Wertheim: Did you ever ask yourself why me? Some of the prisoners were actual German POWs brought to Camp Ritchie so the Ritchie Boys could practice their interrogation techniques. It was Sunday, May 13, 1945, Henderson marvels. Jon Wertheim: So there's all sorts of impact years and years and years after the war from this this camp in Maryland? (See 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. 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. The U.S. Army had evidently decided that Martin Selling was a useful asset after all. The soldiers were sent for training to And they were motivated like few other American soldiers. Jon Wertheim: Because you were Jewish you were ostracized? Not just any Nazi party member. The Ritchie Boys exhibit at the Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills, Mich., July 24, 2011. And they were impressed with that. Nearly 2,000 German-born Jews were trained at Camp Ritchie to interrogate captured German soldiers. Many had fled Nazi Germany but returned as American soldiers, deploying their knowledge of German language and culture to great advantage. In New York, Paul Fairbrook, had a similar impulse. It was his service in the military during World War II. Hundreds of Ritchie Boys were attached to divisions that liberated concentration camps and interviewed former prisoners to document the atrocities that took place. Victor Brombert: The shared experience, exactly. Jon Wertheim: What do you remember from that? Im a military history writer and Id never heard of them.. You on one side and we on this side. Jon Wertheim: And you were able to confront the people that had caused this this trauma. David Frey: The purpose of the facility was to train interrogators. 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. David Frey: I think they did. They significantly helped the war effort and saved lives.. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. The evidence was before us. Surviving soldiers were among the attendees. Copyright 2023 Camp Ritchie Museum, Inc. Jon Wertheim: That's how you looked at it. As Nazi persecution of Jews intensified in the late 1930s, desperate families often found they could get only a single child out of Germany via the efforts of Jewish relief agencies. And there's nothing that forges unity better than having a common enemy. There were Ritchie Boys who were in POW camps embedded and gathering information in the United States. Making such a distinction in this case is very difficult. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. 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: "Unprincipled and dishonorable and I'm sorry?". Victor Brombert: Our interrogations - it had to do with tactical immediate concerns. Making such a distinction in this case is very difficult. You know a lot about them already. A friendly approach - trying to be human. 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). Not all the boys were immigrantsfuture banker David Rockefeller and writer J.D. After recruiters found out he spoke four languages, they dispatched him to Camp Ritchie, where strenuous classroom instruction was coupled with strenuous field exercises. After following in his familys footsteps and serving in the military, Air Force veteran Lyle Apo turned to USO Hawaii for the opportunity to volunteer and help current service members. What was that like? A contribution made by a single individual, especially if one or more lives are saved, is generally recognized as truly heroic. In civilian life, he became a noted sculpture and fine arts teacher and rose to the presidency for the Center for Creative Studies at Detroits College of Art and Design. So many of them were Jewish. / CBS News. The Ritchie Boys were members of a secret American intelligence unit that fought in World War II. Jon Wertheim: How did you find out you were going to go to Camp Ritchie? They all rose to the top of their fields, as did a number of other Ritchie Boys. In 2011, the Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills, Michigan, hosted an exhibit of the Ritchie Boys exploits. Many of them were Jewish refugees from Europe, who fled their homeland, came to America and joined the U.S. Army. Jon Wertheim: This dog tag says Hebrew. 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. Their subjects ranged from low-level German soldiers to high-ranking Nazi officers including Hans Goebbels, brother of Hitler's chief propogandist, Joseph Goebbels. Germany surrendered on May 8th of that year. Their job: to provide battlefield intelligence. David Frey: Techniques where you want to get people to talk to you. Although Ritchie Boy Private Henry Kolm did not have the opportunity to serve overseas, he was able to make a significant contribution as an interrogator at Fort Hunt and as the principal facilitator in the integration of German Paperclip scientists and engineers such as Wernher von Braun into our society. By the spring of 1945, Allied forces neared Berlin and Hitler took his life in his underground bunker. How German-Jewish refugees who fled the Nazis gathered military intelligence in Europe for the U.S. By Brian Bethune Immigrants like Guy Stern. 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. He was born in Berlin to a Russian Jewish family. You want to give them that feeling that you know who they are, they know who you are. And notably, professor Frey says, more than 250 Ritchie Boys continued to work in the field of intelligence after the war, becoming professional spies. Victor Brombert: Yes, I realized that I was afraid. This little-known part of American history deserves national acknowledgement. By the summer of 1944, German troops in Normandy were outnumbered and overpowered. In 1944, the Ritchie Boys headed to Europe to fight in a war that was, for them, intensely personal. For decades, they didn't discuss their work. Fort Ritchie, as it later became known, closed in 1998. Please take a moment to let our troops know how much we appreciate their service and sacrifice. What did work Is complicity. Victor Brombert: One had to playact with some of the people were acting as prisoners and some of them were real prisoners. Apart from the fighting, there were other threats confronting the Ritchie Boys. The Ritchie Boys, some of whom landed on the beaches at Normandy, helped to interpret documents and gather intelligence, and conducted enemy warfare. They were heroes not necessarily or predominantly based on bravery but on their intelligence and deserving of the name Secret Heroes. Victor Brombert: Yes, well with a stick. Actress. David Frey: Because it involves military intelligence, much of it was actually kept secret until the - the 1990's. Guy Stern: This one was our most effective leaflet and why was that? Jon Wertheim: This was one of the leaflets that was dropped out--. They then typed up their daily reports in the field to be passed up the chain of command. Jon Wertheim: What you describe, it almost sounds like these were precursors to CIA agents. On a cold November morning in 1938, Herman watches in horror as his David Frey: Many of those who trained at Camp Ritchie actually did go on to the OSS the precursor to the CIA, That meant that the people who learned their craft at Camp Ritchie played a significant role in setting up what eventually became the CIA. Max Lerner: You know how to tell an SS man? 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. 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. This was our kind of war. Recruits were chosen based on their knowledge of European Language and culture, as well as their high IQs. We were briefed that the Germans were not going to welcome us greatly. "How many machine guns do you have there?" 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.. Jon Wertheim: So there's a real element of - costumes and deception and accents. The Ritchie Boys exhibit is at the Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills, Mich., July 24, 2011. Jon Wertheim: That's the kind of thing you would know. Jon Wertheim: As a former German who understood the psychology and the mentality. Personal, of course, but also this country - I was really treated well. Besides their language ability, these soldiers were familiar with the culture and thinking of enemy soldiers, which would aid them in their efforts. Through the power of Holocaust history, the Museum challenges leaders and individuals worldwide to think critically about their role in society and to confront antisemitism and other forms of hate, prevent genocide, and promote human dignity. Guy Stern: I had my whole uniform with medals, Russian medals. told the story of his fathers motivation and bravery in the book Unavoidable Hope. Wounded people. Longtime Yale and Princeton professor Victor Brombert helped enact the official Allied policy of removing Nazi influence from german public life known as denazification. The Ritchie Boys practiced street fighting in life-size replicas of German villages and questioned mock civilians in full scale German homes. One can readily point to the case of Ritchie Boy, who outwitted Adolf Eichmann and saved an estimated 40,000 lives. Sometimes entire German towns were forced to pay respects to the dead. I'm denouncing this and I was forced to do it. Jon Wertheim: I see a tent in the background of that photo right in front of you. Still, if they were captured, they knew what the Nazis would do to them. Martha Cesaro, a military spouse, shares what inspired her to start giving back to the military community through the USO. Paul Fairbrook: Look I'm a German Jew. But there were the odd grace notes among the wreckage of a continent. Approximately 20,000 menmany of whom were immigrants and refugees from more than 70 countries, including 2,800 German and Austrian refugees who fled So whatever information they're giving you is information that you probably already know. very important because you save life if you know where the mine "where is the machine gun nest?" What could be more appropriate than to honor them with an award bearing the name of Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel.. 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: 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 Department of Defense provides the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation's security. Nina Wolff Feld told her fathers story in Someday You Will Understand: My Fathers Private World War 2. Background. Did it give you any satisfaction? 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. Max Lerner recalls that in one respect at least, identifying most SS members was easy. 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. 70 ratings17 reviews. Fort Ritchie, as it later became known, closed in 1998. Victor Brombert: By complicity I mean, "Oh we are together in this war. Paul Fairbrook: Well, because it was an unusual part of the United States Army. 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. Others were actually really important in American science. "where are your reserve units?" Because they served in so many different capacities. 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. Jon Wertheim: This had a real material impact on World War II. Jon Wertheim: Was it your knowledge of the language or your knowledge of the psychology and the German culture? 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. It was not only that short term impact on the battlefield. Washington, DC 20024-2126 Victor Brombert: It was very, very hard, very difficult and very rare to have a German denounce another German at that point. He was shot right away and killed. It was published by Stackpole Books and has a total of 432 pages in the book. One can also point to a Ritchie Boy Guy Stern: Yes, doing my job interrogating. By providing your mobile phone number, you opt in to receive calls and texts from USO. Camp Ritchie served the Maryland National Guard until 1942. But ask him about his most formative experience - and he doesn't hesitate. 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. But at wars end, almost none found what they were really looking fortheir families. Mothers Day.. and if you don't get it from one prisoner, you might get it from the other. Harmony Jones, a military child, shares how being raised in a military family helped shape her future for success. Max Lerner: It gave me a great deal of satisfaction. "I would have been killed if I hadn't gone along. And we all were scared. We now know that this perception needs to be broadened. Guy Stern: They were killed either in Warsaw or in Auschwitz. All students of World War II need to learn about the the Ritchie Boys. After the war, the Ritchie Boys continued their work. 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. So little was known about the Ritchie Boys until the excellent documentary film The Ritchie Boys came upon the scene in 2004. This particular edition is in a Hardcover format. He still works six days a week. You sort of swing it around the neck from behind and then pull. 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. Ritchie Boy Dr. 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. A mighty onslaught of more than 160,000 men, 13,000 aircraft, and 5,000 vessels. David Frey: Absolutely. And I needed to get my own back. And to take those heights against heavy firing, going up those steep cliffs, and of course, it had been done. This group became known as The Ritchie Boys, who were the basis of a documentary film of the same name. Guy Stern: My fellow students it was an all-male school withdrew from you. Some didn't even go over to to Europe. Jon Wertheim: Why were the Ritchie Boys so successful? This is Guy Stern 80 years ago. Jon Wertheim: Do you remember saying goodbye to your family? Paul Fairbrook: (laugh) You bet your life I'm proud of the Ritchie Boys. 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." 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. Many of the 15,200 selected were Jewish soldiers who fled Nazi-controlled Germany, which was systematically killing Jews. The SS controlled the German police forces and concentration camps and directed the so-called "Final Solution" to kill all European Jews. Be the first to learn about news, service member stories and fundraising updates from USO. ahollinger@ushmm.org. WebThe Ritchie Boys were a secret unit of the US Army during the Second World War. Jon Wertheim: What was it like for you, leaving Nazi Germany, escaping as a Jew, and the next time you go back to Europe it's to fight those guys? And it was not until a few years ago that the son of Italian-Jewish Ritchie Boy. Jon Wertheim: Why did you want to enlist initially? They significantly helped the war effort and saved lives. ", Dr. Dead people. That information is of critical importance because it tells you where certain units are, and if you know where certain units are, you know where the weak spots are. David Frey teaches history to cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. I don't know. 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. Jon Wertheim: And you think because it had that signature, somehow that certified it.
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