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"I would have been killed if I hadn't gone along. Mr. As was philanthropist David Rockefeller and media baron and billionaire John Kluge. We were crusaders.". In civilian life, he became a noted sculpture and fine arts teacher and rose to the presidency for the Center for Creative Studies at Detroit's College of Art and Design. St. Joseph Communications uses cookies for personalization, to customize its online advertisements, and for other purposes. (U.S. Army Signal Corps). By the spring of 1945, Allied forces neared Berlin and Hitler took his life in his underground bunker. And that has been the driving force in my life. And like so many war films it Some of the prisoners were actual German POWs brought to Camp Ritchie so the Ritchie Boys could practice their interrogation techniques. For 99-year-old Guy Stern, a German Jew whose entire family was killed by the Nazis, the Allies' victory over Hitler was the culmination of a public crusade and a private one as well. Germany surrendered on May 8th of that year. Many were foreign-born or had lived abroad for significant amounts of time. Jon Wertheim: I imagine all of a sudden no one wants to admit to being a Nazi. Jon Wertheim: And you think because it had that signature, somehow that certified it. It was not only that short term impact on the battlefield. Then shaping the cold war era, they really played a significant role. The Ritchie Boys Camp Ritchie served the Maryland National Guard until 1942. Immigrants like Guy Stern. 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? The story of Camp Ritchie and the men (and women) who came there is a story that needs to be broadcast more widely. Salinger were among the camp gradsbut 2,000 German-language refugees, almost all Jewish, were the prize pupils. 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. They took their name from the place they trained - Camp Ritchie, Maryland a secret American military intelligence center during the war. And they were motivated like few other American soldiers. Now 98, Fairbrook is the former dean of the Culinary Institute of America. This little-known part of American history deserves national acknowledgement. A website by Dan Gross and Ritchie History Museum. Jon Wertheim: That's what you were told. You playacted. The Ritchie Boys | Home 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. 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. Guy Stern: Yes, that carried weight and the belief in the printed matter was very great. David Frey: Techniques where you want to get people to talk to you. They significantly helped the war effort and saved lives.. The largest set of graduates were 2,000 German-born Jews. WebIn the United States at the end of World War II, there were prisoner-of-war camps, including 175 Branch Camps serving 511 Area Camps containing over 425,000 prisoners of war (mostly German).The camps were located all over the US, but were mostly in the South, due to the higher expense of heating the barracks in colder areas. Eventually, 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. 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. He is still haunted by what he experienced that day. WebThe army recruited not just those fluent in German, French, Italian, and Polish (approximately a fifth were Jewish refugees from Europe), but also Arabic, Japanese, Dutch, Greek, Norwegian, Russian, Turkish, and other languages as well as some 200 Native Americans and 200 WACs. The USO is a not-for-profit organization and not part of the Department of Defense (DoD). Every day, Americas service members selflessly put their lives on the line to keep us safe and free. Jon Wertheim: Sixty percent of the actionable intelligence? told the story of his fathers motivation and bravery in the book Unavoidable Hope. David Frey: There are a whole variety of prominent Ritchie Boys. 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. 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. The appearance of DoD visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement. They never met for reunions, they did not join veteran associations. And there's nothing that forges unity better than having a common enemy. Guy Stern: And some we didn't break but 80% were so darned scared of the Russians and what they would do. 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. Jon Wertheim: So in May of 1945, Germany surrenders, and you're assigned to the denazification process. 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. Drawing on archival research, memoirs and interviews with several Ritchie Boys (there were 1,985 in all), he focuses on a half dozen. Salinger was a Ritchie Boy. 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. The SS controlled the German police forces and concentration camps and directed the so-called "Final Solution" to kill all European Jews. Victor Brombert: I saw immense debris. Paul Fairbrook: (laugh) You bet your life I'm proud of the Ritchie Boys. Main telephone: 202.488.0400 Now in their late 90s, these humble warriors still keep in touch, swapping stories about a chapter in American history now finally being told. 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. One can also point to a Ritchie Boy In New York, Paul Fairbrook, had a similar impulse. Bill. And incredibly, they were responsible for most of the combat intelligence gathered on the Western Front. Our country owes them an enormous debt of gratitude for their courage and sacrifices. Not all the boys were immigrantsfuture banker David Rockefeller and writer J.D. Jon Wertheim: Do you remember saying goodbye to your family? For as casually as we often toss around the word "hero", sometimes no lesser term applies. They knew the psychology and the Early on in the war, 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. It was here that over 19,000 Ritchie Boys, many of them German-Jewish immigrants from Europe Harmony Jones, a military child, shares how being raised in a military family helped shape her future for success. Hed endured a lot already, including three brutal months in Dachau concentration camp after Kristallnacht in 1938, before finding haven in America. 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. By the summer of 1944, German troops in Normandy were outnumbered and overpowered. 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. And that's why civilians could be useful and soldiers could be useful, "where is the minefield?" Broadcast associate, Elizabeth Germino. WebMany of them, like Brombert, were Jewish. Associate producer, Jennifer Dozor. He responded with just the information I needed. Many of the 15,200 selected were Jewish soldiers who fled Nazi-controlled Germany, which was systematically killing Jews. From that point on, Ritchie Boys were involved in every major battle in Europe, using their language skills to gather intelligence, interpret enemy documents, and engage in psychological warfare encouraging German soldiers to surrender by dropping leaflets, through radio broadcasts, and in trucks equipped with loudspeakers. Ritchie Boy Dr. David Frey: They were incredibly effective. I wanted, desperately, to do something. But at wars end, almost none found what they were really looking fortheir families. 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. 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.. The Ritchie Boys trained for war against these fake Germans with fake German tanks made out of wood. After the war, Guy Stern and the other Ritchie Boys were celebrated for their achievements. There were 1,985 German born Ritchie Boys. We now know that this perception needs to be broadened. 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.. This was our kind of war. Guy Stern: Yes, that's my interrogation tent. 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. WebThe Ritchie Boys were a secret unit of the US Army during the Second World War. In 1943, he was drafted into the Army and in 1944 landed in Normandy after D-day as a "Ritchie Boy." You know, I don't talk like an Alabama person or a Texan. And there's nothing that forges unity better than having a common enemy.This is Guy Stern 80 years ago. 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. II prisoner-of-war camps in I think that's quantifiable. 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. David Frey: You had a whole load of immigrants who really wanted to get back into the fight. 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. Stern also said that its 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. David Frey teaches history to cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. We believe it will also recognize the value of a group as large as 20,000. Guy Stern: We always find another anecdote to tell. Here are five ways Dietrich supported American troops and the USO during World War II. Newsday At the time though, the military wouldn't take volunteers who weren't born in the U.S. They chose their eldest son. Guy Stern, a Bronze Star Medal recipient who attended, said: "It was an emotional reunion, definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience. . Jon Wertheim: How effective were they at gathering intelligence? Victor Brombert: The shared experience, exactly. 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. David Frey: Much of it originated at Camp Ritchie because it had never it hadn't been done before. Another was, , 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. We hope you find the data, stories, and images here of interest. A PHOTO FROM A RITCHIE BOY REUNION HELD IN WASHINGTON DC. And we all were scared. In 1944, the Ritchie Boys headed to Europe to fight in a war that was, for them, intensely personal. Camp Ritchie, Maryland - Development of the Intelligence Training Guy Stern: Out of a plane. 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. 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. It was wonderful to be part of them. What Henderson found when he looked into their history was that about 100 were still alive, half of them willing and able to talknot everyone has reliable 70-year-old memoriesabout an extraordinary corner of the Second World War. 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. You had people coming from all over uniting for a particular cause. Many of the Ritchie Boys went on to have successful civilian careers, including J.D. Jon Wertheim: What were you trained to do? And I needed to get my own back. They spoke the same German as the Wehrmacht soldiers they were up against, they shared experiences, education and culture with them, explains Henderson. Marlene Dietrich was many things, but to soldiers in World War II, she was a morale-boosting entertainer willing to go right to the front lines to support our nations military. Why were you the one that made it to the United States? 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. 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: The Jewish U.S. Soldiers Who Helped Guy Stern: I preferred not having it. I was the only one to get out. There were Ritchie Boys who were in virtually every battle that you can think of and some actually suffered the worst fate. Holocaust refugee turned American Soldier never forgot So was Archibald Roosevelt, grandson of Theodore Roosevelt. They all became American success stories, businessmen or academics. We see those who are the greatest of the greatest generation. Ritchie Boy 2022 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. One of these was. 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). Many were German- and Austrian-born Jews who had fled Adolf Hitlers genocidal Nazi regimemaking them most determined enemies of the Third Reich. Background. Many of the Jewish refugees lost family members, and at the end of the war, they searched for them. The Jewish Refugees Who Fled Nazi GermanyThen Returned to 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. There were Ritchie Boys who were in POW camps embedded and gathering information in the United States. Apart from the fighting, there were other threats confronting the Ritchie Boys. At a time when the U.S. military urgently needed foreign language speakers, the Ritchie Boys offered a key resource. Download our app to find events, locations and programs near you. It was an impact on war crimes. 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. On a cold November morning in 1938, Herman watches in horror as his I never calculated that there is such a thing as terror, fear. Many of the 15,200 selected were Jewish soldiers who fled Nazi-controlled Germany, which was systematically killing Jews. The U.S. Army leased the post for $5 a year and established The Military Intelligence Training Center. The Department of Defense provides the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation's security. 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. Divided into 6-man teams the Ritchie Boys were attached to different Army units. It is a story of a remarkable synergy between a diverse group of well trained and motivated individuals. But the Sterns could only send one of their own to the U.S. 5 likes. Wehrmacht Captain Curt Bruns, convicted by a military tribunal of ordering the murder of those two Ritchie Boys, was executed by a firing squad in June, 1945. The Ritchie Boys, some of whom landed on the beaches at Normandy, helped to interpret documents and gather intelligence, and conducted enemy warfare. That changed over the years as the Ritchie Boys began to receive more recognition. They significantly helped the war effort and saved lives. Some of them were trained as spies and some of them went on to careers as spies. I gave myself all the accouterments of looking like a fierce Russian commissar. As a Jew, I knew I might not be treated exactly by the Geneva rules. Ritchie Boys Because they served in so many different capacities. Guy Ritchie's The Covenant and why Hollywood is afraid of the Jon Wertheim: So there's a real element of - costumes and deception and accents. I'm denouncing this and I was forced to do it. Please enter valid email address to continue. You on one side and we on this side. Personal, of course, but also this country - I was really treated well. 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. Jon Wertheim: You have a smile on your face when you think back. The Ritchie Boys exhibit at the Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills, Mich., July 24, 2011. Another bit of indispensable Ritchie Boy handiwork: the order of battle of the German army. David Frey: Because it involves military intelligence, much of it was actually kept secret until the - the 1990's. 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: Give us a sense of the kinds of courses they took. 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. But it gave me great deal of satisfaction. Guy Stern: Yes and it's theatrics in a way yes. What could be more appropriate than to honor them with an award bearing the name of Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel.. We now know that this perception needs to be broadened. 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. And it was not until a few years ago that the son of Italian-Jewish Ritchie Boy. David Frey: The purpose of the facility was to train interrogators. Among them were the Ritchie Boys, some 15,200 men who attended the Military Intelligence Training Center at Camp Ritchie, Md. Their subjects ranged from low-level German soldiers to high-ranking Nazi officers including Hans Goebbels, brother of Hitler's chief propogandist, Joseph Goebbels. "Enjoy" is perhaps not the right word. | a Clandestine WWII Intelligence Unit: The Ritchie 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 in their 90s. The Ritchie Boys were one of World War IIs greatest secret weapons for US Army intelligence, said incoming Museum Chairman Stuart E. Eizenstat. According to the Holocaust Museum, two Jewish soldiers were taken captive and executed after being identified as German-born Jews, and there were about 200 Ritchie Boys alive as of May 2022. Ritchie Boys of It was Sunday, May 13, 1945, Henderson marvels. That was the mantra. Paul Fairbrook: You can learn to shoot a rifle in six months but you can't learn fluent German in six months. There were recruiting posters all over town, Your average commander in the field might not. Victor Brombert: I remember being up on a cliff the first night over Omaha beach. Not just any Nazi party member. Many of them were Jewish refugees from Europe, who fled their homeland, came to America and joined the U.S. Army. David S. Frey,a history professor and director of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide at the United States Military Academy,said that in the late 1930s, Gen. George Marshall, then the Army Chief of staff, realized that if the United States was going to war, it needed battlefield intelligence capabilitywhich its military lacked. The U.S. War Department used this collection of German documents to study Germany's battles with the Soviets on the Eastern Front, in order to be better prepared for any future conflict with Russia. Contact. David Frey: All in service of winning the war. David Frey: The purpose of the facility was to train interrogators. 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 I experienced viscerally, fear. Immigrant Soldier, The Story of and he said "no, military secret.". In 2011, the Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills, Michigan, hosted an exhibit of the Ritchie Boys exploits. Surviving soldiers were among the attendees. And I had no choice." 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. Jon Wertheim: This was one of the leaflets that was dropped out--. Dead people. The group also included large numbers of first- or second-generation Americans who still spoke German or other languages at home, Frey says. Paul Fairbrook: They sent us back to Camp Ritchie and they created something that I call the equivalent of the Library of Congress. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. You want to give them that feeling that you know who they are, they know who you are. Walter Midener, an attendee, was awarded the Silver Star. David Frey: Some became ambassadors. Their job: to provide battlefield intelligence. Jon Wertheim: All in service of winning the war? "It was a terrible situation. Among the unusual sights at Ritchie: a team of U.S. soldiers dressed in German uniforms. 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. About 200 Ritchie Boys are estimated to be alive today. We were crusaders.. The USO relies on your support to help service members and their families. Ritchie Boys - YouTube 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. 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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. Many of the 15,200 selected were Jewish soldiers who fled Nazi-controlled Germany, which was systematically killing Jews. Those were the heroes. Although Ritchie Boy. These are people who made massive contributions. 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. WebThe Ritchie Boys were the US special military intelligence officers and enlisted men of World War II who were trained at Camp Ritchie in Maryland. and if you don't get it from one prisoner, you might get it from the other. 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. The Ritchie Boys "where are your reserve units?" Jon Wertheim: Why were the Ritchie Boys so successful? Jon Wertheim: You didn't want to be identified as Jewish going back to Western Europe. I can look anybody straight in their eye and say I think I've earned the right to be an American. Max Lerner: Wear civilian clothes, pass messages, kill. David Frey: This is where the having an intelligence officer from Camp Ritchie was of critical importance. Approximately 14%, or 2,200, of them An official website of the United States Government. After Pearl Harbor brought America into the war, many of those sons were eager to return to Europe and find their families. Guy Stern: I had a war to fight and I did it. 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. The untold story of the Ritchie Boys - Macleans.ca