how many ritchie boys were there

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. Amid the chaos of war, Guy Stern and the other Ritchie Boys had a job to do. Fort Ritchie, as it later became known, closed in 1998. Essentially they were intellectuals. Divisions that liberated concentration camps included hundreds of Ritchie Boys, who interviewed survivors. 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. About 200 Ritchie Boys are estimated to be alive today. Many of the 15,200 selected were Jewish soldiers who fled Nazi-controlled Germany, which was systematically killing Jews. On a cold November morning in 1938, Herman watches in horror as his 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. Some faced antisemitism from their fellow soldiers. And arrived in the United States penniless. very important because you save life if you know where the mine "where is the machine gun nest?" Tonight, we'll introduce you to members of a secret American intelligence unit who fought in World War II. The Ritchie Boys In the age of mechanized warfare, you need to know what these large armies look like, what their capabilities are, how theyre arrayed, Frey says. Max Lerner: He spent several days in my jail. Choose which Defense.gov products you want delivered to your inbox. and I said "may I know where I'm going?" Sensing danger, Stern's father tried to get the family out. Message & data rates may apply. Then shaping the cold war era, they really played a significant role. You're in Belgium? 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. 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. So many of them were Jewish. And like so many war films it They significantly helped the war effort and saved lives.. They chose their eldest son. Guy Stern: I was called to the company office and told you're shipping out. Germany surrendered on May 8th of that year. Bill. Jon Wertheim: That's how you looked at it. 'Ritchie Boys' Aided Army's Efforts to Defeat Germany Many of them were Jewish refugees from Europe, who fled their homeland, came to America and joined the U.S. Army. 60-plus percent of the actionable intelligence gathered on the battlefield was gathered by Ritchie Boys. Many of the 15,200 selected were Jewish soldiers who fled Nazi-controlled Germany, which was systematically killing Jews. Jon Wertheim: Did you enjoy hunting Nazis? And that's what the key to the success was. a Clandestine WWII Intelligence Unit: The Ritchie Max Lerner: They have a tattoo of their blood group under their left arms. All had experienced harrowing escapes from Europe and dangerous but productive returns. By the spring of 1945, Allied forces neared Berlin and Hitler took his life in his underground bunker. They then typed up their daily reports in the field to be passed up the chain of command. Ritchie Boys Jon Wertheim: Did the Ritchie Boys redefine what it means to be a soldier and contribute to a military? After the war, the Ritchie Boys continued their work. All were convicted for their crimes and many were executed. Guy Stern: Yes and it's theatrics in a way yes. And that's what-- that's what it did for me. 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. "It was a terrible situation. It was wonderful to see these people again. Ritchie History Museum Links. Some didn't even go over to to Europe. 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. The boys were members of a military intelligence unit; strongly discouraged from talking about their war, they didnt hold their first reunion until 60 years after it ended. There were roughly 9000 of these Jews in America and they specialized in the interrogation of German prisoners. Jon Wertheim: So in May of 1945, Germany surrenders, and you're assigned to the denazification process. At a time when the U.S. military urgently needed foreign language speakers, the Ritchie Boys offered a key resource. The Ritchie Boys exhibit is at the Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills, Mich., July 24, 2011. "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: I had a war to fight and I did it. 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: What do you remember from that? 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." Guy Stern: This one was our most effective leaflet and why was that? Paul Fairbrook: Well, because it was an unusual part of the United States Army. Many of the 15,200 selected were Jewish soldiers who fled Nazi-controlled Germany, which was systematically killing Jews. David Frey: The purpose of the facility was to train interrogators. 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. Making such a distinction in this case is very difficult. By the summer of 1944, German troops in Normandy were outnumbered and overpowered. HistoryNet Right. Jon Wertheim: So it sounds like this gave the officers in the field a guide to the German Army so they could then interrogate the German POW's more efficiently. I think that's quantifiable. African-American Ritchie Boy William Warfield And they were impressed with that. Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window), Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window), Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window), Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window), Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window), The Ritchie Boys train at Camp Ritchie, Maryland during World War II. The Ritchie Boys exhibit at the Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills, Mich., July 24, 2011. He is among the last surviving Ritchie Boys - a group of young men many of them German Jews who played an outsized role in helping the Allies win World War II. Jon Wertheim: So there's all sorts of impact years and years and years after the war from this this camp in Maryland? Max Lerner: It gave me a great deal of satisfaction. Their mission: to use their knowledge of the German language and culture to return to Europe and fight Naziism. We had to-- we got a lot of German prisoners who were willing to help us catalog all those documents. Photo credit DoD/Holocaust Memorial Center, It was an emotional reunion, definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Victor Brombert: I remember being up on a cliff the first night over Omaha beach. You know where the strong points are, and you know you what to avoid and what to attack. We hope you find the data, stories, and images here of interest. Guy Stern: I think it was the continuous flow of reliable information that really helped expedite the end of the war. There are valid reasons to consider that the Ritchie Boys as a group made a unique and enormous contribution to our military success in World War II. The Ritchie Boys key asset was language skills, and the militarys hunger was for battlefield POW interrogators. Max Lerner: There were no Nazis. Nina Wolff Feld told her fathers story in Someday You Will Understand: My Fathers Private World War 2. One of these was. Jon Wertheim: This is going behind enemy lines. At the time though, the military wouldn't take volunteers who weren't born in the U.S. The Ritchie Boys | Home I never calculated that there is such a thing as terror, fear. All Rights Reserved. Among them were the Ritchie Boys, some 15,200 men who attended the Military Intelligence Training Center at Camp Ritchie, Md. You really have to understand it helps to have been born in Germany in order to in order to do a good job. We strive for accuracy and fairness. I mean this is you're taking your life in your hands here. But certainly what did not work was violence or threat of violence. Follow him at @ffrommer. Some never went back to Europe, but one retired to Berlin in 1988 and spent his final years visiting German schools to talk about his childhood under Hitler. So whatever information they're giving you is information that you probably already know. David Frey: Because it involves military intelligence, much of it was actually kept secret until the - the 1990's. For more information, visit ushmm.org. 202.437.1221 You know a lot about them already. They significantly helped the war effort and saved lives. 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. 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. David Frey: The purpose of the facility was to train interrogators. They crossed into Germany with the Allied armies and witnessed the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps.
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