how many ritchie boys were there

Guy Stern: Yes, that carried weight and the belief in the printed matter was very great. 202.437.1221 Germany surrendered on May 8th of that year. Jon Wertheim: You didn't want to be identified as Jewish going back to Western Europe. Fortunately, a book written by historian Beverley Eddy tells the story of Camp Ritchie and the Ritchie Boys in great detail and with professional skill. Who helped shape what it meant to be American and who in some cases gave their lives in service to this country. Jon Wertheim: You let him know you were Jewish? Jon Wertheim: That's the kind of thing you would know. Guy Stern: We always find another anecdote to tell. 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. 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. And I made sure he knew that it was a Jew who controlled him. Jon Wertheim: Was it your knowledge of the language or your knowledge of the psychology and the German culture? The Ritchie Boys practiced street fighting in life-size replicas of German villages and questioned mock civilians in full scale German homes. And there's nothing that I wanted more is to get some revenge on Hitler who killed my uncles, and my aunts and my cousins and there was no question in my mind, and neither of all the men in Camp Ritchie. July 20, 2017, Martin Selling questions German prisoners near the front in France, 1944. Jewish soldiers were in great danger if captured, and two were captured and executed due to being identified by their captors as German-born Jews. Personal, of course, but also this country - I was really treated well. The danger from the German side, of course, was far higher. Angress followed up leads that took him to an Amsterdam address just five days after VE Day. David Frey: But they also did terrain analysis, they also did photo analysis, and aerial reconnaissance analysis. 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. The unit got its name from where they did their training, Camp Ritchie, Maryl Cast & Crew Read More Christian Bauer Director Associate producer, Jennifer Dozor. Guy Stern: It was absolutely, we won kid. The largest set of graduates were 2,000 German-born Jews. So whatever information they're giving you is information that you probably already know. Jon Wertheim: I understand you you had sparring partners. 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. 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. Jon Wertheim: 60% of the actionable intelligence? "How many machine guns do you have there?" Some of them were trained as spies and some of them went on to careers as spies. Broadcast associate, Elizabeth Germino. 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. David Frey: Techniques where you want to get people to talk to you. 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? Max Lerner: Wear civilian clothes, pass messages, kill. Choose which Defense.gov products you want delivered to your inbox. 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. Many of the 15,200 selected were Jewish soldiers who fled Nazi-controlled Germany, which was systematically killing Jews. 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. 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. Immigrant Soldier, The Story of The very aspect of these SOBs now being at my command (laugh) gave me also some personal satisfaction. Actress. David Frey: All in service of winning the war. Jon Wertheim: I see a tent in the background of that photo right in front of you. Many of them were Jewish refugees from Europe, who fled their homeland, came to America and joined the U.S. Army. They were heroes not necessarily or predominantly based on bravery but on their intelligence and deserving of the name Secret Heroes. 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. 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. Paul Fairbrook: I was proud to be in the American Army and we were able to do what we had to do. 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. And to take those heights against heavy firing, going up those steep cliffs, and of course, it had been done. In 2011, the Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills, Michigan, hosted an exhibit of the Ritchie Boys exploits. 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. stories from a Nazi interrogator, now a Mill Harmony Jones, a military child, shares how being raised in a military family helped shape her future for success. Another bit of indispensable Ritchie Boy handiwork: the order of battle of the German army. There were two who were actually captured at David Frey: Because it involves military intelligence, much of it was actually kept secret until the - the 1990's. 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. 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: This-- This is a remarkable story. 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. Apart from the fighting, there were other threats confronting the Ritchie Boys. Striecher was later tried and convicted at the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, where concentration camp survivors who bore witness to the mass murder faced down their Nazi tormentors. Jon Wertheim: Why were the Ritchie Boys so successful? Edited by Stephanie Palewski Brumbach and Robert Zimet. An African-American Ritchie Boy William Warfield If you have ever heard a recording of William Warfield singing Ol Man River, from the musical Showboat by Jerome Kern, you will not have forgotten his deep, rich, bass-baritone voice. Most chose the eldest son, to carry on the family name. Now is it because they were afraid that the Nazis might come back, that it's not over? Giving out some cigarettes also helps a lot. Jon Wertheim: All in service of winning the war? 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. WebOne can readily point to the case of Ritchie Boy William R. Perl who outwitted Adolf Eichmann and saved an estimated 40,000 lives. Please enter valid email address to continue. They significantly helped the war effort and saved lives.. The Ritchie Boys were members of a secret American intelligence unit that fought in World War II. Max Lerner recalls that in one respect at least, identifying most SS members was easy. Some Ritchie Boys were recruited to go on secret missions during the war. 2022 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. Surviving soldiers were among the attendees. Jon Wertheim: This is going behind enemy lines. 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.

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