Ritchie Boy Wannabe Dan Gross and several invited guests joined the Ritchie Boys for the photo. David Frey: There were Ritchie Boys that were in the first wave on the first day at D-Day. About 200 Ritchie Boys are estimated to be alive today. You want to convince them that you're trustworthy. David Frey: Well the most important part of the training was that they learned to do interrogation, and in particular of prisoners of war. 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. 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. Many were German- and Austrian-born Jews who had fled Adolf Hitlers genocidal Nazi regimemaking them most determined enemies of the Third Reich. 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. Ritchie 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. I can't recommend this book enough! January 2, 2022 / 6:52 PM Photo credit DoD/Holocaust Memorial Center, It was an emotional reunion, definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It was Sunday, May 13, 1945, Henderson marvels. 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. 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. Guy Stern: God no. The Ritchie Boys trained for war against these fake Germans with fake German tanks made out of wood. Its not just a story about Jewish emigres, Frey says, its also a story of what I would call marginal soldiers and their defense of this country.. There were two who were actually captured at the Battle of the Bulge. Fred is a former longtime Associated Press journalist, where he worked as a reporter and editor. (U.S. Army Signal Corps). Victor Brombert: Yes, I realized that I was afraid. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941, Stern, by then a college student, raced to enlist. Individual Ritchie Boys were cited for their contributions by being awarded over 60 Silver Star Medals for bravery. Since Stern spoke German he was tasked with the interrogation of prisoners of war and defectors. Angress followed up leads that took him to an Amsterdam address just five days after VE Day. The unit got its name from where they did their training, Camp Ritchie, Maryl Cast & Crew Read More Christian Bauer Director 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. Salinger was a Ritchie Boy. The story of Camp Ritchie and the men (and women) who came there is a story that needs to be broadcast more widely. You're in Belgium? Gross wrote to me saying, My Many of the 15,200 selected were Jewish soldiers who fled Nazi-controlled Germany, which was systematically killing Jews. How The Ritchie Boys Helped Win World War II For America. On June 6, 1944, D-Day the Allies launched one of the most sweeping military operations in history. I wanted, desperately, to do something. The Ritchie Boys key asset was language skills, and the militarys hunger was for battlefield POW interrogators. Naturally, I turned to Dan Gross, the unofficial archivist for the Ritchie Boys. This little-known part of American history deserves national acknowledgement. They significantly helped the war effort and saved lives.. Jon Wertheim: And you think because it had that signature, somehow that certified it. And notably, professor Frey says, more than 250 Ritchie Boys continued to work in the field of intelligence after the war, becoming professional spies. "Enjoy" is perhaps not the right word. 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. Investment banker David Rockefeller and civil rights activistWilliam Sloane Coffin were among the Ritchie Boys, who were assigned to every Army and Marines unitand to the Office of Strategic Services and the Counter Intelligence Corps. At the time though, the military wouldn't take volunteers who weren't born in the U.S. David Frey: Part of what the Ritchie Boys did was to convince German units to surrender without fighting. Main telephone: 202.488.0400 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. 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Paul Fairbrook: (laugh) You bet your life I'm proud of the Ritchie Boys. 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. Guy Stern: I went to my father one day and I said, "classes are becoming a torture chamber". The Ritchie Boys and Questions of Death and Spies 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. 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.. 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. One can also point to a Ritchie Boy who was given the opportunity to shape the critically important program of psychological warfare by training nearly all the 850 members of the Mobile Radio Broadcasting Companies. Victor Brombert: Our interrogations - it had to do with tactical immediate concerns. Guy Stern: Thank you for asking. A PHOTO FROM A RITCHIE BOY REUNION HELD IN WASHINGTON DC. The intent of this web page, in addition to providing demographics and statistics not available elsewhere, will be to highlight individual secret heroes whose contributions were also singularly significant. David Frey: Because it involves military intelligence, much of it was actually kept secret until the - the 1990's. That is the key to being a good interrogator. Engraved on the award are the words from Wiesels Nobel Prize acceptance speech, One person of integrity can make a difference., About the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Many of the Jewish refugees lost family members, and at the end of the war, they searched for them. 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. Max Lerner: Because I remembered my parents. Or is it just a habit or habit of obedience or dignity? Broadcast associate, Elizabeth Germino. Nina Wolff Feld told her fathers story in Someday You Will Understand: My Fathers Private World War 2. He responded with just the information I needed. Some of the prisoners were actual German POWs brought to Camp Ritchie so the Ritchie Boys could practice their interrogation techniques. David Frey: They were incredibly effective. Then shaping the cold war era, they really played a significant role. Jon Wertheim: Do you consider yourself a hero? David Frey: This is where the having an intelligence officer from Camp Ritchie was of critical importance. He was shot right away and killed. 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. Victor Brombert: One had to playact with some of the people were acting as prisoners and some of them were real prisoners. Ritchie Boys were heroes who used their innate skills to gather information from all sources Jon Wertheim: How did you find out you were going to go to Camp Ritchie? When they landed on the beaches of Normandy, Wehrmacht troops were waiting for them well armed and well prepared. African-American Ritchie Boy William Warfield Bruce Hendersons account of the Ritchie Boys, as the camps graduates came to be known, is full of arresting moments like Sellings arrival, almost all of them virtually unknown. "where are your reserve units?" But the Sterns could only send one of their own to the U.S. Jon Wertheim: That's what you were told. And they were motivated like few other American soldiers. 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. The Ritchie Boys - Introduction Divisions that liberated concentration camps included hundreds of Ritchie Boys, who interviewed survivors. 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. By the spring of 1944, the Ritchie Boys were ready to return to Western Europe this time as naturalized Americans in American uniforms. First published on January 2, 2022 / 6:52 PM. The Ritchie Boys exhibit is at the Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills, Mich., July 24, 2011. 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. Ritchie Boy Dr. Why do so few Americans know about this? Victor Brombert: And at great effort we found people, we arrested them, we were proud of doing that. There were 1,985 German born Ritchie Boys. 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. One can readily point to the case of Ritchie Boy, who outwitted Adolf Eichmann and saved an estimated 40,000 lives. They certainly saved lives. The Ritchie Boys were one of World War IIs greatest secret weapons for US Army intelligence, said incoming Museum Chairman Stuart E. Eizenstat.