The Ritchie Boys - German Jews who fled Nazi Germany to become American GIs

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: [unknown] They didn't get to Europe until D-Day.

That was the plan. They were a secret weapon. Unlike some American GIs who had been drafted and didn't really want to go to war, the Ritchie Boys really wanted to.

They were Jews born in Germany.

They had fled Nazi terrorism. Many were the oldest sons in their families, sent to safety when it became clear that Hitler intended to solve his "Jewish problem" . Many of these young men left large families behind. Most of these young men would be the only survivors in those large families. Some of these young men were in American Army units that liberated the Nazi death camps. Some of these young men liberated the death camp where their family had been murdered.

They were called the Ritchie Boys because they had their Army training at Camp Ritchie in Maryland.

They were a secret weapon because they were Germans. They knew the German language, the terrain the Allied Armies would be moving in. They knew the German psyche.

They were trained in intelligence gathering and in interrogation methods.

They knew how to exploit the weaknesses and fears of the captured German soldiers. They knew how to obtain vital information that would aid the Allied advances. But they weren't desk soldiers. They were combat soldiers. They fought in hard battles. The move out of Normandy, the Battle of Hurtgenwald, the Battle of the Bulge. Some died. Some won Silver Stars and Purple Hearts. Some were taken prisoner by the Germans. Those captured weren't treated as prisoners of war according to the Geneva Convention. They were Germans, they were Jews. They were executed, often after days of interrogation and torture. But they knew this was a possibility when they embarked for Europe on the troop ships. More than the American born GIs , the Ritchie Boys took the war personally. Call it vengeance or just retribution.

They needed, with every cell in their body, to destroy the Nazi Regime, to end the Third Reich.

Jacob Aach Werner Angress Henry Arnhold Hans Baruch John Peter Bauer Gerhard Baum Walter Cole Barry van Dam Ralph Falkenstein Dittmar Friede

Freddie Haarburger Hank Herzberg Kurt Jacobs Hugo Kahn Erich Kirchheimer Si Lewin Ernst Lilienstein Fritz Lilienstein Frederick Mayer Rudi Mayer Rudy Michaelis Edward Morgan

Paul Rabinek Albert Rosenberg Martin Selling Max Silberman Hans Speir Manny Steinfeld Murray Zappler