The Ritchie Boys was a US special military intelligence unit in World War II comprising mainly German-speaking immigrants to the USA. They were predominately Jews, most of whom had fled Nazi persecution. They were primarily utilised for interrogation of prisoners on the front lines and counter-intelligence in Europe because of their knowledge of the German language and culture.
Contents |
The Ritchie Boys consisted of approximately 10,000[1] young, mostly Jewish, Germans and Austrians who escaped from their countries of birth and immigrated to the US. They mainly were drafted into the United States Army and were trained at the Military Intelligence Training Center, also known then as Camp Ritchie, and now as Fort Ritchie in Maryland. They were specially trained in methods of interrogation, investigation and psychological warfare. They were suitable for this kind of task because they knew the German language and mentality better than any American-born soldiers. The role of these soldiers was therefore to work in the front lines at interrogation, at strategic corps and army levels in analyzing German forces and plans, and also as member of the U.S. Counter Intelligence Corps, and to study the enemy, and demoralize him in order to achieve an unconditional surrender.
After the US declared war on Germany, the Ritchie Boys became a decisive weapon for the Allied powers. They entered Europe on D-Day on June 6, 1944 along with the other Allied troops. Shortly after reaching land they left their units and pursued their special tasks. They were able to feed the Allies valuable information. Moreover, the Ritchie Boys helped break German resistance by demoralizing them in both open and covert operations. They interrogated POWs and defectors to ascertain information about German force levels, troop movements, and the physical and psychological state of the Germans. By means of targeted disinformation via newspaper announcements, flyers, radio broadcasts, and sound trucks, the German population and military was prompted to cease their resistance against the Allied invasion.
After the war, many of the Ritchie Boys served as interrogators and translators during the Nuremberg Trials. The first-ever reunion of the Ritchie Boys took place from July 23-July 25, 2011, at the Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills, Michigan. Many of them went on to successful political, scientific, or business careers. The Ritchie Boys included several prominent men such as Hans Habe, Klaus Mann, Stefan Heym, Hanus Burger, George Mandler, Richard Schifter, Guy Stern, Walter Schwarz and David Robert Seymour.
In 2004, the group and its work was the subject of the documentary The Ritchie Boys by film-maker Christian Bauer, featuring ten Ritchie Boys.