What Did 2,000 Jewish Refugees Do When They Returned to Germany in U.S. Uniforms? | Ritchie Boys

This video is a historical documentary produced for educational purposes. It tells the stories of German-speaking refugees, most of them Jewish, who served in U.S. Army intelligence during World War II, along with several related individuals who served in the same field. The narrative is based on published memoirs, oral histories, archival records and secondary historical works listed below. Some scenes and conversations are reconstructed from the participants' own later accounts or from historians' summaries; where sources disagree or details cannot be independently confirmed, this is indicated in the narration. Not every person featured trained at Camp Ritchie, and the video says so where relevant. Archival film and photographs from the U.S. National Archives, the Library of Congress and other public collections are used for illustration. Unless explicitly identified on screen, footage may not show the specific individuals or events being described. This video contains historical footage from Nazi concentration camps and descriptions of violence and war crimes. Viewer discretion is advised. This content does not promote or glorify Nazism, hatred or violence in any form. It is intended to document history and honor the memory of victims and of those who fought against the Nazi regime. Any third-party photographs or short excerpts are used under the principles of fair use (17 U.S.C. § 107) for commentary, criticism and education. If you are a rights holder and have concerns, please contact us and we will respond promptly. Corrections are welcome: if you have documents or family information about any of the people in this film, please reach out. SOURCES AND FURTHER READING Books Henderson, Bruce. Sons and Soldiers: The Untold Story of the Jews Who Escaped the Nazis and Returned with the U.S. Army to Fight Hitler. William Morrow, 2017. Eddy, Beverley Driver. Ritchie Boy Secrets: How a Force of Immigrants and Refugees Helped Win World War II. Stackpole Books. Stern, Guy. Invisible Ink: A Memoir. Wayne State University Press, 2020. Angress, Werner T. Witness to the Storm: A Jewish Journey from Nazi Berlin to the 82nd Airborne, 1920–1945. 2012. Brombert, Victor. Trains of Thought: Memories of a Stateless Youth. W. W. Norton, 2002. Kleeman, Werner. From Dachau to D-Day. Marble House Editions, 2007. Sonnenfeldt, Richard W. Witness to Nuremberg. Arcade Publishing, 2006. Fry, Helen. Inside Nuremberg Prison. 2011. Fry, Helen. Nuremberg: The Translator's Tale. Yale University Press. Goldensohn, Leon. The Nuremberg Interviews. Ed. Robert Gellately. Knopf, 2004. Hackett, David A. (ed. and trans.). The Buchenwald Report. Westview Press, 1995. Sutton, Robert K. Nazis on the Potomac: The Top-Secret Intelligence Operation that Helped Win World War II. Casemate, 2022. Dolibois, John E. Pattern of Circles: An Ambassador's Story. Kent State University Press, 1989. Habe, Hans. All My Sins: An Autobiography. 1957. Documentaries The Ritchie Boys. Dir. Christian Bauer, 2004. Camp Confidential: America's Secret Nazis. Dir. Mor Loushy and Daniel Sivan. Netflix, 2021. "Ritchie Boys." 60 Minutes, CBS News, 2021–2022. Archives and institutions United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM), Holocaust Encyclopedia: "Ritchie Boys"; Werner Kleeman Collection; Albert Rosenberg Papers. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA): U.S. Army Signal Corps films; Death Mills (1945), NAID 36082; Nazi Concentration Camps (1945), NAID 43452. Library of Congress: George Stevens World War II color footage, Signal Corps Special Coverage Unit. National Park Service: Fort Hunt (P.O. Box 1142) Oral History Project. Ritchie History Museum, Cascade, Maryland; theritchieboys.com. Center for Jewish History / Leo Baeck Institute: Werner Kleeman Collection. German Resistance Memorial Center (Gedenkstätte Deutscher Widerstand), Berlin: biography of Werner T. Angress. American Battle Monuments Commission: records of Murray Zappler. Review of Proceedings, Military Commission, United States v. Hauptmann Curt Bruns (1945). Articles Princeton Alumni Weekly: "A Ritchie Boy" (Victor Brombert). Princeton University: obituary of Arno J. Mayer, January 2024. Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training: oral history of Ambassador John Gunther Dean.