Goldarbeiter, Fritz Francis (32001874): Difference between revisions

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|caption=Sgt. Goldarbeiter posing in 1943 prior to being shipped to Italy.

'''[[Goldarbeiter, Fritz F. (32001874)|Fritz F. Goldarbeiter]]''' (born 1917) was a Ritchie Boy (from Austria; Catholic) who trained at Camp Ritchie in class 9.

Glenn Godart's Dad, Ritchie Boy [[Goldarbeiter, Fritz F. (32001874)|Fritz Goldarbeiter]], emigrated to the United States from Austria and trained in the 9th Class at Camp Ritchie. Glenn is trying to contact any of the other 19 Austrian classmates or any relatives of this group (see below). Please PM Glenn Godart directly if you have any information. Abraham, Walter; Adler, Hans; Breuer, Joseph M.; Felix, Harold; Friedmann, David; Frucht, Karl; Herman, Frederick; Kaswan, Jaques; Kolisch, Joseph M.; Krausz, Charles H.; Lohr (Loewin), Stephen; Schmaus, Walter; Spitzer, Walter; Stafford, Herbert Henry; Sunner (Sonnenschein), Curtis L.; Timan, Paul; Trevor (Treichlinger), Curtis; and Weigner, Raoul M.

Ritchie Boy Fritz F. Goldarbeiter (later Fritz Godart) was an Austrian immigrant trained at the Maryland camp in 1943, who then served overseas in the U.S. Born in Vienna in 1917, Godart fled after the Nazi Anschluss of Austria in 1938, emigrating first to France and then to New York, finding work as a shoe salesman. After joining the U.S. Army in January 1941, he moved between several camps before volunteering in May 1943 for the Military Intelligence Training Center at Camp Ritchie, where he trained in the 9th MITC class as a prisoner-of-war interrogator (IPW, German) as well as a clerk, linguist, document examiner and expert on the organization and composition of the Wehrmacht’s Order of Battle. He was deployed to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations in the fall of 1943 following the Allied landing in Salerno. After his assignment to the 2680th HQ Company of the G-2 Military Intelligence Service (MIS), he was detached to the IV Corps office near Naples, Italy. As chief clerk of the Order of Battle Section at the IV Corps, he was an intelligence analyst and also served as an interrogator. He was part of the Allied force that liberated Rome in June 1944. In April 1945, he participated in the surrender of the SS garrison in Milan and a Wehrmacht mountain unit, and was later involved in the interrogation of high-ranking Wehrmacht officers, all for which he was awarded the Bronze Star. After VE Day, he served at the Headquarters of the 15th Army Group and in the 6695th Headquarters & Headquarters Company/MIS in Vienna, Austria, as part of the United States Forces of Austria. After settling in the New York area after the war and anglicizing his name, Godart became an importer/exporter of toys, including some made in Germany. He switched careers to become a stockbroker in the 1960s, which he did until his death in 1986. He and his wife Suzanne had four children: Jill, Glenn, and twins Jeffrey and Thomas. For family members of Austrian emigrants like Goldarbeiter who served in the U.S. Army during the war, this site is a repository for biographies of similar soldiers: Florian Traussnig has been tirelessly working on documenting Austrian men who served in the United States military services during WWII. According to Florian, there were 493 MITC graduates of Austrian descent – but there might have been more, as research is continuing. Additionally, Florian’s estimate is that a total of 600+ Austrians received either intelligence (Camp Ritchie) or propaganda (Camp Sharpe) training at the MITC.

Born in Manhattan in 1913, the son of Sicilian immigrants, Ritchie Boy Sgt. Salemi followed his father into the fruit and produce business in Queens while still a teenager. By the mid-1930s, Salemi had begun operating his own produce stores (and competing as a bantamweight amateur boxer) until his induction into the Army in Nov. He was trained at Camp Ritchie in the winter of ‘42-‘43, leading to an assignment as an Italian language interpreter/interrogator of POWs with the 5th Army’s 2680th HQ Company, which he joined in North Africa early in 1943. Salemi was attached to the 3rd Infantry Division from N. Africa to Sicily, Naples and Anzio, the breakout into Rome, and later into Southern France in the summer of 1944. He returned to the Italian theater in Tuscany in the fall of '44 before coming home to the U.S. on a well-earned December 1944 furlough. However, Salemi was sent back to Italy in January 1945 for an assignment with the 10th Mtn. Division in the Apennine mountains. His new duties included reconnaissance/observation of enemy positions, followed by written reports and interrogations of thousands of refugees and prisoners in the Cutigliano and Rocca Pitigliano areas in northern Italy that served as hideouts for Axis troops. During the Po Valley campaign (Feb.–May '45), he earned both the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. In June, he left the 10th Division to serve with the U.S. Army of Occupation, primarily in Austria, until his discharge in Nov. He was a contemporary of fellow Ritchie Boys who served with the G-2 operation in Italy, including Alex Sabbadini, [[Goldarbeiter, Fritz F. (32001874)|Fritz Goldarbeiter]] and Bill Galen. After his WWII service, Salemi led a quiet life in the New York area, returning to the fruit and produce business as a self-employed owner/operator and retail vendor. Sal married his wife Liberty (Libby) in 1947, with whom he enjoyed a long life in Woodside, Queens, living until ages 95 and 102, respectively. Their family included sons Dr. Salemi and Rosario O. Salemi, both of whom have detailed knowledge of U.S. Army actions in Sicily and Italy during the war.

* Also Class 6 OB

* See Timeline

* 1917-1985?

1465345835629672.jpg|Sgt. Goldarbeiter posing in 1943 prior to being shipped to Italy.

* Camp Ritchie class roster (classes 1–31), merged research file

* Facebook-linked source: [https://austriansoldiers.lbg.ac.at/ austriansoldiers.lbg.ac.at]