Ritchie Boy Interviews

Ritchie Boy Interviews/Testimonies is a watchlist of video and audio interviews and oral histories with Ritchie Boys. Play a recording on this page, or pick a soldier below to jump to their talk. Each entry includes a short biographical blurb before the player. Use the letter buttons to narrow the list; cards stay collapsed until you open one. More will be added as they are discovered. Please contact us if you think an interview should be added.

Feature-length films are on Documentaries/Movies (trailers here stay on that page; this list is interviews).

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Soldiers with more than one video are grouped. Fairbrook and Lerner share one joint interview and each also has solo recordings.

Interviews

Nathan M. Berman

Nathan M. Berman (1915–2014) was born in Boston and raised in Mattapan. After Camp Lee and a French language test he trained at Camp Ritchie for possible work with the Maquis, then a fractured skull on night maneuvers sent him to Fort Sam Houston, where he classified inductees on a McBee card system. He was discharged at Camp Devens in February 1946 and later lived in Natick, Massachusetts.

Recorded 6 May 1988 at the Morse Institute Library for the Natick Veterans Oral History Project.

Appears: Nathan M. Berman

Watch on YouTube

• Open on Natick Veterans
• Open on YouTube
• Download audio (MP3)
• Oral history by Morse Institute Library / Natick Veterans Oral History Project / Nathan M. Berman (6 May 1988)

Eric Heinz Bondy

Eric Heinz Bondy (born Heinz Eric Bondy, 2 June 1924–2014) was born in Bad Gandersheim, Germany. His family fled to Switzerland and then to the United States in 1938, founding the Windsor Mountain School. After mountain-troop training in Colorado he was sent to Camp Ritchie (Class 15), served with IPW Team 50 and the 79th Infantry Division in Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge, and was present at Dachau after liberation. After the war he taught and administered schools for decades, including as headmaster of Windsor Mountain.

Recorded 30 August 2012 in Gaithersburg, Maryland, by Ina Navazelskis for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (RG-50.030.0669 / irn47822). The roughly hour-long oral history (audio, two parts) covers his family, escape from Nazi Germany, Camp Ritchie training, interrogation work with the 79th Division, Dachau, and postwar life. An English transcript is available from USHMM.

Appears: Eric Heinz Bondy

Listen at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

• Open USHMM catalog record
• English transcript (PDF)
• Download Part 1 (MP3)
• Download Part 2 (MP3)
• Oral history by United States Holocaust Memorial Museum / Eric Heinz Bondy (30 August 2012; interviewer Ina Navazelskis)

Victor Brombert

Victor Brombert was born in Berlin in 1923 to Russian-Jewish parents who had fled the Revolution. The family left again for France in 1933, then reached New York in 1941 on a banana freighter. Drafted in 1943 as a non-citizen, he trained at Camp Ritchie with Class 11 and landed at Omaha Beach with MII 423 and the 2nd Armored Division, later serving with MII 438-G in the Hürtgen Forest and the Bulge. This interview covers the crossing, Ritchie as his "first university," tactical interrogation, and why he long kept the war out of his Princeton classroom.

Appears: Victor Brombert

Watch on YouTube

• Open on YouTube
• Video by American Veterans Center / Victor Brombert

Hans Curt Bubel

Hans Curt Bubel (known as Curt) was born on 3 October 1925 in Mannheim, Germany, and immigrated in 1928 to Murray, Utah. Drafted in 1944, he trained as a medic, then as an interrogator at Camp Ritchie with Class 26. He reached Europe on the Île de France with MII 490-G and the 13th Airborne Division, collected documents in Bavaria for the Nuremberg trials, and sat three days as an observer there. After a University of Utah doctorate in virology he taught for more than thirty years at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. He died in 2018.

This 20 August 2014 Veterans History Project interview at the Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library covers his Utah youth, the FBI hold, Camp Ritchie, Nuremberg document work, and his scientific career.

Appears: Hans Curt Bubel

Watch on YouTube

• Open on YouTube
• Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library — Veterans History Project record
• Video by Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library / Veterans History Project

Henry Butler

Henry Butler was born Hans Buxbaum on 9 August 1921 in Würzburg, Germany. His family moved to Frankfurt in 1937; at sixteen he reached New York on a relative's affidavit. Drafted in 1943, he trained as an interrogator at Camp Ritchie with Class 16 and served with IPW Team 80 of Third Army in France and Germany. After the war he settled in Seattle, where he recorded this interview with the Holocaust Center for Humanity. He died on 29 November 2023.

Appears: Henry Butler

Watch on YouTube

• Open on YouTube
• Holocaust Center for Humanity (Seattle) — Henry Butler
• Video by Holocaust Center for Humanity / Henry Butler

Stanley Carnarius

The Untold Stories of a Clandestine WWII Intelligence Unit: The Ritchie Boys. Stanley Carnarius was born in Peoria, Illinois, on 6 July 1924. Fluent in German, French, Spanish, and Portuguese, he trained at Camp Ritchie with Class 18 and Class 19 in photo interpretation, field mapping, and order of battle. This interview covers a trick German exam at Ritchie, interrogations with the 87th Infantry Division, a blackout convoy into the Ardennes, and his choice to stay with OB Team 38 rather than train for Japan.

Appears: Stanley Carnarius

Watch on YouTube

• Open on YouTube
• Video by American Veterans Center / Stanley Carnarius

John Dolibois

John Ernest Dolibois was born Jean Ernst Dolibois in Luxembourg on 4 December 1918 and reached Akron, Ohio, at thirteen. After Miami University the Army first sent him to tanks and cooks-and-bakers school, then to Camp Ritchie with Class 18, where he became an interrogation instructor. In 1945 he returned to Luxembourg as one of five officers at Mondorf-les-Bains (Ashcan), questioning Hermann Göring and other high-ranking prisoners for Nuremberg. This 22 November 2006 interview for the Public Library of Cincinnati covers that path.

Appears: John Dolibois

Watch on YouTube

• Open on YouTube
• Video by Public Library of Cincinnati / John Dolibois

Paul Fairbrook and Maximilian Lerner

Historian Beverley Eddy, author of Ritchie Boy Secrets, frames Camp Ritchie, then Paul Fairbrook and Maximilian Lerner tell their own service. Fairbrook, born Paul Schoenbach in Berlin, trained with Class 7 and built German order-of-battle files at Fort Hunt. Lerner, born in Vienna, trained with Class 11, served with the OSS, and spent months after VE-Day hunting Nazi officials.

Appears: Paul Fairbrook, Maximilian Lerner

Watch on YouTube

• Open on YouTube
• Video by Veterans Breakfast Club / Paul Fairbrook, Maximilian Lerner & Dr. Beverley Eddy

Paul Fairbrook (Zekelman Holocaust Center)

Paul Fairbrook was born Paul Schoenbach in Berlin in 1923. The family left for Palestine in 1933 and reached New York in 1937 with a stamp collection after a twenty-four-hour expulsion at the German border. Drafted in January 1943, he trained at Camp Ritchie with Class 7, became a citizen at Hagerstown, and produced German order-of-battle files at Fort Hunt (P.O. Box 1142). After VE-Day he helped organize captured records in the German Military Document Section at Ritchie. This 22 July 2011 Zekelman Holocaust Center oral history covers that path and his later food-service career.

Appears: Paul Fairbrook

Watch on YouTube

• Open on YouTube
• Open in Zekelman Holocaust Center collections (OHV 419)
• Zekelman Holocaust Center oral-history index
• Oral history by The Zekelman Holocaust Center / Paul Fairbrook (OHV 419, July 22, 2011)

Fred Fields

Fred Fields (8 May 1924–2023) was born Siegfried Dingfelder in Uehlfeld, Germany. After Kristallnacht his father was held at Dachau; the family reached England in 1939 and Brooklyn in 1940, where Fields worked as a baker. Drafted in 1943, he trained at Camp Ritchie with Class 10, took the name Fred Fields when he was naturalized, and interrogated with IPW Team 69 from Metz into Germany.

This American Veterans Center / Veterans Chronicles interview, recorded shortly before his death in 2023, covers Uehlfeld, the flight through England, Camp Ritchie, and IPW work. (See also The Stories/The Enemy I Knew/Fred Fields.)

Appears: Fred Fields

Watch on YouTube

• Open on YouTube
• Video by American Veterans Center / Fred Fields

Harold Franken / Hellmut Frankenberg

Hellmut J. Frankenberg (later Harold Franken; 25 September 1921–2011) fled Nazi Germany with his family, trained at Camp Ritchie with Class 16, and served as a technical sergeant on intelligence work in England and on the Continent. After the war he joined the family firm Frank Novelty Company and lived in Ardsley, New York.

In 2009 he and his wife Harriet were interviewed by daughter and son-in-law Debbie and Scott Springgate (this is the third of three videos from that sitting). The talk covers London document work, the closed German embassies, and why he had said little for decades. Harriet died later that year; he died in 2011. Read more in the Altamont Enterprise.

Appears: Harold Franken / Hellmut Frankenberg

Watch on YouTube

• Open on YouTube
• Family interview / Harold Franken (Hellmut Frankenberg)

Karl Goldsmith / Karl Goldschmidt

Karl Goldsmith (1921–2002), born Karl Goldschmidt and listed in Army records as Karl G. Smith, left Eschwege after Kristallnacht and reached the United States in 1939 on the Queen Mary. Drafted in 1942, he served as an MP on the Alcan Highway, trained at Camp Ritchie with Class 20, and interrogated with IPW Team 143 from France into Germany. After VE-Day he ran denazification in Eschwege. He finished Cornell in 1947, later owned florists and Karl K. Goldsmith, Inc. of Somerville, and died in February 2002.

Interview conducted for the documentary About Face: Jewish Refugee Soldiers in the Allied Forces. Filmed in Bedminster, New Jersey, February 2001. (See also The Stories/The Enemy I Knew/Karl Goldsmith.)

Appears: Karl Goldsmith / Karl Goldschmidt

Watch on YouTube

• Open on YouTube
• Video by Steve Karras / Karl Goldsmith

Alfred Goodwin

Alfred Goodwin was born Alfred Gutmann on 4 August 1914 in Karlsruhe, Baden, Germany, and immigrated to the United States in 1936, settling in Portland, Oregon, with the family firm Bissinger & Company. Drafted in 1942, he trained at Camp Ritchie (Class 4 / IPW Team 33), served as a POW interrogator in Europe—including Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge—with the 409th Infantry, and received the Bronze Star with oak leaf cluster. He was discharged as a master sergeant in 1945, later married Lottie Hirsch, and returned to the hide and wool business in Oregon and Utah. He died on 28 May 1993.

This 1986 oral history for the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education covers his family and life in Karlsruhe, immigration at age 21, Camp Ritchie training, and wartime service. Audio hosted on SoundCloud by OJMCHE.

Appears: Alfred Goodwin

Listen on the OJMCHE oral history page

• Open on OJMCHE
• Open OJMCHE on SoundCloud
• Audio by Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education / Alfred Goodwin

Werner Gumpertz

Werner Herbert Gumpertz (26 December 1917–1 December 2017) was born in Berlin, reached New York in 1940, and trained at Camp Ritchie with Class 25. Drafted in 1943 after Fort Belvoir engineer training, he interrogated for Seventh Army in Germany, then ran publications for military government in Karlsruhe. After a year with the Corps of Engineers in Frankfurt he used the GI Bill at MIT and later co-founded Simpson Gumpertz and Heger.

This Newton Talks oral history was recorded by Melanie Egan at the Newton Free Library on 7 July 2016. It covers Ritchie document and map exercises, the Channel crossing, Seventh Army interrogation, and a brief encounter with Hermann Goering. Original catalog record: Newton Free Library / Minuteman. Transcript: Internet Archive. The video is also on YouTube.

Appears: Werner Gumpertz

Watch on YouTube

• Original catalog record (Newton Free Library / Minuteman)
• Also on YouTube
• Transcript on Internet Archive
• Video by Newton Free Library / Newton Talks / Werner Gumpertz

Gunter Kosse (Zekelman Holocaust Center)

Gunter Kosse was born in Berlin in 1922. After Kristallnacht his father fled to Cuba; Gunter and his mother followed in 1939, then the family reached New York in 1940. Drafted in 1943, he trained at Camp Ritchie (Class 9) and later served with IPW Team 4 of the 8th Infantry Division. Near war’s end he interpreted at Nuremberg discovery interrogations of Kaltenbrunner, Sauckel, and Frick.

This July 2011 Zekelman Holocaust Center oral history covers his escape route, Ritchie training, combat interrogations, Nuremberg work, and long Defense Department career.

Appears: Gunter Kosse

Watch on YouTube

• Open on YouTube
• Open in Zekelman Holocaust Center collections (OHV 416)
• Zekelman Holocaust Center oral-history index
• Oral history by The Zekelman Holocaust Center / Gunter Kosse (OHV 416, July 22, 2011)

Maximilian Lerner (American Veterans Center)

Maximilian Lerner was born in 1924 in Vienna, Austria. Following the Anschluss, life in Vienna became increasingly difficult for Lerner’s family and forced them to flee to Paris. After three challenging years, they secured visas to the United States in April 1941. With a deep hatred for the Nazis, Lerner enlisted in the Army as soon as he turned 18.

Realizing the need for German-speaking soldiers, the Army assigned Lerner to the Military Intelligence Training Center at Camp Ritchie, Maryland in 1943. It was there he trained in intelligence, interrogation, and the German order of battle.

Lerner would deploy to Europe and find himself working alongside the OSS and SHAEF in clandestine military operations. He would be one of the first Americans to enter Paris after its liberation where he interrogated Wehrmacht and SS officers. The war would become intensely personal for Lerner when he was assigned to serve as an interpreter at the recently liberated Dachau concentration camp. The memories of the camp remain with Lerner to this day.

Appears: Maximilian Lerner

Watch on YouTube

• Open on YouTube
• Video by American Veterans Center / Maximilian Lerner

Maximilian Lerner (David S. Frey)

An Afternoon With Ritchie Boy, Maximilian Lerner. Maximilian Lerner was born in Vienna, Austria. His life from there followed a complex sequence of escape and resistance through World War II. He joined the U.S. Army in 1943 and — thanks to his fluency in three languages — was assigned to military intelligence. His destiny took him back to Europe where he served in the Office of Strategic Services, the predecessor of the CIA, through the liberation of the continent and the end of the war. His government career terminated with his assignment as a Special Agent in the Counter Intelligence Corps. In addition to his autobiography, Flight and Return: A Memoir of World War II, Lerner has published two novels based on his experiences. On October 19, 2021, this interview with Maximilian Lerner was conducted on location in New York City by Dr. David S. Frey.

Appears: Maximilian Lerner

Watch on YouTube

• Open on YouTube
• Video by Glenn Godart & Peter Brannigan / Maximilian Lerner

Maximilian Lerner (Museum of Jewish Heritage)

In commemoration of Victory in Europe Day, Maximilian Lerner shared his eyewitness account of military service in Europe during World War II. Lerner was born in 1924 in Vienna. After three years of challenges, he and his family immigrated to New York in April 1941. At 18, Lerner enlisted in the United States Army. Because of his language skills, he was assigned to the Military Intelligence Training Center at Camp Ritchie in Maryland. He went back to Europe as an American soldier in March of 1944, was recruited into the Office of Strategic Services, and served as a Special Agent in the Counter Intelligence Corps while still engaging in secret missions for the OSS. After Germany’s surrender he was involved in the denazification effort.

Appears: Maximilian Lerner

Watch on YouTube

• Open on YouTube
• Video by Museum of Jewish Heritage / Maximilian Lerner

Gerald Lieberman (Zekelman Holocaust Center)

Gerald “Jerry” Lieberman (born Gerhard) left Munich after Kristallnacht, when his father Leo was briefly held at Dachau. The family reached the United States via the Dominican Republic. A Class 10 Ritchie Boy, he interrogated with the 3rd Infantry Division from Anzio into southern France, earned a Purple Heart, and later served with the 10th Mountain Division.

This July 2011 Zekelman Holocaust Center oral history covers his Munich youth, Camp Ritchie training, Mediterranean and European interrogations, and postwar business life.

Appears: Gerald Lieberman

Watch on YouTube

• Open on YouTube
• Open in Zekelman Holocaust Center collections (OHV 415)
• Zekelman Holocaust Center oral-history index
• Oral history by The Zekelman Holocaust Center / Gerald Lieberman (OHV 415, July 24, 2011)

Robert Eliot Matteson

Robert Eliot Matteson (Robert Eliot Matteson, 1914–1994), a Carleton College graduate associated with Camp Ritchie on the roster, headed a Counter Intelligence Corps unit under the 80th Infantry Division in Patton’s Third Army. In Austria he entered Ebensee after the SS fled, tracked Ernst Kaltenbrunner to a mountain hideout near Altaussee, and in late 1945 handled personnel security at the Nuremberg Palace of Justice (including brief confrontations with major defendants). After the war he directed research for Harold Stassen, met Stalin in Moscow in 1947, later visited Albert Speer, and worked on U.S.–Cuba cultural contacts.

This June 1982 video testimony was recorded at the University of Wisconsin–River Falls (audience talk plus studio Q&A) and is held by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (RG-50.043.0005 / irn512456). An English transcript is available from USHMM.

Appears: Robert Eliot Matteson

Watch at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

• Open USHMM catalog record
• English transcript (PDF)
• Download video (MP4)
• Oral history by University of Wisconsin–River Falls / United States Holocaust Memorial Museum / Robert Eliot Matteson (June 1982)

Werner E. Michel (Zekelman Holocaust Center)

Werner E. Michel left Landau for St. Louis in 1936 at age twelve; his father later perished at Auschwitz. After Fort Knox and Fort Benning OCS he trained at Camp Ritchie and commanded IPW Team 270 with the 9th Infantry Division, including Malmedy-related interrogations and undercover CIC work in Bavaria. He later rose to colonel and Defense Intelligence Inspector General.

This July 2011 Zekelman Holocaust Center oral history covers his immigration, Ritchie training, occupation interrogations, and postwar intelligence career.

Appears: Werner E. Michel

Watch on YouTube

• Open on YouTube
• Open in Zekelman Holocaust Center collections (OHV 414)
• Zekelman Holocaust Center oral-history index
• Oral history by The Zekelman Holocaust Center / Werner E. Michel (OHV 414, July 25, 2011)

Albert Miller

Landon Grove, former director of the Ritchie History Museum, had the pleasure of having a virtual conversation with Dr. Albert Miller, a Ritchie Boy who shares his story of hardships faced during the Holocaust, his immigration to the United States, time in the military, and life after. We thank Al for his time and his service to the Country!

Appears: Albert Miller

Watch on YouTube

• Open on YouTube
• Interview by Landon Grove, Ritchie History Museum / Dr. Albert Miller

Warren Musch

World War II Marine Warren Musch is from Virginia, Illinois and enlisted while he was in college. After graduation he was sent to Camp Ritchie, Maryland for combat intel training. He was then assigned to the Third Battalion, 28th Marines, Fifth Marine Division at Camp Pendleton. He served as Combat Intelligence Officer during the invasion and 36-day securement of Iwo Jima and was hand-picked to help plan the invasion of Japan, which of course never happened. He served from 1943–1946. After his service, Warren operated his family farm and taught junior high school science. He was married for 62 years, has two children, five grandchildren, and three great grandchildren.

Appears: Warren Musch

Watch on YouTube

• Open on YouTube
• Video by EF Explore America / Warren Musch

Henry Norton (Zekelman Holocaust Center)

Henry Norton (born Heinrich Julius Nussenbaum in Bautzen) came alone to Rochester, New York, in 1937. An artillery officer before Camp Ritchie, he interrogated with the 88th Infantry Division in Italy, later served in Fifth and Seventh Army G-2, and helped contact German rocket scientists near war’s end. He received the Bronze Star and afterward practiced law in Miami.

This July 2011 Zekelman Holocaust Center oral history covers his family’s fate, combat interrogations in Italy and France, and postwar life.

Appears: Henry Norton

Watch on YouTube

• Open on YouTube
• Open in Zekelman Holocaust Center collections (OHV 417)
• Zekelman Holocaust Center oral-history index
• Oral history by The Zekelman Holocaust Center / Henry Norton (OHV 417, July 25, 2011)

Robert A. Potash

Robert A. Potash was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1921. He studied history at Harvard, trained at Camp Ritchie (Class 19), and served overseas as a technician fourth grade. After the war he became a historian of Argentine politics and military affairs; his memoir Looking Back at My First Eighty Years appeared in 2008. He died in 2016.

Interviewed by Allie Brudney on 13 January 2012 at the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, Massachusetts, this oral history covers family life, Jewish identity and Yiddish education, Harvard years, and related themes (English-language recording with video highlight clips on the Center site).

Appears: Robert A. Potash

Listen on Internet Archive

• Open on Yiddish Book Center
• Open on Internet Archive
• Download MP3 (Internet Archive)
• Oral history by Yiddish Book Center / Robert A. Potash (13 January 2012; interviewer Allie Brudney)

Frederick John Rosenthal

Frederick John Rosenthal (also John) grew up Jewish in Cologne, Germany, was sent for a time to relatives in Holland and Belgium, and reached New York with his family as refugees before the Holocaust intensified. Despite a childhood history of polio, he volunteered for the U.S. Army; after infantry training in South Carolina his German and Dutch led to Camp Ritchie Class 15, where he trained in map work and photo interpretation before being alerted overseas without completing the course. In Antwerp he monitored local media, vetted civilians for collaboration, and tracked V-1 and V-2 rocket patterns. After the war he used the G.I. Bill at Columbia University and built a long federal library career that included assistant chief at the Library of Congress.

Landon Grove, director of the Ritchie History Museum, had the pleasure of having a virtual conversation with Frederick John Rosenthal, a Ritchie Boy who shares his interesting story of his wartime experiences and more. We thank John for his time and his service to the Country! A quick note — We welcomed John as a graduate of the 15th class at Camp Ritchie, but he corrected us that he was a member of Class 15, however he did not complete the courses before being alerted for his overseas assignment.

Appears: Frederick John Rosenthal

Watch on YouTube

• Open on YouTube
• Interview by Landon Grove, Ritchie History Museum / John Rosenthal

Richard Schifter

Born in Vienna in 1923, Richard Schifter emigrated to the United States at the age of 15 — the only member of his family to do so. In 1943 he joined the US Army and trained as an interrogator of prisoners of war. He was assigned to France in the summer of 1944, tasked with gathering important documents and making certain arrests.

After the war he learned that his family did not survive the Holocaust, making his emigration all the more surreal. He would go on to serve in the US State Department, the National Security Council, and the UN Security Council. Over his distinguished career, he has served his adopted country in numerous ways.

Appears: Richard Schifter

Watch on YouTube

• Open on YouTube
• Video by American Veterans Center / Richard Schifter

Walter Schwarz (Zekelman Holocaust Center)

Walter Schwarz was born in Timișoara, Romania, in 1921 and reached the United States in March 1940. After long training at Camp Ritchie (Class 20) he served as a technical sergeant interrogator with Third Army through the Saar, the Battle of the Bulge, and into Czechoslovakia.

This July 2011 Zekelman Holocaust Center oral history covers his Romanian youth, Ritchie training, European interrogations, and postwar textile career.

Appears: Walter Schwarz

Watch on YouTube

• Open on YouTube
• Open in Zekelman Holocaust Center collections (OHV 413)
• Zekelman Holocaust Center oral-history index
• Oral history by The Zekelman Holocaust Center / Walter Schwarz (OHV 413, July 24, 2011)

Alfred Shehab

Lt. Col. Alfred Shehab served during WWII, and saw action during the Battle of the Bulge – Hitler’s month-long final offensive on the Western front. LTC Shehab was assigned to the 38th Cavalry Squadron, a reconnaissance unit tasked with patrolling the forests of the Ardennes region when the battle broke out on December 16, 1944. Here, he talks about his distinguished service, and the impact it has had upon his life.

Appears: Alfred Shehab

Watch on YouTube

• Open on YouTube
• Video by American Veterans Center / Lt. Col. Alfred Shehab

Guy Stern (Zekelman Holocaust Center)

Guy Stern (born Günther Stern in Hildesheim) reached St. Louis in 1937; his parents and siblings were later murdered in the Holocaust. A Class 8 Ritchie Boy and master sergeant, he interrogated from Normandy through the Bulge, earned the Bronze Star, and afterward became a German-literature scholar and Holocaust Center leader in Michigan.

This November 2011 Zekelman Holocaust Center oral history (two parts) covers his Hildesheim youth, immigration, wartime intelligence service, and academic career.

Appears: Guy Stern

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

• Open on YouTube
• Open on YouTube
• Open in Zekelman Holocaust Center collections (OHV 402)
• Zekelman Holocaust Center oral-history index
• Oral history by The Zekelman Holocaust Center / Guy Stern (OHV 402, November 16, 2011)

Ernest Wachtel (Zekelman Holocaust Center)

Ernest Wachtel left Vienna for France in 1938 and reached New York alone in July 1938; his parents followed to a New Jersey chicken farm beside Camp Kilmer. After University of Kentucky topography training he went to Camp Ritchie and served with IPW Team 62 of Patton’s Third Army from Omaha Beach into Germany, including aid to Dachau survivors after liberation.

This July 2011 Zekelman Holocaust Center oral history covers his Vienna escape, Ritchie service, Third Army interrogations, and postwar life.

Appears: Ernest Wachtel

Watch on YouTube

• Open on YouTube
• Open in Zekelman Holocaust Center collections (OHV 418)
• Zekelman Holocaust Center oral-history index
• Oral history by The Zekelman Holocaust Center / Ernest Wachtel (OHV 418, July 24, 2011)

Hugo David Weisgall

Hugo David Weisgall was born on 13 October 1912 in Ivančice, Moravia, emigrated to Baltimore as a child, and trained at Camp Ritchie (Class 2). A composer and conductor, he later taught at the Jewish Theological Seminary, Juilliard, and Queens College.

This 31 May 1995 Milken Archive oral history covers his family and early life, immigration, World War II service, Jewish identity, musical training, and operatic career. Video hosted on Aviary by the Lowell Milken Center.

Appears: Hugo David Weisgall

Watch on Aviary

• Open on Milken Archive
• Open on Milken Archive Aviary
• Oral history by Milken Archive of Jewish Music / Hugo Weisgall (31 May 1995)

See also

• Documentaries/Movies
• Ritchie Boy Programs
• The Stories
• Notable Ritchie Boys
• Symposium Presentation
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