Goldarbeiter, Fritz F. (32001874)

Fritz F. Goldarbeiter
Sgt. Goldarbeiter posing in 1943 prior to being shipped to Italy.
Personal details
Born	1917 Vienna In 1917, Godart Fled
Nativity	Austria
Religion	Catholic
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
ASN	32001874
Rank	Colonel
Rank at Ritchie	Private
Camp Ritchie	Class 9 (21 June – 18 August 1943)
Section	5D
Enlisted	New York City, New York

Research notes on this page are compiled from the source file and later edits. They may be unverified, incomplete, or incorrect, and should not be treated as established fact. Please correct the article or add sources on the talk page. For class-roster terms, see About the data.

Sources & confidence: Treat Research notes as leads, not settled fact. Prefer NARA, the class roster, newspapers, Find a Grave, or published histories for contested claims. Mark unsourced claims with {{Needs source}}, or explain disagreements on talk. Baseline import notes: About the data.

Fritz F. Goldarbeiter (born 1917) was a Ritchie Boy (from Austria; Catholic) who trained at Camp Ritchie in class 9.

Biography

Born in Manhattan in 1913, the son of Sicilian immigrants, Ritchie Boy Sgt. 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.

From 1924 to 1937, Fritz attended grammar school, high school and college in Austria.

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 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.

In August 1942, Goldarbeiter served as Scout (Pfc) with same Regiment (S-2 staff). On 18 December 1942, Became naturalized citizen. In February 1943, Goldarbeiter served as clerk-typist (Pvt) with same Battalion.

Goldarbeiter (later Fritz Godart) was an Austrian immigrant trained at the Maryland camp in 1943, who then served overseas in the U.S. He was deployed to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations in the fall of 1943 following the Allied landing in Salerno. He was part of the Allied force that liberated Rome in June 1944.

However, Salemi was sent back to Italy in January 1945 for an assignment with the 10th Mtn. 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. He switched careers to become a stockbroker in the 1960s, which he did until his death in 1986.

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. 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.

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.

Salemi was attached to the 3rd Infantry Division from N. He returned to the Italian theater in Tuscany in the fall of '44 before coming home to the U.S. 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. He was a contemporary of fellow Ritchie Boys who served with the G-2 operation in Italy, including Alex Sabbadini, Fritz Goldarbeiter and Bill Galen.

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.

Research notes

• Also Class 6 OB
• See Timeline
• 1917-1985?

Gallery

• 
• 
  Goldarbeiter being decorated with the Bronze Star.
• 
  Salvatore Salemi with future wife Libby Previti, December 1944.
• 
  Salemi was an amateur boxer before entering the Army.

Technical record

Field	Imported value
Nara ASN	32001874
Nara Name	GOLDARBEITER FRITZ F
Nara State	3
Nara County	61
Nara POE	2364
Nara DOE	150141
Nara Grade Alpha	PVT
Nara Grade Code	8
Nara Branch Alpha	BI
Nara Branch Code	0
Branch	Branch Immaterial - Warrant Officers, USA
Nara Term or Enlistment	0
Term of enlistment	Unknown
Defer. Date	0
Nara Source	0
Nara Nativity	N2
Nara Year of Birth	17
Nara Race	J
Nara Race Description	White not yet a citizen
Nara Education	8
Nara Civilian Occupation	106
Nara Marital Status	6
Nara Height (inches)	69
Nara Weight (lbs)	157
Class_ASN	32001874
Class_Name	GOLDARBEITER, Fritz F.
match_method	asn_exact_name_exact
row_source	both

Timeline

• Born 22 September 1917 in Austria.
• 15 January 1941 — Drafted into Army in New York City as Pvt (ASN:32001874).
• 18 December 1942 — Became naturalized citizen.
• 18 August 1943 — Graduated Class 9. Classified as Document Examiner.
• 23 September 1943 — Graduated Class 6 (OB).
• 13 November 1943 — Released from Camp Ritchie as T/3 (Technical Sergeant).
• January 1941 — Basic training with 174th Infantry Regiment (?).
• August 1942 — Served as Scout (Pfc) with same Regiment (S-2 staff).
• February 1943 — Served as clerk-typist (Pvt) with same Battalion.

Sources

• Camp Ritchie Museum, Inc. (The Ritchie History Museum), Classes 1–31 roster data
• Dan Gross research spreadsheets, including original Excel timeline/roster work, combined with other research and records
• NARA World War II Army enlistment records (where a NARA ASN is present)
• 1940 U.S. Census (where a census match is present)
• Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2021-10-17 (1 post)
• Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2026-07-06 (1 post)
• Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2026-07-20 (1 post)
• Facebook-linked source: austriansoldiers.lbg.ac.at
• Dan Gross, Timeline of Fritz F. Goldarbeiter for Camp Ritchie (private research document; 1 source documents reviewed)
• Dan Gross, Timeline of Goldarbeiter, Fritz F. for Camp Ritchie (private research files; selected non-private narrative findings; 1 source files: FRITZ F. GOLDARBEITER.doc)