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Goldarbeiter, Fritz Francis (32001874): Difference between revisions

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Expand documented full name in infobox and lead
Enrich Goldarbeiter/Godart (Austrian Soldiers + Glenn Godart); HQ portrait; remove Salemi contamination and Bronze Star gallery duplicate; expand Francis
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|birth_year=1917
|birth_year=1917
|nativity=Austria
|nativity=Austria
|religion=Catholic
|religion=Jewish
|enlistment_place=NEW YORK CITY NEW YORK
|enlistment_place=NEW YORK CITY NEW YORK
|state=HAWAII
|state=HAWAII
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|class_number=9
|class_number=9
|class_display=9
|class_display=9
|photo=1465345835629672.jpg
|photo=Fritz_Francis_Goldarbeiter_1944_Glenn_Godart.jpg
|caption=Sgt. Goldarbeiter posing in 1943 prior to being shipped to Italy.
|caption=Fritz Francis Goldarbeiter, 1944. Photo © Glenn Godart.
|birth_place=Vienna in 1917, Godart fled
|birth_place=Vienna, Austria
|rank_final=Colonel
|rank_final=Technical Sergeant
|birth_date=22 September 1917
|death_date=3 July 1986
|death_year=1986
|death_place=New York City
|teams=OB 6
|awards=Bronze Star Medal
|awards_grid=Bronze Star Medal
|awards_ribbons=Ribbon_Bronze_Star_Medal_ribbon.png
|awards_ribbon_rows=Ribbon_Bronze_Star_Medal_ribbon.png
}}
}}


<div class="soldier-lead">
<div class="soldier-lead">
'''[[Goldarbeiter, Fritz Francis (32001874)|Fritz Francis Goldarbeiter]]''' (born 1917) was a Ritchie Boy (from Austria; Catholic) who trained at Camp Ritchie in [[:Category:Class 9|class 9]].
'''Fritz Francis Goldarbeiter''' (later '''Fritz Francis Godart'''; 22 September 1917 – 3 July 1986) was a Vienna-born Ritchie Boy who trained with [[:Category:Class 9|Class 9]] and [[Team OB 6|OB Team 6]], then served as an order-of-battle analyst and interrogator with Fifth Army and IV Corps in the Italian Campaign. He received the Bronze Star Medal.
</div>
</div>


== Biography ==
== 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.
Fritz Francis Goldarbeiter (later Fritz Francis Godart) was born on 22 September 1917 in Vienna to a Jewish family. After the Handelsakademie he worked as an intern at the Bank Brüll and Kalmus with his uncles and as an amateur photographer. Hired in January 1938 to prepare for taking over the bank, he fled to France after the Anschluss, studying at universities in Grenoble and Paris. In July 1939 he sailed from Le Havre to the United States and worked in New York as a sandal seller and for a family friend.


From 1924 to 1937, Fritz attended grammar school, high school and college in Austria.
Goldarbeiter entered the U.S. Army in January 1941 in New York and trained with the 174th Infantry Regiment at Fort Dix, New Jersey. After basic training he specialized as a field scout in the S-2 section of the regiment’s 2nd Battalion, took part in a maneuver with the 44th Infantry Division, and later served as a clerk-typist in the battalion and personnel section. Stations included Camp Claiborne, Louisiana; Fort Lewis, Washington — where he became a U.S. Citizen in December 1942 — and Ojai, California.


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 May 1943 he volunteered for the Military Intelligence Training Center at Camp Ritchie. With [[:Category:Class 9|Class 9]] he trained as a German prisoner-of-war interrogator (IPW) and as a clerk, linguist, document examiner, and Order of Battle specialist on the structure of the Wehrmacht; he also completed Order of Battle work associated with Class 6. In November 1943, as a German analyst with [[Team OB 6|Order of Battle Team No. 6]], he shipped from Hampton Roads, Virginia, to the Mediterranean Theater and joined the 2680th Headquarters Company of the Military Intelligence Service. He was detached to Fifth Army headquarters and, from May 1944, to the intelligence service of IV Corps near Lago d’Averno outside Naples. His son Glenn Godart later recalled that after finishing Ritchie training in October 1943 his father deployed on 23 November 1943 to North Africa and then fought for some twenty-three months with Fifth Army and IV Corps in Italy as an Order of Battle, interrogation, and translation specialist.


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.
As chief clerk of the Order of Battle section at IV Corps and assistant to his superior officer, Goldarbeiter did analytical enemy intelligence work and also interrogated prisoners. He was in Rome around the city’s liberation in June 1944 (and again that August). In April 1945, as a German translator, he took part in the bloodless surrender and disarmament of the SS garrison in Milan, a Wehrmacht mountain unit, and the questioning of high-ranking German officers — service for which he received the Bronze Star Medal. After the war in Europe ended he served at 15th Army Group headquarters and with the 6695th Headquarters & Headquarters Company / MIS in the U.S. Occupation of Vienna. Separated in October 1945 at Fort Dix as a Technical Sergeant (ASN 32001874), he settled in the New York area, anglicized his surname to Godart (also spelled Godardt in some records), worked as a toy importer/exporter, and with his wife Suzanne raised four children — Jill, Glenn, and twins Jeffrey and Thomas. He died on 3 July 1986 in New York City.
 
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, [[Goldarbeiter, Fritz Francis (32001874)|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 ==
== Research notes ==
* Also Class 6 OB
* Also completed Class 6 Order of Battle training (roster / timeline research).
* 1917-1985?
* Later surname Godart (family); Austrian Soldiers project also includes spelling Godardt.
* Gallery previously mixed in unrelated Salvatore Salemi images — removed; unlabeled Bronze Star duplicate dropped.


== Gallery ==
== Gallery ==
<div class="soldier-gallery">
<div class="soldier-gallery">
<gallery mode="packed" heights="140px">
<gallery mode="packed" heights="140px">
4660533173968567.jpg
1465345835629672.jpg|Sgt. Goldarbeiter posing in 1943 prior to being shipped to Italy (earlier Facebook copy of the portrait).
1465345948962994.jpg|Goldarbeiter being decorated with the Bronze Star.
1465345948962994.jpg|Goldarbeiter being decorated with the Bronze Star.
1478472787650310.jpg|Salvatore Salemi with future wife Libby Previti, December 1944.
1478472960983626.jpg|Salemi was an amateur boxer before entering the Army.
</gallery>
</gallery>
</div>
</div>
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<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed soldier-timeline">
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed soldier-timeline">
<div class="soldier-timeline-body">
<div class="soldier-timeline-body">
* Born 22 September 1917 in Austria.
* 22 September 1917 — Born in Vienna, Austria.
* January 1941 — Basic training with 174th Infantry Regiment (?).
* January 1938 — Hired at Bank Brüll and Kalmus in Vienna to prepare for bank succession.
* 15 January 1941 — Drafted into Army in New York City as Pvt (ASN:32001874).
* August 1938 — Fled to France after the Anschluss; studied in Grenoble and Paris.
* August 1942 — Served as Scout (Pfc) with same Regiment (S-2 staff).
* July 1939 — Sailed from Le Havre to the United States; worked in New York.
* 18 December 1942 — Became naturalized citizen.
* 15 January 1941 — Entered the U.S. Army in New York City (ASN 32001874); 174th Infantry Regiment, Fort Dix, New Jersey.
* February 1943 — Served as clerk-typist (Pvt) with same Battalion.
* August 1942 — Scout (Pfc), S-2 staff, 2nd Battalion, 174th Infantry Regiment.
* 18 August 1943 — Graduated Class 9. Classified as Document Examiner.
* December 1942 — Naturalized as a U.S. citizen at Fort Lewis, Washington.
* 23 September 1943 — Graduated Class 6 (OB).
* February 1943 — Clerk-typist with the same battalion.
* 13 November 1943 — Released from Camp Ritchie as T/3 (Technical Sergeant).
* May 1943 — Volunteered for transfer to Camp Ritchie, Maryland.
* 18 August 1943 — Graduated [[:Category:Class 9|Class 9]]; classified Document Examiner / IPW (German) and Order of Battle training.
* 23 September 1943 — Graduated Class 6 (Order of Battle).
* October 1943 — Completed Camp Ritchie training (family account).
* 13 November 1943 — Released from Camp Ritchie as T/3.
* 23 November 1943 — Deployed via Hampton Roads / Newport News toward North Africa and the Mediterranean as German analyst, [[Team OB 6|OB Team 6]], 2680th Headquarters Company, MIS; attached to Fifth Army.
* May 1944 — Assigned to IV Corps intelligence near Lago d’Averno (Naples).
* June 1944 — In Rome at the liberation of the city.
* April 1945 — German translator in the surrender/disarmament of the SS garrison in Milan and related high-level interrogations; awarded Bronze Star Medal.
* May 1945 — After VE Day, service with 15th Army Group headquarters and 6695th HQ & HQ Company / MIS in occupied Vienna.
* October 1945 — Separated at Fort Dix as Technical Sergeant.
* 3 July 1986 — Died in New York City.
</div>
</div>
</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>
</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>
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* Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2026-07-06 (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)
* Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2026-07-20 (1 post)
* Facebook-linked source: [https://austriansoldiers.lbg.ac.at/ 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 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)
* 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)
* [https://austriansoldiers.lbg.ac.at/bio/fritz-f-goldarbeiter/ Austrian Soldiers / Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft — Fritz F. Goldarbeiter biography]
* Glenn Godart (son), family account of Fritz Francis Goldarbeiter / Godart’s Camp Ritchie training, Fifth Army / IV Corps Italian service, Bronze Star, and postwar occupation duty in Austria
* [[:File:Fritz_Francis_Goldarbeiter_1944_Glenn_Godart.jpg|Portrait]] — © Glenn Godart (higher-resolution copy via Austrian Soldiers biography)

Revision as of 01:49, 24 September 2026

Fritz Francis Goldarbeiter
Fritz Francis Goldarbeiter
Fritz Francis Goldarbeiter, 1944. Photo © Glenn Godart.
Personal details
Born22 September 1917
Vienna, Austria
Died3 July 1986
New York City
NativityAustria
ReligionJewish
AwardsBronze Star Medal
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch United States Army
ASN32001874
RankTechnical Sergeant
Rank at RitchiePrivate
Camp RitchieClass 9 (21 June – 18 August 1943)
Section5D
EnlistedNew York City, New York
Awards and honors
Bronze Star Medal
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 Francis Goldarbeiter (later Fritz Francis Godart; 22 September 1917 – 3 July 1986) was a Vienna-born Ritchie Boy who trained with Class 9 and OB Team 6, then served as an order-of-battle analyst and interrogator with Fifth Army and IV Corps in the Italian Campaign. He received the Bronze Star Medal.

Biography

Fritz Francis Goldarbeiter (later Fritz Francis Godart) was born on 22 September 1917 in Vienna to a Jewish family. After the Handelsakademie he worked as an intern at the Bank Brüll and Kalmus with his uncles and as an amateur photographer. Hired in January 1938 to prepare for taking over the bank, he fled to France after the Anschluss, studying at universities in Grenoble and Paris. In July 1939 he sailed from Le Havre to the United States and worked in New York as a sandal seller and for a family friend.

Goldarbeiter entered the U.S. Army in January 1941 in New York and trained with the 174th Infantry Regiment at Fort Dix, New Jersey. After basic training he specialized as a field scout in the S-2 section of the regiment’s 2nd Battalion, took part in a maneuver with the 44th Infantry Division, and later served as a clerk-typist in the battalion and personnel section. Stations included Camp Claiborne, Louisiana; Fort Lewis, Washington — where he became a U.S. Citizen in December 1942 — and Ojai, California.

In May 1943 he volunteered for the Military Intelligence Training Center at Camp Ritchie. With Class 9 he trained as a German prisoner-of-war interrogator (IPW) and as a clerk, linguist, document examiner, and Order of Battle specialist on the structure of the Wehrmacht; he also completed Order of Battle work associated with Class 6. In November 1943, as a German analyst with Order of Battle Team No. 6, he shipped from Hampton Roads, Virginia, to the Mediterranean Theater and joined the 2680th Headquarters Company of the Military Intelligence Service. He was detached to Fifth Army headquarters and, from May 1944, to the intelligence service of IV Corps near Lago d’Averno outside Naples. His son Glenn Godart later recalled that after finishing Ritchie training in October 1943 his father deployed on 23 November 1943 to North Africa and then fought for some twenty-three months with Fifth Army and IV Corps in Italy as an Order of Battle, interrogation, and translation specialist.

As chief clerk of the Order of Battle section at IV Corps and assistant to his superior officer, Goldarbeiter did analytical enemy intelligence work and also interrogated prisoners. He was in Rome around the city’s liberation in June 1944 (and again that August). In April 1945, as a German translator, he took part in the bloodless surrender and disarmament of the SS garrison in Milan, a Wehrmacht mountain unit, and the questioning of high-ranking German officers — service for which he received the Bronze Star Medal. After the war in Europe ended he served at 15th Army Group headquarters and with the 6695th Headquarters & Headquarters Company / MIS in the U.S. Occupation of Vienna. Separated in October 1945 at Fort Dix as a Technical Sergeant (ASN 32001874), he settled in the New York area, anglicized his surname to Godart (also spelled Godardt in some records), worked as a toy importer/exporter, and with his wife Suzanne raised four children — Jill, Glenn, and twins Jeffrey and Thomas. He died on 3 July 1986 in New York City.

Research notes

  • Also completed Class 6 Order of Battle training (roster / timeline research).
  • Later surname Godart (family); Austrian Soldiers project also includes spelling Godardt.
  • Gallery previously mixed in unrelated Salvatore Salemi images — removed; unlabeled Bronze Star duplicate dropped.

Gallery

  • Sgt. Goldarbeiter posing in 1943 prior to being shipped to Italy (earlier Facebook copy of the portrait).
    Sgt. Goldarbeiter posing in 1943 prior to being shipped to Italy (earlier Facebook copy of the portrait).
  • Goldarbeiter being decorated with the Bronze Star.
    Goldarbeiter being decorated with the Bronze Star.

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

  • 22 September 1917 — Born in Vienna, Austria.
  • January 1938 — Hired at Bank Brüll and Kalmus in Vienna to prepare for bank succession.
  • August 1938 — Fled to France after the Anschluss; studied in Grenoble and Paris.
  • July 1939 — Sailed from Le Havre to the United States; worked in New York.
  • 15 January 1941 — Entered the U.S. Army in New York City (ASN 32001874); 174th Infantry Regiment, Fort Dix, New Jersey.
  • August 1942 — Scout (Pfc), S-2 staff, 2nd Battalion, 174th Infantry Regiment.
  • December 1942 — Naturalized as a U.S. citizen at Fort Lewis, Washington.
  • February 1943 — Clerk-typist with the same battalion.
  • May 1943 — Volunteered for transfer to Camp Ritchie, Maryland.
  • 18 August 1943 — Graduated Class 9; classified Document Examiner / IPW (German) and Order of Battle training.
  • 23 September 1943 — Graduated Class 6 (Order of Battle).
  • October 1943 — Completed Camp Ritchie training (family account).
  • 13 November 1943 — Released from Camp Ritchie as T/3.
  • 23 November 1943 — Deployed via Hampton Roads / Newport News toward North Africa and the Mediterranean as German analyst, OB Team 6, 2680th Headquarters Company, MIS; attached to Fifth Army.
  • May 1944 — Assigned to IV Corps intelligence near Lago d’Averno (Naples).
  • June 1944 — In Rome at the liberation of the city.
  • April 1945 — German translator in the surrender/disarmament of the SS garrison in Milan and related high-level interrogations; awarded Bronze Star Medal.
  • May 1945 — After VE Day, service with 15th Army Group headquarters and 6695th HQ & HQ Company / MIS in occupied Vienna.
  • October 1945 — Separated at Fort Dix as Technical Sergeant.
  • 3 July 1986 — Died in New York City.

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)
  • 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)
  • Austrian Soldiers / Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft — Fritz F. Goldarbeiter biography
  • Glenn Godart (son), family account of Fritz Francis Goldarbeiter / Godart’s Camp Ritchie training, Fifth Army / IV Corps Italian service, Bronze Star, and postwar occupation duty in Austria
  • Portrait — © Glenn Godart (higher-resolution copy via Austrian Soldiers biography)
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