Fritz Francis Goldarbeiter

Fritz Francis Goldarbeiter
Fritz Francis Goldarbeiter, 1944. Photo © Glenn Godart.
Personal details
Born	22 September 1917 Vienna, Austria
Died	3 July 1986 New York City
Nativity	Austria
Religion	Jewish
Awards	Bronze Star Medal
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
ASN	32001874
Rank	Technical Sergeant
Rank at Ritchie	Private
Camp Ritchie	Class 9 (21 June – 18 August 1943)
Section	5D
Enlisted	New York City, New York

Awards and honors

Bronze Star Medal

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Fritz Francis Goldarbeiter (later Fritz Francis Godart; 22 September 1917 – 3 July 1986) was a Vienna-born Jewish refugee and Ritchie Boy who trained in prisoner-of-war interrogation and Order of Battle with Class 9 and OB Team 6. He served with Fifth Army and IV Corps in Italy — including high-level surrenders and interrogations in Milan — earned the Bronze Star Medal, and returned to occupied Vienna in U.S. Army uniform seven years after fleeing the Anschluss.

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 Nazi-controlled Austria after the Anschluss, studying in Grenoble and Paris. In July 1939 he sailed from Le Havre to the United States and worked in New York as a shoe / sandal salesman 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. He completed both the eight-week prisoner-of-war interrogation course and the eight-week Order of Battle course — training with Class 9 as a German IPW interrogator, clerk, linguist, document examiner, and Wehrmacht Order of Battle specialist, and finishing Order of Battle work associated with Class 6 by October 1943. In November 1943, as a German analyst with Order of Battle Team No. 6, he joined the 2680th Headquarters Company of the Military Intelligence Service. His son Glenn Godart recalled that he shipped from Newport News two days before Thanksgiving (23 November 1943), missing the holiday meal: he reached Algiers in mid-December and disembarked at Naples on 31 December 1943 in a snowstorm, having missed Christmas dinner as well.

Assigned to Fifth Army G-2 under General Mark Clark, Goldarbeiter supported Allied operations through the Naples–Foggia, Rome–Arno, North Apennines, and Po Valley campaigns as an intelligence analyst and interrogator — studying enemy movements, examining captured documents, and questioning German prisoners. After the liberation of Rome he transferred with IV Corps under General Willis D. Crittenberger (intelligence near Lago d’Averno outside Naples). He was in Rome around the city’s liberation in June 1944.

In April–May 1945 he was in Milan as a German translator and interrogator when the war in Italy ended. Family and Austrian research credit him with work tied to the interrogation of General Max Pemsel, the surrender of General Hans Schlemmer, and the arrest of Colonel Walter Rauff at the Hotel Regina, as well as the bloodless surrender and disarmament of the SS garrison in Milan and a Wehrmacht mountain unit — service for which he received the Bronze Star Medal.

After VE Day he served with 15th Army Group headquarters and the 6695th Headquarters & Headquarters Company / MIS in the U.S. Occupation of Vienna — returning to the city he had fled in 1938, almost exactly seven years later, in an American uniform. He found a hollowed-out, soot-stained capital carved among Soviet, American, British, and French zones: he photographed the burned shell of St. Stephen’s Cathedral and the skeletal State Opera, and saw familiar streets choked with rubble after dozens of Allied bombing raids, including the leveled block where his parents had lived. Separated in October 1945 at Fort Dix as a Technical Sergeant (ASN 32001874), he changed his name to Fritz Francis Godart the following month. He settled in the New York area, 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, at age 68.

Research notes

• Also completed Class 6 Order of Battle training (roster / timeline research).
• Later surname Godart (family); Austrian Soldiers project also includes spelling Godardt.
• Unrelated Facebook gallery images and an unlabeled Bronze Star duplicate were removed during 2026 cleanup.

Gallery

• 
  Sgt. Goldarbeiter posing in 1943 prior to being shipped to Italy (earlier Facebook copy of the portrait).
• 
  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 — Arrived Camp Ritchie for eight-week PW interrogation and Order of Battle courses.
• 18 August 1943 — Graduated Class 9; IPW (German) / Document Examiner and related training.
• 23 September 1943 — Graduated Class 6 (Order of Battle).
• October 1943 — Completed final Camp Ritchie class (family account).
• 13 November 1943 — Released from Camp Ritchie as T/3.
• 23 November 1943 — Shipped from Newport News (two days before Thanksgiving) with OB Team 6 / 2680th HQ Company, MIS, toward the Mediterranean.
• 31 December 1943 — Disembarked Naples in a snowstorm; assigned to Fifth Army G-2 (General Mark Clark).
• 1944–1945 — Italian Campaign service including Naples–Foggia, Rome–Arno, North Apennines, and Po Valley operations.
• June 1944 — In Rome at the liberation; afterward transferred to IV Corps (General Willis D. Crittenberger).
• October 1945 — Separated at Fort Dix as Technical Sergeant.
• November 1945 — Changed name to Fritz Francis Godart.
• 3 July 1986 — Died in New York City (age 68).
• Mid-December 1943 — Arrived Algiers.
• April–May 1945 — In Milan: interpreter/interrogator work including General Max Pemsel, surrender of General Hans Schlemmer, arrest of Colonel Walter Rauff at the Hotel Regina; SS garrison / mountain-unit disarmament; Bronze Star Medal.
• May–October 1945 — Occupation duty in Vienna (15th Army Group / 6695th HQ & HQ Company, MIS); photographed wartime damage including St. Stephen’s Cathedral and the State Opera.

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)
• Glenn Godart (son), additional family details: dual eight-week Ritchie courses; Newport News / Algiers / Naples landing; Mark Clark and Willis Crittenberger; Milan work with Pemsel, Schlemmer, and Rauff; return to ruined Vienna seven years after 1938 flight; name change November 1945