| Edition |
First edition. |
| Description |
xii, 429 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages [385]-418) and an index. |
| Note |
Includes photographic images on end papers. |
| Contents |
Prologue: Germany 1938 -- Saving the children -- Escaping the Nazis -- A place to call home -- Camp Ritchie -- Going back -- Normandy -- The breakout -- Holland -- The forests -- Return to Deutschland -- The camps -- Denazification -- Going home. |
| Summary |
Drawing on veteran interviews and archival research, an account of the contributions of the German-born Jewish-American soldiers known as the Ritchie Boys describes how they risked their lives to join major combat units and gather crucial intelligence from German POWs. |
|
As Jewish families were trying desperately to get out of Europe during the menacing rise of Hitler's Nazi party, some chose to send their young sons away to uncertain futures in America, perhaps never to see them again. As these boys became young men, they were determined to join the fight in Europe. Known as the Ritchie Boys, after the Maryland camp where they were trained, these army recruits knew what would happen to them if they were captured. Yet they leapt at the opportunity to be sent in small, elite teams to join every major combat unit in Europe, where they collected key tactical intelligence on enemy strength, troop and armored movements, and defensive positions. A post-war army report found that nearly 60 percent of the credible intelligence gathered in Europe came from the Ritchie Boys. Drawing on original interviews and extensive archival research, Henderson vividly re-creates the stories of six of these men in an epic tale of heroism, courage, and patriotism that will not soon be forgotten. -- from dust jacket. |
| Subject |
World War, 1939-1945 -- Participation, Jewish.
|
|
World War, 1939-1945 -- Military intelligence -- United States.
|
|
Jewish soldiers -- United States.
|
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Jews, German -- United States.
|
| ISBN |
0062419099 (hardcover) |
|
9780062419095 (hardcover) |
|
