Watching this wonderful Christian Bauer documentary we couldn't help drawing a parallel to the present area of conflict, Iraq, in which some of our soldiers have been accused of abuse of the prisoners they were interrogating. "The Ritchie Boys", in contrast, offers an excellent account of a group of young men, recently arrived to the United States that were enlisted in a special division of the US Army that dealt with the interrogation of captured enemy soldiers. These newly arrive immigrants had an unique talent in that they were fluent in their language, and in English, thus making them perfect to get the most out of the prisoners they came in contact with.
The documentary speak volumes about these men who recount their story for our benefit. They survived the horrors in their native countries out of the sacrifice of their parents, who decided to send them abroad, rather than see them die, a fate most of those that stayed behind would suffer.
We are introduced to some of the survivors of the group that were known affectionately as "The Ritchie Boys", as they look today. After having been inducted in the Army, as WWII was being fought in Europe, most of the men who had a European background and could help in the process of talking to the captured enemy in their native languages, were sent to Fort Ritchie in rural Maryland to prepare them for their jobs.
Most of these fellows were of Jewish background and they had a real reason for coming down hard on the captured soldiers, but instead, they acted with the most incredible restraint, in what must have been a horrible situation. After all, most of them ended up going back to a Germany that was exterminating their families, friends, and culture. It is to the credit that most of these men went to make something out of themselves and contributed to their adopted country in ways no one could have imagined.
Mr. Bauer, and his editor, David Kazala, have done a wonderful job of mixing the narrative of the Ritchie Boys with documentary footage of WWII.
The documentary speak volumes about these men who recount their story for our benefit. They survived the horrors in their native countries out of the sacrifice of their parents, who decided to send them abroad, rather than see them die, a fate most of those that stayed behind would suffer.
We are introduced to some of the survivors of the group that were known affectionately as "The Ritchie Boys", as they look today. After having been inducted in the Army, as WWII was being fought in Europe, most of the men who had a European background and could help in the process of talking to the captured enemy in their native languages, were sent to Fort Ritchie in rural Maryland to prepare them for their jobs.
Most of these fellows were of Jewish background and they had a real reason for coming down hard on the captured soldiers, but instead, they acted with the most incredible restraint, in what must have been a horrible situation. After all, most of them ended up going back to a Germany that was exterminating their families, friends, and culture. It is to the credit that most of these men went to make something out of themselves and contributed to their adopted country in ways no one could have imagined.
Mr. Bauer, and his editor, David Kazala, have done a wonderful job of mixing the narrative of the Ritchie Boys with documentary footage of WWII.