Patricia Phillips

Run out of Germany by the Nazis, a small contingent of German Jewish intellectuals exacted the perfect revenge--returning to Europe as U.S. soldiers to defeat the enemy. Groundbreaking and unforgettable, THE RITCHIE BOYS is the never-before-told tale of a handful of German nationals who used their language and cultural knowledge to wage psychological warfare against the Nazis and to liberate Europe. Still sharp as octogenarians, “The Ritchie Boys”--a medley of hilariously unlikely soldiers--vividly recall their treacherous and heroic slog through World War II, from their training at Camp Ritchie, Maryland to the beaches of Normandy, from dark weeks spent in a German POW camp to D-Day ebullience. Now highly successful artists, businessmen, and professors, “The Ritchie Boys” laugh at their clumbsy fit within the U.S. military, cry at the horrors of war, and marvel at the unorthodox--but effective--forms of interrogation and subterfuge that helped them to defeat the Nazis.

This compelling documentary recounts the story of 10 Jewish intellectuals who were expelled from Nazi Germany, only to return during World War II to use their intimate knowledge of the country to wreak psychological havoc on Hitler's Nazi forces. Trained at Maryland's Camp Ritchie, these German refugees were a strange sight in the U.S. Army, but their contributions to the war effort were heroic and invaluable.