The Ritchie Boys: Secret Heroes

This exhibition introduces visitors to nine of the 100s of brave young men primarily from Austria and Germany who left Europe as the pogroms perpetrated by the Nazis against the Jews began to escalate.   They were eventually allowed to enlist into the U.S. military. The exhibit follows them from recruitment through training, their combat experiences, and their lives after the war. The Ritchie Boys became a decisive weapon for the Allies, assigned mostly throughout the European Theater because they knew the area and spoke the language. Some entered Europe before D-Day (June 6, 1944).  They became a primary source of intelligence about German troops, weapons, equipment, and strategic plans.