The Ritchie Boys

I just read the book yesterday so I can compare every single story from the book to the documentary. It holds up for sure, no doubt. They interview American Jews who spoke German and therefore worked as prison interrogators during WW2 near the battle lines. They didn't fight, but they got a ton of useful info for the army that saved thousands of lives and even made some German prisoners helpful to the Allies like finding mines from them. This doc doesn't go into any interview or info gained. Quite a shame as they actually did a hell of a lot for the US army. The work they did is extremely impressive. Rather the doc is about the sad and funny personal stories and experiences they had. They were Jews who were eager to fight Germans as they were forced to flee Germany and leave their families behind as USA had strict immigration laws. And USA figured out the best use for them. They also have high IQ so even these interviews many years later are with Jews with their high wits intact which makes the doc work. Usually interviews with regular people are boring. As this was an intelligence unit they know how to explain everything in proper detail. Of course we only get stories from people still alive and we don't get an overview over what info what used where as it's about the people not the missions or battles.

Largely they retell stories from the book. But 20% of stories are completely new, which surprised me. All the stories are great. And the doc is just a fun watch even though it's a shame they don't use more WW2 footage or show maps. Largely they film current locations and the interview subjects. It obviously could have been stronger if it focused on single battles one at a time and what info was used when. But I'm shocked about how few ratings this doc has online and how overlooked it is. Come on people, this is an extremely important part of WW2. Jews fighting Nazis in France, Holland, Germany. While never firing a shot. Of course the doc is just a short intro. It will leave you lacking crucial info. But they basically mention all the big events. For example, in the book a Jew says he found a girlfriend in Paris and therefore wanted to stay. Hence he tanked his interview for a super cozy and important job in London. Yet they found out they could use him in Germany and sent him close to the battle lines meaning that he went to hell for lying. In the doc he of course just says he was sent to Germany never explaining the background story that's likely the most cowardly story in the book as they get to tell their own stories. So the doc misses a lot of these deeper points. But even the book is surely lacking on a lot of details as they wouldn't exactly mention war crimes or great cowardice. It's a great doc to go along with the book. But yeah, when a TV show is made I hope they focus on battles and interviews. For war nerds how they conducted interviews and how they gained and used info is the most interesting part and that part is largely unexplained.