RSS
Guy Stern, WWII ‘Ritchie Boy’ who became renowned Holocaust scholar, dies at 101
(JTA) — Guy Stern, a German Jewish refugee who was one of the last known surviving members of the celebrated World War II military intelligence unit known as the “Ritchie Boys” and who became an accomplished Holocaust scholar after the war, died Dec. 7, a little over a month shy of his 102nd birthday.
Sent to live in St. Louis by his family as a teenager, Stern became a U.S. citizen and was drafted into the Army in 1943, joining a select group of Jewish refugee soldiers-turned-intelligence operatives who trained at Fort Ritchie in Maryland. As a native German speaker, his skillset was especially valuable for interrogating Nazi prisoners of war.
The so-called Ritchie Boys, who included around 2,000 Jewish refugees, would come to be responsible for what was later estimated as around 60% of the U.S.’ usable intelligence during the war. Their work was classified as top-secret and largely remained under wraps for decades; many veterans, unlike Stern, died without fully telling their stories.
Stern most recently was a central figure in the 2022 PBS documentary “The U.S. And The Holocaust,” directed by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein and Lynn Novick, and he also appeared in a “60 Minutes” special earlier that year. In 2021, the U.S. Senate honored the Ritchie Boys’ service with a bipartisan resolution.
After the war, Stern further explored his bilingual identity and became a comparative literature scholar and university administrator. He served several top roles at Detroit’s Wayne State University, including provost, and at the University of Cincinnati, along the way receiving various honors for his service, including the French Knight of the Legion of Honor in 2017. His widow, the Polish-born German writer Susanna Piontek, is also a frequent explorer of Holocaust memory and translated her husband’s memoir into German.
Stern was memorialized by many Jewish institutions both in and out of his adopted home of Detroit, including the Zekelman Holocaust Center in Farmington Hills, Michigan, where Stern was the director of its International Institute of the Righteous.
“Guy was such an important part of not just The HC but of the entire understanding we have of the war, what was done to win, its significance, and the importance of education to prevent recurrence,” said Alan Zekelman, executive member of the museum’s board, in a statement. “There is no question that his work in this world was important, will be remembered, and that we are all blessed because of him. He will be incredibly missed.”
Stern was born Günther Stern in 1922, in Hildesheim, Germany. Throughout his life he would retain vivid memories of seeing former friends sign up for the Hitler Youth. At 15, he became the only member of his family to escape death at the hands of the Nazis when his parents pooled their resources and sent him to stay with a relative in St. Louis.
In a story Stern would later tell many times, including in his 2020 memoir “Invisible Ink,” he tried in vain to secure a stateside sponsorship for his parents and siblings. Owing to what he said was largely the fault of a duplicitous lawyer, he was unable to find a sponsor who would grant them secure passage, and the rest of his family was later murdered in the Holocaust.
Staying with his aunt and uncle in St. Louis, Stern would often tune into the broadcasts of the fascist American priest Father Coughlin on the radio, who had embraced the same poisonous ideology as the Nazis Stern had fled.
“I was taken aback when I heard Father Coughlin and I thought, ‘Well, I parted with all that when I left Germany,’” Stern told this author in 2019. “I did not project that America would be misled in the same way by demagogic slogans and propaganda the way it had happened in Germany.”
After the war, Stern studied Romance languages at Hofstra University on Long Island, earning his bachelor’s degree in 1948. He received a master’s degree and later a Ph.D in German at Columbia University.
Stern spoke frequently about his experiences as a refugee, sitting for various survivor testimonies and being interviewed in a number of documentaries and TV programs.
Stern remained spry and gregarious into his years as a centenarian, with near-total recall of his life experiences, and would gamely sit down with most anyone who asked for his story. Throughout his life, he maintained a sharp wit.
“If you live long enough,” he told “60 Minutes,” “honors are being showered upon you.”
Stern is survived by Susanna Piontek of West Bloomfield. His first marriage, to Margith Langweiler, ended in divorce. His second wife, Judith Edelstein Owens, died in 2003. A son, Mark Stern, died in 2006.
—
The post Guy Stern, WWII ‘Ritchie Boy’ who became renowned Holocaust scholar, dies at 101 appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
RSS
‘Incredibly Validating’: Documentary About Oct. 7 Rescue Wins People’s Choice Award at Toronto Film Festival
Canadian director Barry Avrich on the red carpet at a screening of “The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue” at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on Sept. 10, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Anna Mehler Paperny
A film about a former Israeli general’s mission to rescue his family during the Hamas terrorist attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, won the People’s Choice award for best documentary at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
Director Barry Avrich’s documentary “The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue” took home the honor after a whirlwind journey of being dropped from the film festival and then reinvited. The Canadian documentary highlights retired Israeli Gen. Noam Tibon and his heroic efforts to rescue his son’s family from Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7, 2023, when they invaded kibbutz Nahal Oz near Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip.
“To win this award is thrilling for Mark and me. The audience voted and I appreciate that. We look forward to the rest of this journey [and] I appreciate everything that TIFF has done for us,” Avrich said while accepting the documentary award trophy at the Lightbox theater. The award was presented by TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey. The film’s producer, Mark Selby, said in his acceptance speech, “I hope that all the filmmakers of this festival feel as supported as Barry and I did during this whole process.”
“The Road Between Us” made its world premiere at TIFF on Sept. 10. TIFF originally invited the film to take part in this year’s festival but then removed the documentary from its lineup after claiming that filmmakers did not obtain clearance to use footage from the deadly attack that was taken by Hamas terrorists themselves. The film was ultimately invited to rejoin TIFF following outrage from pro-Israel supporters around the world and Cameron apologized twice for the festival’s decision to cancel the screening.
Avrich told The Canadian Press it feels “incredibly validating” to have the audience vote for his film to win the People’s Choice award for best documentary.
“We live in a country where it’s about freedom of expression. So, people want to protest. They can protest,” he told the publication. “We encourage people to see the film and if there’s something they want to protest about in reference to the film, fine. Or don’t buy a ticket. Either way, I’m fine with that … I’ve always said this is a film about family.”
“People can have an opinion but we encourage them to see the film first and then form their opinion based on what they’ve seen,” Selby added.
“The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue” will be released in theaters across North America on Oct. 3. Watch the trailer below.
RSS
Netanyahu Says Israel Should Invest in Influence Operations to Counteract Isolation
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at the opening event of the largest-ever bipartisan delegation of American legislators to Israel at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem on Sept. 15, 2025. Photo: Debbie Hill/Pool via REUTERS
Israel needs to invest heavily in “influence operations” in traditional and social media to counteract economic isolation arising from negative publicity abroad, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday.
Speaking at a Finance Ministry conference, Netanyahu said foreign investment into Israel had held up in the wake of a 12-day war against Iran in June, which he said removed an immediate threat of a nuclear-armed foe.
But in a rare acknowledgment of the isolation arising from international criticism of Israel‘s war in Gaza, he said Israel faced an economic threat of sanctions and other measures.
He blamed isolation on minorities in Europe pushing “anti-Zionist and extreme Islamist ideology,” and on countries such as Qatar, backer of Arabic broadcaster Al Jazeera, investing in shaping global discourse through social media.
“This leads to sanctions against Israel and alters Israel‘s international standing … and this leads to a kind of isolation for Israel,” Netanyahu said. “We can break out of this isolation, but we must invest heavily in countermeasures — particularly in media and social media influence operations.”
Netanyahu said Israel should reduce the dependence of its industries on trade with other countries.
“We might find ourselves blocked not only in R&D but also in actual industrial production. We must start developing our capabilities to rely more on ourselves,” he said, adding that should also include arms and other defense products.
In a response, opposition leader Yair Lapid said international isolation was “the product of a wrong and failed policy by Netanyahu and his government.”
“They are turning Israel into a third world country and are not even trying to change the situation,” he wrote on X. “Israel can return to being successful, popular, with a thriving first-world economy.”
The war in Gaza was triggered by a rampage into southern Israel by Hamas terrorists who killed around 1,200 people and captured 251 hostages.
RSS
Israel Threatens Hamas ‘Wherever They Are’ as Qatar Hosts Summit
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu takes a question from the media next to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at their joint press conference at the Prime Minister’s Office, during Rubio’s visit, in Jerusalem, Sept. 15, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Nathan Howard/Pool
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he did not rule out further strikes on Hamas leaders “wherever they are,” as the heads of Arab and Islamic states held a summit to back Qatar after Israel‘s attack last week in the Gulf state.
The Sept. 9 strike targeting leaders of the Palestinian terrorist group in Doha was a significant escalation of Israeli military action in a region shaken by conflict since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attacks that ignited the Gaza war.
While the assembled Arab and Muslim leaders were expressing solidarity with Qatar, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Netanyahu and gave strong backing for Israel‘s stance, although Washington has expressed unease over the Qatar strike.
Speaking alongside Netanyahu in Israel, Rubio said the only way to end the war in Gaza would be for Hamas fighters to free all hostages and surrender. While the US wants a diplomatic end to the war, “we have to be prepared for the possibility that’s not going to happen,” he said.
Washington has said it was not warned in advance before Israel attacked Qatar, which houses the biggest US military base in the Middle East. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that Israel had to be “very, very careful.”
“They have to do something about Hamas, but Qatar has been a great ally to the United States,” Trump said.
QATAR DENOUNCES ‘COWARDLY AND TREACHEROUS’ STRIKE
Hamas has said the Israeli strike killed five of its members, including a son of its exiled Gaza chief, but its leadership survived. Qatar says one of its security agents also died.
Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani urged the summit to take “practical and decisive steps” in response to the “cowardly and treacherous” strike, saying it occurred as Hamas leaders were studying a US ceasefire proposal.
The final communique of the summit, which brought together states including Iran, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia, did not contain language that appeared in a draft seen by Reuters which said the Israeli attack and other “hostile acts” threaten coexistence and efforts to normalize ties in the region.
A separate statement by the Gulf Cooperation Council said Israel’s “continuation of these aggressive policies undermines … the future of existing understandings and agreements with Israel.”
The summit’s communique did call on countries to review diplomatic and economic ties with Israel, in what Arab League Assistant Secretary General Hossam Zaki said was an invitation to states that have relations with Israel to revise them.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt, a US ally which signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, told the meeting Israel‘s actions “put obstacles in the way of any opportunities for any new peace agreements and even aborts existing ones.”
RUBIO TO FLY TO QATAR
Rubio will travel to Qatar after his visit to Israel. He called on Qatar to continue to play a constructive role in resolving the Gaza conflict, saying it could help reach the goals of releasing all 48 hostages still held in Gaza, disarming Hamas and building a better future for Gazans.
But his words alongside Netanyahu suggested Washington now considers a diplomatic solution unlikely and is backing Israel‘s plan for a major new military operation that Netanyahu says will crush Hamas once and for all.
“As much as we may wish that there be a peaceful, diplomatic way to end it, and we’ll continue to explore and be dedicated to it, we also have to be prepared for the possibility that’s not going to happen,” said Rubio, calling Hamas “savage terrorists.”
“Hamas needs to cease to exist as an armed element that can threaten the peace and security of the region,” he said.
Netanyahu did not rule out annexing the West Bank in response to moves by some countries to recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly later this month. France and Britain are among the countries that have said they will do so.
Asked whether Israel was considering extending its sovereignty to the West Bank, Netanyahu said: “A future step is a future step. We don’t need to expose it ahead of time.”
“It’s clear that taking unilateral actions against us simply invites unilateral actions on our part,” he said.
While diplomacy was unfolding in Jerusalem and Doha, Israeli forces continued their military campaign in Gaza City.
The war in Gaza was triggered by a rampage into southern Israel by Hamas terrorists who killed around 1,200 people and captured 251 hostages.