In the highly praised HBO miniseries Band of Brothers (2001), Scott Grimes plays the role of Tech. Sgt. Donald Malarkey, who interrogates a German prisoner about his origins. Much to Malarkey’s surprise, the captive discloses his hometown is Eugene, Oregon, explaining his family’s move to Germany to fight for the cause of their homeland.
This revelation raises an intriguing question: how many German Americans migrated from the United States to support Germany during World War II?
The exact numbers are unknown
The problem with this question is that there’s no hard numbers that can be used to make a determination. There were programs and schemes prior to and during the Second World War, which encouraged ethnic Germans to return to Germany. However, the success of these approaches, in terms of enlisted soldiers, is unknown.
According to George Nafziger’s The German Order of Battle: Waffen SS and Other Units In World War II, the Waffen-SS had five German Americans within its ranks during WWII. They were classified as “US Volksdeutsche,” meaning they were of German descent. In the book itself, these individuals are listed as a footnote among other data regarding the nationality of SS personnel.
The Rüeckwanderer encouraged people to swear allegiance to Germany
Among the programs used to encourage ethnic Germans was the Rüeckwanderer, which urged people to go to their German consulate and swear allegiance to Germany. They needed to state their intent to return to the country, after which they were given access to a special currency that could be spent in Germany.
It’s unknown how many individuals returned before the program ended, nor do we know how many fought for the fatherland.
German American Bund
The German American Bund was an American ally of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party. While its message likely resulted in some German Americans going to Germany to fight in WWII, the organization overall was rather unsuccessful at accomplishing what it set out to do.
Organized similarly to Germany’s government, the German American Bund operated several training camps across the US. To promote Germany’s message, the organization held rallies, and, similar to the Führer, its leaders denounced Communism and spoke ill of the Jewish population.
The first leader of the Bund was imprisoned
The German American Bund’s first leader was WWI veteran Fritz Julius Kuhn, a German-American who was later imprisoned on embezzlement charges. His arrest caused confusion within the organization, with subsequent leaders being far less effective than Kuhn.
The German American Bund was also under close scrutiny by the US government, due to its draft evasion campaign, which led to the prosecution of additional leaders – one even fled to Mexico to avoid the authorities.
The organization’s records don’t show any propaganda urging German Americans to return to Germany. If there were any calls for them to fight for the fatherland, they didn’t originate from within the United States.
Many important documents didn’t survive the war
The limited availability of data may also be due to where the most significant German losses occurred: the Eastern Front. It appears unlikely that the Soviets paid much attention to the citizenship status of the German soldiers they killed or captured as prisoners of war. Their primary concern was that the soldiers were German.
Another reason for the scarcity of records could be related to the conditions of the war. Bombs targeted cities holding documents concerning immigration and the repatriation of soldiers. These papers were likely destroyed during the conflict, as they may not have been considered crucial at the time.
These documents would have been the sole records of German Americans who returned to Germany to fight in WWII. The only other instance where documentation might have been created is if these people returned to the US or were tracked by the Allies. Upon their return to America, they would have had to explain their whereabouts and actions during the war.
Martin James Monti deserted the USAAF and the Waffen-SS
There were a few cases where non-German Americans joined the German military. The most famous was Martin James Monti, a second lieutenant within the US Army Air Forces (USAAF).
Monti grew up listening to radio broadcasts by Roman Catholic priest Charles Coughlin, who spoke highly of Germany and Italy’s fascist governments. He was commissioned as a flight officer into the USAAF in early 1944, and while stationed in Italy he stole a Lockheed P-5E Lightning. He flew to Milan, where he surrendered to the Germans.
The aircraft was tested by the Luftwaffe‘s Zirkus Rosarius unit and Monti was given a spot in the SS‘ propaganda unit, in Berlin. While on the radio, he spoke under an alias. Outside of these duties, he also helped create a propaganda leaflet that was handed out to Allied POWs.
In 1945, aware of Germany’s imminent defeat, Monti fled Berlin. At first, the Allies believed him to be a German POW, but under interrogation he revealed he’d deserted the USAAF. He claimed to have stolen the P-5E because he was “bored,” adding he did so to “personally fight the Germans himself.” He said he’d been shot down during his flight and wound up joining a partisan group.
Monti’s sentence was suspended by President Truman
To the surprise of many, Monti’s account was believed by Americans, leading to his court-martial on charges of desertion and theft. Although initially facing a 15-year prison term, this penalty was later waived by US President Harry S. Truman, on the condition he re-enlist with the USAAF, later the US Air Force. Complying with this condition, Monti received an honorable discharge in January 1948.
Right after his discharge, Monti was apprehended by the FBI for his involvement in propaganda activities in Germany. This led to his indictment on 21 counts of treason, to which he confessed and received a 25-year prison sentence. He served his term in Kansas, attempting at one point to retract his admission, alleging coercion by his legal counsel.
Despite Monti’s appeal, it was ultimately dismissed, and he remained in prison until his parole in 1960.
Donald Malarkey said the encounter in Band of Brothers did occur
The WWII-era German-American POW depicted in Band of Brothers is believed to have been based on a real person. The real-life Donald Malarkey later recalled the incident did occur, although there are no after-action reports to corroborate his story.
Malarkey served as a non-commissioned officer with Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. He participated in several engagements during WWII, including Mission Albany, Operation Market Garden and the Battle of Bastogne.
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The truth is we’ll likely never actually know how many German Americans went to fight for Germany during WWII. We’ll also never know how common such a decision was among the 1.2 million individuals of German descent who lived in the US at the start of the conflict.