Bryan Mark Rigg

Born and reared as a Baptist,{{cite news |author=Dorie Baker |newspaper=Yale Bulletin and Calendar |date=May 3, 2002 |volume=30 |number=28 |url=http://archives.news.yale.edu/v30.n28/story4.html |title=Alumnus Bryan Rigg reveals untold story of 'Hitler's Jewish Soldiers' |access-date=June 13, 2019|quote=He returned to his family in Texas, where he had grown up as a devout Baptist ...}} Rigg studied at Phillips Exeter Academy, graduating in 1991,[https://www.exonians.exeter.edu/s/1682/wide.aspx?sid=1682&gid=2&pgid=618 Phillips Exeter Academy - Alumni - U.S. Associations - Texas] then attended Yale University and received his B.A. in 1996.[http://archives.news.yale.edu/v30.n28/story4.html Yale Bulletin and Calendar - Alumnus Bryan Rigg reveals untold story of 'Hitler's Jewish Soldiers'] He received a grant from the Henry Fellowship to continue his studies in Cambridge University, where Rigg earned his doctorate in 2002.{{cite web |title=In the Wolf's Mouth |url=https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/in-the-wolfs-mouth-6386054|publisher=Dallas Observer |access-date=June 13, 2019}}{{Cite web |url=https://kansaspress.ku.edu/978-0-7006-1358-8.html |title=Kansas University Press - Hitler's Jewish Soldiers. The Untold Story of Nazi Racial Laws and Men of Jewish Descent in the German Military |access-date=2019-06-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190606135444/https://kansaspress.ku.edu/978-0-7006-1358-8.html |archive-date=2019-06-06 |url-status=dead }} In the summer of 1994 he went to Germany and met Peter Millies, an elderly man who helped Rigg understand the German in a movie they were watching, Europa Europa, about Shlomo Perl, a full Jew who "hid in plain sight" in the Nazi army, posing as a Volksdeutsche orphan named Josef Peters. Millies later told Rigg that he himself was a part-Jew, and introduced him to the subject which was to become his main research topic for many years.{{cite web |title=In the Wolf's Mouth |url=https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/in-the-wolfs-mouth-6386054|publisher=Dallas Observer |access-date=June 13, 2019}}

Rigg discovered a large number of "Mischlinge" (part-Jews) who were members of the National Socialist German Workers Party (or "Nazi" Party) and/or served in the German Armed Forces during World War II. In the 1990s, he travelled throughout Europe, primarily Austria and Germany, and interviewed hundreds of these men. His assembled documents, videotapes, and wartime memoirs on the subject are presented as the Bryan Mark Rigg Collection at the Military Archives branch of the Federal German Archives (Bundesarchiv) in Freiburg, Germany.{{Cite web |url=https://www.daad.de/der-daad/unsere-aufgaben/alumniarbeit/alumni-galerie/portraits/en/39334-dr-bryan-mark-rigg/ |title=German Academic Exchange Service - Dr. Bryan Mark Rigg profile |access-date=2019-06-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190609054344/https://www.daad.de/der-daad/unsere-aufgaben/alumniarbeit/alumni-galerie/portraits/en/39334-dr-bryan-mark-rigg/ |archive-date=2019-06-09 |url-status=dead }}

He has taught as a lecturer at Southern Methodist University and American Military University.{{Cite web |url=https://www.daad.de/der-daad/unsere-aufgaben/alumniarbeit/alumni-galerie/portraits/en/39334-dr-bryan-mark-rigg/ |title=German Academic Exchange Service - Dr. Bryan Mark Rigg profile |access-date=2019-06-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190609054344/https://www.daad.de/der-daad/unsere-aufgaben/alumniarbeit/alumni-galerie/portraits/en/39334-dr-bryan-mark-rigg/ |archive-date=2019-06-09 |url-status=dead }}

His claims have been used both by Holocaust researchers,{{cite web |url=http://www.holocaust-trc.org/hitlers-jewish-soldiers/ |title=Hitler's Jewish Soldiers |date=July 25, 2002 |publisher=Holocaust Teacher Resource Center |access-date=August 25, 2014}}{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DOc3G9-WT1wC&pg=PA197 |title=Surrounded: Palestinian Soldiers in the Israeli Military |author=Rhoda Ann Kanaaneh |year=2009 |isbn=9780804758581 |page=197|publisher=Stanford University Press }} as well as Holocaust denial and anti-Zionist groups.

His book Hitler's Jewish Soldiers earned him the Colby Award (for first books in military history) in 2003.{{Cite web |url=https://kansaspress.ku.edu/978-0-7006-1358-8.html |title=Kansas University Press - Hitler's Jewish Soldiers. The Untold Story of Nazi Racial Laws and Men of Jewish Descent in the German Military |access-date=2019-06-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190606135444/https://kansaspress.ku.edu/978-0-7006-1358-8.html |archive-date=2019-06-06 |url-status=dead }} Before his work was published, his research was picked up by several newspapers, most notably the London Telegraph, the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, causing much sensation and generating a lot of criticism from some historians. He has been endorsed by such historians like Michael Berenbaum,[https://www.jta.org/2002/06/04/lifestyle/were-there-jews-in-hitlers-army JTA - Were there Jews in Hitler's army?] Robert Citino,[https://www.jstor.org/stable/25703928 Citino, Robert M. The International History Review, vol. 32, no. 1, 2010, pp. 173–174] Stephen Fritz, James Corum, Paula Hyman, Nathan Stoltzfus, Norman Naimark, Jonathan Steinberg, Geoffrey P. Megargee, Dennis Showalter and James Tent.[https://phiquyenchinh.org/2017/10/08/hitlers-jewish-soldiers-interview-with-historian-bryan-mark-rigg/ Hitler's Jewish Soldiers—Interview with Historian Bryan Mark Rigg] He has published several other books since then: Rescued From the Reich, with a foreword by Paula Hyman (Yale University Press 2004), Lives of Hitler's Jewish Soldiers (Kansas, 2009) and The Rabbi Saved by Hitler's Soldiers, with a foreword by Michael Berenbaum (Kansas, 2016).

Scholars, like Richard J. Evans, Regius Professor of History at the University of Cambridge, and Omer Bartov, professor of history at Brown University, consider the titles of Rigg's books, such as Hitler's Jewish Soldiers, misleading, because the books are not about Jews as the term is commonly understood, but in almost all cases about Mischlinge ("half-"Jews and "quarter-"Jews) as defined by the Nuremberg laws but not according to Jewish religious law.{{cite news |url=http://chronicle.com/article/Were-There-Jews-in-the-Nazi/32950 |title=Were there Jews in the Nazi Army |author=Danny Postel |date=May 3, 2002 |newspaper=The Chronicle of Higher Education |access-date=August 25, 2014}}.

Yale professor, Dr Henry Turner said that Rigg was not really an intellectual or Historian and not cut out for academia and refused to recommend him for graduate studies. Nevertheless this same professor is quoted as saying Hitler's Jewish Soldiers is the "basic book on the subject. People will use it with reservations, but they'll have to use it."{{Cite web |last=Whitley |first=Glenna |title=In the Wolf's Mouth |url=https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/in-the-wolfs-mouth-6386054 |access-date=2024-05-02 |website=Dallas Observer |language=en}}

Some Historians have accused Rigg's work as being hyperbolic and sensationalist at the expense of historical accuracy.{{cite web | url=https://www.chronicle.com/article/were-there-jews-in-the-nazi-army/ | title=Were There Jews in the Nazi Army? | date=3 May 2002 }} Rigg's research and books have been described as a misnomer, distorted and misleading.{{Cite web |title=Fine on Rigg, 'Hitler's Jewish Soldiers: The Untold Story of Nazi Racial Laws and Men of Jewish Descent in the German Military' {{!}} H-Net |url=https://networks.h-net.org/node/35008/reviews/43906/fine-rigg-hitlers-jewish-soldiers-untold-story-nazi-racial-laws-and-men |access-date=2024-05-13 |website=networks.h-net.org}} Rigg's thesis has been described as outlandish and absurd.{{Cite web |last=Archives |first=L. A. Times |date=1997-01-06 |title=Rigg's Thesis |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-01-06-me-15807-story.html |access-date=2025-01-23 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}

Rigg was accused of plagiarism during his graduate studies by a German scholar, which led to an investigation by Cambridge university.{{Cite web |last=Whitley |first=Glenna |title=In the Wolf's Mouth |url=https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/in-the-wolfs-mouth-6386054 |access-date=2024-09-18 |website=Dallas Observer |language=en}}

In May 2020, a court case, Williams v. Rigg, involved allegations of defamation related to statements made by Bryan Mark Rigg. Williams claimed that Rigg’s statements were false and defamatory and that they posed a risk to his reputation. The dispute arose while the two were collaborating on a book..{{Cite web |title=Williams v. Rigg, 458 F. Supp. 3d 468 {{!}} Casetext Search + Citator |url=https://casetext.com/case/williams-v-rigg-1 |access-date=2024-02-25 |website=casetext.com}}

Rigg's book meticulously documents numerous instances of Williams' dishonesty, highlighting the challenges Rigg faced in trying to collaborate with Williams on what was intended to be an honest portrayal of his life. Throughout the process, Williams' misrepresentations created obstacles, making it difficult to craft an accurate and truthful biography. Nevertheless, Flamethrower has garnered widespread acclaim, receiving endorsements from some of the most respected figures in the U.S. military. These include General Al Gray, 29th Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Charles Krulak, 31st Commandant of the Marine Corps, former CENTCOM commander General Anthony Zinni, and renowned Marine Corps historian Colonel Jon Hoffman. {{cite book| isbn=978-1734534108 | title=Flamethrower: Iwo Jima Medal of Honor Recipient and U. S. Marine Woody Williams and His Controversial Award, Japan's Holocaust and the Pacific War | last1=Rigg | first1=Bryan Mark | date=3 March 2020 | publisher=Fidelis Historia }}

Bibliography

• Hitler's Jewish Soldiers: The Untold Story of Nazi Racial Laws and Men of Jewish Descent in the German Military, University Press of Kansas, 2002. {{ISBN|978-0-7006-1358-8}}{{cite journal |last=Schroer |first=Timothy L. |year=2004 |title=Hitler's Jewish Soldiers: The Untold Story of Nazi Racial Laws and Men of Jewish Descent in the German Military |journal=Canadian Journal of History |volume=39 |issue=3 |pages=606–607|doi=10.3138/cjh.39.3.606 }}{{cite journal |last=Deák |first=István |year=2002 |title=Bryan Mark Rigg. Hitler's Jewish Soldiers: The Untold Story of Nazi Racial Laws and Men of Jewish Descent in the German Military. |journal=The American Historical Review |volume=108 |issue=5 |pages=1546–1547 |doi=10.1086/ahr/108.5.1546}}
• Rescued from the Reich: How one of Hitler's Soldiers Saved the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Yale University Press, 2004. {{ISBN|978-0-300-11531-4}}{{cite journal |last=Herman |first=Gerald |year=2006 |title=Rescued from the Reich: How One of Hitler's Soldiers Saved the Lubavitcher Rebbe (review) |journal=Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=168–170 |doi=10.1353/sho.2006.0058|doi-access=free }}
• Lives of Hitler's Jewish Soldiers: The Untold Stories of Hitler's Jewish Soldiers University of Kansas Press, 2009. {{ISBN|978-0-7006-1638-1}}
• The Rabbi Saved by Hitler's Soldiers: Rebbe Joseph Isaac Schneersohn and His Astonishing Rescue University of Kansas Press, 2016. {{ISBN|978-0700622610}}
• Flamethrower: Iwo Jima Medal of Honor Recipient and U.S. Marine Woody Williams and His Controversial Award, Japan's Holocaust and the Pacific War Fidelis Historia, 2020. {{ASIN|B08666CNSH}}
• Conquering Learning Disabilities at Any Age: How An ADHD/LD Kid Graduated From Yale and Cambridge, Became A Marine Officer, Military Historian, Financial Advisor And Caring Father Fidelis Historia, 2022. {{ISBN|978-1734534177}}
• Japan's Holocaust: History of Imperial Japan's Mass Murder and Rape During World War II Knox Press, 2024. {{ISBN|9781637586884}}

• Meno Burg (1789–1853), the highest-ranking Jewish officer in the Prussian army.

• {{cite news |author=Glenna Whitley |date=February 26, 2004 |title=In the Wolf's Mouth |url=http://www.dallasobserver.com/2004-02-26/news/in-the-wolf-s-mouth/ |newspaper=Dallas Observer |access-date=1 September 2014}}
• {{cite news |author=Ruth Almog |authorlink=Ruth Almog |date=August 3, 2005 |script-title=he:מעמדי כחייל הוא פרדוקס של ממש, ואין לו שום הסבר הגיוני |language=he |trans-title=Standing as a soldier he is a real paradox, and has no reasonable explanation |url=http://www.haaretz.co.il/literature/1.1033345 |newspaper=Haaretz |access-date=September 2, 2014}} Article on Bryan Mark Rigg and his books.
• {{cite web |url=http://www.ovguide.com/bryan-mark-rigg-9202a8c04000641f8000000005662a46 |title=Bryan Mark Rigg Video {{pipe}} Interviews |publisher=OVguide.com |access-date=September 2, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231001136/http://www.ovguide.com/bryan-mark-rigg-9202a8c04000641f8000000005662a46 |archive-date=December 31, 2013 |url-status=dead }} Neo-Nazi 'Liberal-Fascism.com' website.
• {{cite web |url=https://riggwealthmanagement.com/about-us/bryan-mark-rigg-phd/|title=About Bryan Mark Rigg, PHD |access-date=July 9, 2017}} Bryan Mark Rigg website.
• {{cite web |url=http://www.woodywilliams.com/|title=Flamethrower : The Untold Story of Iwo Jima Medal of Honor Recipient Woody Williams, Japan's Genocide and the Pacific War |access-date=February 5, 2018}} Flamethrower Book Website.
• {{C-SPAN|1007106}}

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Category:1971 births

Category:Living people

Category:21st-century American historians

Category:21st-century American Jews

Category:Alumni of the University of Cambridge

Category:American male writers

Category:Converts to Judaism from Baptist denominations

Category:Holocaust studies

Category:Jewish American historians

Category:Phillips Exeter Academy alumni

Category:Yale University alumni