X Troop: The Secret Jewish Commandos of World War II
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- Create Date：2021-06-11 12:31:41
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Leah Garrett
- ISBN：0358533309
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Summary
The incredible World War II saga of the Jewish refugees who fought in Britain’s most secretive special-forces unit—but whose story has gone untold until now
June 1942。 The Third Reich is victorious everywhere。 In desperation， Winston Churchill and his chief of staff form an unusual plan: a new commando unit made up of Jewish refugees who have escaped to Britain。 Many have lost their families， their homes—their whole worlds。 They will stop at nothing to defeat the Nazis。 Trained in counterintelligence and advanced combat， this top secret unit becomes known as X Troop。 Some simply call them a suicide squad。
Drawing on extensive original research， including interviews with the last surviving members， Leah Garrett follows this unique band of brothers from Germany to England and back again， with stops at British internment camps， the beaches of Normandy， the battlefields of Italy and Holland， and the hellscape of Terezin concentration camp—the scene of one of the most dramatic， untold rescues of the war。 For the first time， X Troop tells the astonishing story of these secret shock troops and their devastating blows against the Nazis。
June 1942。 The Third Reich is victorious everywhere。 In desperation， Winston Churchill and his chief of staff form an unusual plan: a new commando unit made up of Jewish refugees who have escaped to Britain。 Many have lost their families， their homes—their whole worlds。 They will stop at nothing to defeat the Nazis。 Trained in counterintelligence and advanced combat， this top secret unit becomes known as X Troop。 Some simply call them a suicide squad。
Drawing on extensive original research， including interviews with the last surviving members， Leah Garrett follows this unique band of brothers from Germany to England and back again， with stops at British internment camps， the beaches of Normandy， the battlefields of Italy and Holland， and the hellscape of Terezin concentration camp—the scene of one of the most dramatic， untold rescues of the war。 For the first time， X Troop tells the astonishing story of these secret shock troops and their devastating blows against the Nazis。
Reviews
Jan
，
I think that fear drove much of the humanity from the British government both in the early days of Hitler's rise to a time after the war when uncommon sense should have reigned。 Men and young men who were born in Hitler's domain were sent away to other continents as enemy aliens after they had escaped and were treated very badly despite being Jewish。 As things got worse for England it was determined that the Royal Marines commando units would be a good place for some of them because of their lan I think that fear drove much of the humanity from the British government both in the early days of Hitler's rise to a time after the war when uncommon sense should have reigned。 Men and young men who were born in Hitler's domain were sent away to other continents as enemy aliens after they had escaped and were treated very badly despite being Jewish。 As things got worse for England it was determined that the Royal Marines commando units would be a good place for some of them because of their language skills。 So they were given the rigorous training and stripped of their previous identity and sent off。 Their actions and exploits are the stuff of legends， but their motivation was to destroy the regime that cruelly murdered their families and their former homelands。 After the war， the British government remained averse to granting citizenship to these warriors！ The research was meticulous and the documentation includes diaries and declassified government documents as well as interviews done this millennium with survivors， wives， children， and grandchildren （some of whom were raised Christian out of personal fears）。 Fortunately， the epilogue gives a good amount of information about their lives after the war。I learned a lot， and that's always a positive for a history geek。I requested and received a temporary digital ARC of this book from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review。 Thank you！ 。。。more
John Davis
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X Troop， by Leah Garrett; Houghton， Mifflin， Harcourt Publishing， New York; $28。00 hardback Young Jewish men， primarily fully integrated intellectuals and educators， were driven under savage threats of death from their homes in Nazi Germany， and Nazi occupied Austria and the German-speaking Sudetenland。 Upon arrival in England， and the declaration of World War II， they were again， in superb irony， rounded up and deported as 'enemy German aliens' to a desert wasteland in New South Wales， Australi X Troop， by Leah Garrett; Houghton， Mifflin， Harcourt Publishing， New York; $28。00 hardback Young Jewish men， primarily fully integrated intellectuals and educators， were driven under savage threats of death from their homes in Nazi Germany， and Nazi occupied Austria and the German-speaking Sudetenland。 Upon arrival in England， and the declaration of World War II， they were again， in superb irony， rounded up and deported as 'enemy German aliens' to a desert wasteland in New South Wales， Australia。 There they languished until Lord Mountbatten devised an idea which fit neatly with Winston Churchill's plan to 'set Nazi occupied Europe ablaze。' These men， Jewish refugees， were called upon to form a special unit， a secret commando unit titled X Troop， since X was the mathematical designation of unknown。 They were to be kept totally secret， and even had their names changed， to protect them or their families from Nazi revenge。 Leah Garrett，， professor at Hunter College， and oft-awarded author of books on Jewish contributions to America， offers a truly inspirational， not to mention awe-inspiring and valiant summary of this unit's exploits in World War II。 Gathered from various camps for enemy aliens throughout the British Empire， the future X Troop Commandos were sent for initial training to remote Wales on the west of the British mainland。 There they learned the basics of soldiery， but also further aspects of radio communications， explosive usage， and intelligence gathering。 Remarkable enough Garrett， whose research is outstanding from primary military， personal， and government sources， complemented by personal interviews of soldiers and their family members， tells of their varied and horrifying forays into occupied Europe。 These men were valuable。 They were first of all fluent German linguists。 Without this， the ability for regular commando raids to identify valuable documents and get real time intelligence from prisoners was nil。 Thus they were included in tiny groups to accompany virtually every raid， large and small， by the British Joint Service Commandos。 Troop X soldiers accompanied raids from the disaster at Dieppe， to Sicily， to Italy， and time and again into France。 Additionally， they were invaluable on raids into Yugoslavia， where often the taking of prisoners for intelligence reasons was the only reason for some raids。 X Troop assisted as well those larger units of expatriates who formed British Commandos from the Netherlands， France， and so forth。 After all， there was a need for German speakers in all occupied Europe。 We learn their personal stories。 We discover that Welsh locals were impressed that they weren't like rowdy， combative soldiers billeted elsewhere。 These were intellectuals who occupied their time with reading， music， and political discussions。 Perhaps among the most powerful of these stories is of Trooper Gans， who set out to find his family as the war ground to a tumultuous halt。 Among the wandering millions on Europe's roads， he came to Theresianstadt Concentration Camp， where they had been held。 The conclusion of that story alone is worth reading。 X Troop commandos became specialists in interrogation of German prisoners。 They helped separate basic soldiers from Nazis， and contributed until their services were no longer needed。 Their story， which needed to be told， is done in a remarkable， readable， and totally satisfying way by Leah Garrett。 。。。more
Azalter
，
Excellent read。 Extremely well researched and written。 Must read for any war， history and holocaust student。 Superbly written history of little know group of soldiers。
Patrick J。
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Read this book over Memorial Day weekend 2021， and I felt humbled and shamed at how little effort we expend and how little willingness to come together fit the greater good we are as a nation。
Don
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Released 5/26/2021， I read an advanced copy。 The story of a troop of Jewish men who gave up everything - names， families， and in some cases their lives in order to fight the Third Reich。 These men their changed their names and their backgrounds to train and fight under the British forces as commandos。 Amazing story。
Steph
，
I thought I knew a decent amount about the war from books and movies that I've read in the past。 X Troop showed me parts of an impressive and important story that I had never heard。 The stories of British and Canadian troops fighting fail to mention how horribly they also treated Jewish refugees。 They highlight their heroes， but don't talk about how critical these immigrants were。 Leah Garrett does a great job of detailing a lot of facts about different men and battles while still making it feel I thought I knew a decent amount about the war from books and movies that I've read in the past。 X Troop showed me parts of an impressive and important story that I had never heard。 The stories of British and Canadian troops fighting fail to mention how horribly they also treated Jewish refugees。 They highlight their heroes， but don't talk about how critical these immigrants were。 Leah Garrett does a great job of detailing a lot of facts about different men and battles while still making it feel personal and exciting。 I was worried X Troop would be like a text book， but you really got a sense for who these men were， bringing their different personalities to life。 They each had presence and you were cheering them on。I don't read a lot of non-fiction， but I'm so grateful to Netgalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for providing this book for a review。 It is a great reminder of how people's real lives can be so much greater than fiction。 。。。more
Susan Vladeck
，
I was privileged to see a pre-publication of this amazing book which tells a virtually unknown story of how a commando group that remained classified until this telling。 A group of native Jewish German speaking refugees became vital combatants on the front lines and masqueraded as British to the rest of the world。 After the indignities of internment in Britain， Canada and Australia their motivation to fight the Nazis was high and they became vital players in winning some of the critical battles。 I was privileged to see a pre-publication of this amazing book which tells a virtually unknown story of how a commando group that remained classified until this telling。 A group of native Jewish German speaking refugees became vital combatants on the front lines and masqueraded as British to the rest of the world。 After the indignities of internment in Britain， Canada and Australia their motivation to fight the Nazis was high and they became vital players in winning some of the critical battles。 important the book is so well written it is a real page turner。 Read it1 。。。more
Candice Burns
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fascinating unknown story about Jewish commandos at D Day and beyond the more we dig into these D Day stories the more fascinating stuff seems to come outI love books like this
Zeb Kantrowitz
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This is an actual group that quietly performed during WW2 but was never recognized for what it was and who served in it。 Some one in the British Army had the brilliant idea of training refugees from the Nazi Regime， to infiltrate back into Europe and act as a 'fifth column' against the Wehrmacht。 These troops trained as Commandos to go behind the lines and capture and interrogate soldiers without having to bring them in for questioning。This group （like those made up of French， Norwegian， Yugosla This is an actual group that quietly performed during WW2 but was never recognized for what it was and who served in it。 Some one in the British Army had the brilliant idea of training refugees from the Nazi Regime， to infiltrate back into Europe and act as a 'fifth column' against the Wehrmacht。 These troops trained as Commandos to go behind the lines and capture and interrogate soldiers without having to bring them in for questioning。This group （like those made up of French， Norwegian， Yugoslavs） were immensely helpful because they spoke like natives and could pass as locals。 For X Troop， 85 of 87 men were of Jewish background and their losses were 22 of 87 （25%） while the majority were sent home at one time to have time to let their wounds heal。 After the war， they interrogated captured Germans， looking to shake out those Nazi/SS that tried to hide in the general population。Even though the majority of those who stayed in England after the war， converted to Christianity， it took them over eighteen months before the British Government agreed to naturalize these men。 The underlying anti-semetism still effected these superb soldiers。 。。。more
Shirley McAllister
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Let us FightI cannot believe some of the happenings in this book。 I knew of the cruelty and anti-semantic beliefs of the German's but I did not know how badly they were treated by the British after the war started。 They were kicked out of Germany， Poland and other occupied areas， they went to Britain where they were welcomed and when the war started they were suddenly German Aliens and put in internment camps many that were not so good。 One of the worse stories in the book is about the men sent Let us FightI cannot believe some of the happenings in this book。 I knew of the cruelty and anti-semantic beliefs of the German's but I did not know how badly they were treated by the British after the war started。 They were kicked out of Germany， Poland and other occupied areas， they went to Britain where they were welcomed and when the war started they were suddenly German Aliens and put in internment camps many that were not so good。 One of the worse stories in the book is about the men sent on the ship Dunera from Liverpool England to New South Wales in Australia。 The captain that ran the ship was a Nazi loving anti-semantic person and treated the Jewish passengers very cruelly。 The 400 German POW's most of them Nazi's or Nazi sympathizers on the boat were given cabins。 The 1450 Jewish immigrants from Austria and Germany were stuffed in the hold of the ship with almost no water or sanitary conditions and little food and what food they got was full of weevils。 Soon men were sick from Dysentery and diseases caused from the horrible unsanitary conditions and many died。 If they complained， they were beaten。 They were then taken to Camp Hay in New South Wales in Australia。 The camp was dry， barren and hot。 When they had been there awhile they were allowed to transfer to the Pioneer Corps which built bridge and roads and such。 Many of the Jewish immigrants were in the Pioneer Corps。 The British government came up with a plan to recruit German speaking immigrants for a special unit in the service。 They called it X Troop。 These soldiers were trained to be commandos and go in and not only gain important information by theft but by interrogating the German prisoner's on the spot。 This information was to be used to help the British win the war。 These Jewish immigrants only wanted to fight against Hitler。 They were not a danger to Britain。 This new troop was made up of very successful Jewish men as you can read in the book with their missions。 They were brave， courageous and hated the Nazi's。 I enjoyed reading history that I knew nothing about before。 I was sad that the Jewish immigrants were treated so badly， but happy that those in the X Troop found a way to fight。It was good that at the end of the book the author told the continuing story of some of the main characters and what happened to them after the war。 That this was a true story made it much more interesting。 Thanks to Leah Garrett， Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishers， and Netgalley for allowing me to read a copy of the book for an honest review。 。。。more
Victor Patel
，
thank you netgalley and Leah Garrett for one of the most exciting history books I've read this year。I loved the photographs of the commandos and their story during WW2 and what became of them afterwards。 The D Day portion of the book was my favorite。 My hat is off to those brave men on the beaches that day。 thank you netgalley and Leah Garrett for one of the most exciting history books I've read this year。I loved the photographs of the commandos and their story during WW2 and what became of them afterwards。 The D Day portion of the book was my favorite。 My hat is off to those brave men on the beaches that day。 。。。more
Cornmaven
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