Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds: “We Are All Jews”

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During the coldest winter in 50 years, in December 1944, the U.S. 106th Infantry Division landed in France, 90 days after D-Day. The division, consisting of the 422nd, 423rd, and 424th Regiments, headed in trucks across France and Belgium. The division reached eastern Belgium near the German border by December 10, and took up their positions; the 422nd took up a forward position. On December 16, the Germans attacked the 422nd as part of their counter offensive—the Battle of the Bulge, quickly cutting off and surrounding the regiment. 

On the afternoon of December 19, the commander of the 422nd, Col. Deacheneaux, decided to surrender. Parts of the regiment, including Headquarters Company, in which Master Sgt. Roddie Edmonds of Knoxville, Tennessee, served, were captured by the Germans later that day. Edmonds later wrote, “It was a hopeless cause in our case. When Captain Foster surrendered us, he did a very wise thing. Our rifles were no good against tanks.” 

They marched about 50 kilometers to Gerolstein, Germany, where they were loaded into box cars, 60 to 70 men per car, with no food or water. They spent four days and nights traveling to Stalag IXB in Bad Orb, Germany, arriving on Christmas Day. Said one captive later, “You were given one thin blanket. You went to bed hungry, you got up hungry. You were hungry forever. Dinner was a piece of ersatz bread. I lost 60 pounds in three months.”

After several weeks, the American POWs were divided into three groups: officers, noncommissioned officers (NCOs), and enlisted men. The dog tags of several men had an “H” on them, indicating Hebrew. These men, numbering about 200, had been told to destroy their dog tags if they were captured. The Germans segregated the Jewish captives and assigned them to special barracks within the prison. The NCOs were sent by train to Stalag IXA in Ziegenhain. 

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On January 27, the commandant, Major Siegmann, ordered all Jewish POWs to present themselves. If they did not fall out, they would be shot. The highest ranking U.S. NCO was Master Sgt. Edmonds, who told his men, “We’re not going to do that. Everyone will fall out just as we do every morning.” He ordered all 1,292 American POWs to stand in formation outside of their barracks. Enraged, Major Siegmann turned to Edmonds and put his Luger to the sergeant’s temple: “They cannot all be Jews!” Edmonds replied, “We are all Jews.” 

“You will order the Jews to step forward, or I will shoot you right now,” Siegmann said. 

“According to the Geneva Convention, we only have to give our name, rank, and serial number. If you shoot me, you will have to shoot all of us, and when we win this war you will be tried for war crimes.” The major lowered his Luger and headed back to his headquarters.

The POWS had kept track of the events of the war and knew they were within days of liberation. The German commanders told Edmonds that they were going to evacuate the camp, ordering the POWs to start marching. The Germans didn’t want to be there when U.S. forces showed up. Edmonds refused to do so, saying, “We’re just too weak to go on a long march. Nobody marches out of the camp. Break ranks and run back into the barracks, and keep doing that all day,” he ordered. The Germans tried to roust Edmonds’s men one morning but finally gave up. They told Edmonds, “The camp is yours.” And they marched out, leaving Edmonds and his men. 

They were liberated on March 30 by a U.S. armored group. Said one of the Jewish captives later, “That experience with Roddie was a defining moment in my life. Roddie never got recognition, except among us. We were very lucky to have him with us. That such people can exist gives you hope for humanity. We were the witnesses. Roddie could no more have turned over any of his men to the Nazis than he could stop breathing. He just couldn’t do it—a righteous man.”

Master Sgt. Roddie Edmonds died in 1985. He was the fifth American to be recognized by Yad Vashem as a Righteous Among the Nations. On Monday, November 28, 2016, The Jewish Foundation for the Righteous (JFR) honored Master Sgt. Roddie Edmonds with the Yehi Or Award – “Let There Be Light” and recognized Jewish GIs saved by Master Sgt. Edmonds.