Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
U.S. Army Major Fritz Oppenheimer started his military career as a Prussian soldier in WWI, leaving the Western Front with two Iron Crosses.
Two decades later, he returned to Germany for the next global conflict – this time on the Allies’ side – to interrogate high-ranking Nazi leaders like Wilhelm Keitel, head of the Wehrmacht, and to help denazify the laws of his homeland.
Oppenheimer’s remarkable story remained untold until his grandson Harry Handler discovered letters and documents stuffed into a closet – including contemporaneous WWI diaries and a heretofore-unknown escape plan for top Nazis. With his wife Cindy Schweich Handler (a journalist for Gannett whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today and other national outlets), they wrote “A German Jew’s Triumph: Fritz Oppenheimer and the Denazification of Germany.”
Join the Handlers as they unravel an incredible story spanning across an ocean and two World Wars. Hosted as part of commemorations for America250 and as an initiative of the Center for Faith, Religion and Culture.
For more information about the National WWI Museum and Memorial visit theworldwar.org
U.S. Army Major Fritz Oppenheimer started his military career as a Prussian soldier in WWI, leaving the Western Front with two Iron Crosses.
Two decades later, he returned to Germany for the next global conflict – this time on the Allies’ side – to interrogate high-ranking Nazi leaders like Wilhelm Keitel, head of the Wehrmacht, and to help denazify the laws of his homeland.
Oppenheimer’s remarkable story remained untold until his grandson Harry Handler discovered letters and documents stuffed into a closet – including contemporaneous WWI diaries and a heretofore-unknown escape plan for top Nazis. With his wife Cindy Schweich Handler (a journalist for Gannett whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today and other national outlets), they wrote “A German Jew’s Triumph: Fritz Oppenheimer and the Denazification of Germany.”
Join the Handlers as they unravel an incredible story spanning across an ocean and two World Wars. Hosted as part of commemorations for America250 and as an initiative of the Center for Faith, Religion and Culture.
For more information about the National WWI Museum and Memorial visit theworldwar.org
