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Bryan Mark Rigg

ブライアン・マーク・リッグ

Bryan Mark Rigg

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1971-03-16 （Texas, United States）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Religion
Baptist
Residence History
Texas (born and raised) → Exeter, New Hampshire (attended Phillips Exeter Academy) → New Haven, Connecticut (attended Yale University) → Cambridge, England (studied at University of Cambridge)

Career

Occupations
military historian, author, university lecturer, researcher
Active Years
1994-
Affiliations
Southern Methodist University (lecturer), American Military University (lecturer), Phillips Exeter Academy (faculty)
Influenced By
Peter Millies, Michael Berenbaum, Solomon (Shlomo) Perel (indirect influence via the film Europa Europa)

Education

Phillips Exeter Academy
Degree: 高等学校卒業
Year of Graduation: 1991
Country: United States
Prep school (secondary education)
Yale University
Degree: B.A.（学士）
Year of Graduation: 1996
Country: United States
Major not specified in sources
University of Cambridge
Degree: Ph.D.（博士号）
Year of Graduation: 2002
Country: United Kingdom
Studied on a Henry Fellowship

Awards

Colby Award
2003
Work: Hitler's Jewish Soldiers
Organization: William E. Colby Military Writers' Awards
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Hitler's Jewish Soldiers: The Untold Story of Nazi Racial Laws and Men of Jewish Descent in the German Military

2002 military history, Holocaust studies

A research study that examines cases of 'Mischlinge' and men of Jewish descent who served in the German military under Nazi racial laws, based on archival documents and hundreds of interviews, exploring their identities and wartime experiences.

Mischlingeracial lawsidentity in the militarysurvival and adaptation

Rescued from the Reich: How one of Hitler's Soldiers Saved the Lubavitcher Rebbe

2004 biography, Holocaust history

A nonfiction account documenting how a German soldier helped rescue the Lubavitcher Rebbe, drawing on documents and testimony to reconstruct the rescue and its historical context.

rescuereligious leadershipmoral complexity

Lives of Hitler's Jewish Soldiers

2009 military history, oral history

A follow-up study that uses individual soldiers' life stories to trace their wartime experiences and postwar lives through oral history.

individual biographypostwar trajectoriesmemory and testimony

The Rabbi Saved by Hitler's Soldiers: Rebbe Joseph Isaac Schneersohn and His Astonishing Rescue

2016 biography, Holocaust history

A historical account focusing on the rescue of Rebbe Joseph Isaac Schneersohn and the people and events surrounding that rescue.

rescueJewish leadershipcomplexities of WWII

Flamethrower: Iwo Jima Medal of Honor Recipient and U.S. Marine Woody Williams and His Controversial Award, Japan's Holocaust and the Pacific War

2020 military biography, Pacific War history

A biographical account of Iwo Jima Medal of Honor recipient Woody Williams, discussions of controversies around his award, and essays on Japanese wartime atrocities in the Pacific War.

military heroismaward controversiesPacific War

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

2022 memoir, educational

A memoir in which the author relates his struggles with and overcoming learning disabilities (ADHD/LD), including practical advice on education and career.

learning disabilitiesself-improvementeducation and career

Japan's Holocaust: History of Imperial Japan's Mass Murder and Rape During World War II

2024 war history, critical historical study

A critical study addressing mass killings and sexual violence committed by Imperial Japan during World War II, compiling documentary evidence to assess events in the Pacific War.

war crimesPacific Warhistorical assessment

Bibliography

  • Hitler's Jewish Soldiers: The Untold Story of Nazi Racial Laws and Men of Jewish Descent in the German Military
  • Rescued from the Reich: How one of Hitler's Soldiers Saved the Lubavitcher Rebbe
  • Lives of Hitler's Jewish Soldiers
  • The Rabbi Saved by Hitler's Soldiers: Rebbe Joseph Isaac Schneersohn and His Astonishing Rescue
  • Flamethrower: Iwo Jima Medal of Honor Recipient and U.S. Marine Woody Williams and His Controversial Award, Japan's Holocaust and the Pacific War
  • 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
  • Japan's Holocaust: History of Imperial Japan's Mass Murder and Rape During World War II

Style & Themes

Literary Style
archival and document-basedoral-history approachnarrative nonfiction
Recurring Motifs
ambiguity of identitysurvival and adaptationrescue and moral dilemmassoldier's perspective

Legacy

Rigg's work brought attention to the presence of men of Jewish descent and 'Mischlinge' in the German military, providing new perspectives through archival research and interviews. His conclusions and terminology have provoked substantial academic debate and criticism as well as endorsement.

Archives

  • Federal Archives (Bundesarchiv), Freiburg - Bryan Mark Rigg Collection

Quotes

  • "Hitler's Jewish Soldiers is the 'basic book on the subject. People will use it with reservations, but they'll have to use it.'"
    Source: Professor Henry Turner (Yale) — quoted in press/interviews (2002)

Trivia

  • Raised as a Baptist in Texas.
  • His assembled documents and interviews are held as the Bryan Mark Rigg Collection at the Federal Archives (Bundesarchiv) in Freiburg, Germany.
  • Rigg's findings have been used by mainstream Holocaust researchers but have also been picked up by Holocaust deniers and anti-Zionist groups.