X Troop: The Secret Jewish Commandos of World War II

Written by Leah Garrett

Narrated by John Lee

WALL STREET JOURNAL BOOK OF THE MONTH

""This is the incredible World War II saga of the German-Jewish commandos who fought in Britain’s most secretive special-forces unit—but whose story has gone untold until now."" —Wall Street Journal

“Brilliantly researched, utterly gripping history: the first full account of a remarkable group of Jewish refugees—a top-secret band of brothers—who waged war on Hitler.”—Alex Kershaw, New York Times best-selling author of The Longest Winter and The Liberator

The incredible World War II saga of the German-Jewish commandos who fought in Britain’s most secretive special-forces unit—but whose story has gone untold until now

June 1942. The shadow of the Third Reich has fallen across the European continent. 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. The resulting volunteers are a motley group of intellectuals, artists, and athletes, most from Germany and Austria. Many have been interned as enemy aliens, and 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.

“Garrett’s detective work is stunning, and her storytelling is masterful. This is an original account of Jewish rescue, resistance, and revenge.”—Wendy Lower, author of The Ravine and National Book Award finalist Hitler’s Furies

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: May 25, 2021
• ISBN: 9780358533399

Leah Garrett

LEAH GARRETT is a professor at Hunter College. Her last book, Young Lions: How Jewish Authors Reinvented the American War Novel, won and was short-listed for several major literary awards. She lives in New York City with her husband and their two daughters.

Reviews for X Troop

[יניב רוזנפלד-כהן · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A riveting story that I'd not heard about, both heart wrenching and highly recommended!

[ericlee_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One reviewer described this book as “‘Inglorious Basterds’ but much better”. I don’t buy that at all. This is not, in any sense, based upon or linked to Tarantino’s brilliant film. Instead, it’s the true story of several dozen German and Austrian Jews who managed to make it to Britain before the outbreak of the Second World War. There, they were detained as ‘enemy aliens’ until finally allowed to volunteer for the British Army. Trained as an elite commando force, they fought bravely and well across several fronts. Their specialty was capturing and interrogating German soldiers, who were always caught off guard. Sadly at the end of the war, the survivors were not immediately given British citizenship. Nor was their Jewish identity mentioned in the memorials, or even on the graves of those who fell. Leah Garrett has done a terrific job of telling a hitherto unknown story.

[dantarlin · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This popular history book tells the story of a group of Jewish commandos, all refugees from Nazi Germany, centering on the stories of Manfred Gans, Peter Masters, and Colin Anson, but also paints the larger picture of their poor treatment by the British at first, their training in Wales, and then their exploits in Western Europe and Italy from D-Day until the end of the war and afterwards.

The story seems to be told based on diaries and old interviews with the subjects, and it is their perspective that is front and center. There is less information about the reasoning and debates among the British high command, which would be interesting to know.

The writing is good enough, but I didn't love the style. I much preferred The Brigade by Howard Blum, a story about the Jews of Palestine who were similarly drafted into the war by the British.

[wahoo8895 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fascinating account of the little known group of Jewish commandos trained by the British during WW2. Escaping Nazi persecution at home, they escaped to England and despite the general anti-foreigner sentiment served King and country and the world by helping to end Nazi Germany's reign of terror. And it's a very well written history book.

[jetangen4571 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

WW2, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, royal-marine-commandos, internment, deprived-of-well-earned-citizenship, Kindertransport, interviews, historical-figures, historical-places-events, historical-research, history-and-culture, nonfiction, action-adventure*****

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!