Bryan Mark Rigg
Encyclopedia
Bryan Mark Rigg born 1971, is an American author and speaker who received his PhD from Cambridge University. He is based at Southern Methodist University
in Dallas.
Rigg discovered the large number of "Mischlinge" (part-Jews) who were members of the Nazi Party.
His work has been featured in the New York Times and on programs including NBC
Dateline
and Fox News. Raised up as a Baptist Christian, he discovered he was of Jewish descent, converted to the Jewish faith and served as a volunteer in the Israeli Army. He later served as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps.
His collection of documents, videotapes, and wartime memoirs, are presented at the Bryan Mark Rigg Collection, part of the Federal German Military Archives (the Bundesarchiv), in Freiburg, Germany.
Back at Cambridge, Rigg offered the subject as his thesis, but was rejected on the grounds that it was "dead end science". Upon insisting, he finally received a year off, and small funding from Cambridge for a research trip back to Germany, under Professor Jonathan Steinberg. Steinberg contacted the media about the future research, which caused much debate about the scientific value of the outcome. During this year, traveling under harsh conditions on bicycle throughout Germany, he gathered over four hundred recorded interviews, with "Mischling"s of this sort. He also discovered that he had Jewish origins. He followed up on the trip to Sweden, Turkey, Canada, and finally Israel.
He identifies himself today as Jewish, and studied in Israel at the "Ohr Sameach" Yeshiva
. He also joined a short volunteer program at the Israeli army.
Rigg has done humanitarian activities in Romania, Bulgaria, the Bahamas, South Africa, and France.
His discoveries and writings have been used both by Holocaust researchers, as well as Holocaust denial
and anti-Zionist groups.
, professor for Jewish history in Southampton, England, and Raul Hilberg
, emeritus of the University of Vermont
judge Rigg’s work negatively, because they believe Rigg’s thesis is presented in a sensationalistic and unbalanced way.
Some scholars also resent that Rigg tried to gain public attention when his work was still in an early stage. Other scholars, like Richard J. Evans
, history professor in Cambridge
, and Omer Bartov
, history professor at the Brown university
, consider the titles of Rigg's books such as "Hitlers Jewish Soldiers" misleading, because the books are not about Jews but in most cases about "mixed Jews" as defined by the Nazi ideology, but not according to the Jewish view.
Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University is a private university in Dallas, Texas, United States. Founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, SMU operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, and Taos, New Mexico. SMU is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church...
in Dallas.
Rigg discovered the large number of "Mischlinge" (part-Jews) who were members of the Nazi Party.
His work has been featured in the New York Times and on programs including NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
Dateline
Dateline NBC
Dateline NBC, or Dateline, is a U.S. weekly television newsmagazine broadcast by NBC. It previously was NBC's flagship news magazine, but now focuses on true crime stories. It airs Friday at 9 p.m. EST and after football season on Sunday at 7 p.m. EST.-History:Dateline is historically notable for...
and Fox News. Raised up as a Baptist Christian, he discovered he was of Jewish descent, converted to the Jewish faith and served as a volunteer in the Israeli Army. He later served as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps.
His collection of documents, videotapes, and wartime memoirs, are presented at the Bryan Mark Rigg Collection, part of the Federal German Military Archives (the Bundesarchiv), in Freiburg, Germany.
Biography
Born and raised as a Baptist Christian, Rigg studied at Phillips Exeter Academy, continued on to Yale university, and received his B.A. in 1996. He received a grant from the Henry Fellowship, to continue his studies in Cambridge University. That summer he went to Germany, and met Peter Millies, an elderly man who helped Rigg understand the German in a movie they were watching, 'Europe Europe', about Shlomo Pearl, a Jew who served in the Nazi army. Millies later told Rigg that he himself was a part-Jew, and introduced him to the subject which was to become his main research topic for many yearsBack at Cambridge, Rigg offered the subject as his thesis, but was rejected on the grounds that it was "dead end science". Upon insisting, he finally received a year off, and small funding from Cambridge for a research trip back to Germany, under Professor Jonathan Steinberg. Steinberg contacted the media about the future research, which caused much debate about the scientific value of the outcome. During this year, traveling under harsh conditions on bicycle throughout Germany, he gathered over four hundred recorded interviews, with "Mischling"s of this sort. He also discovered that he had Jewish origins. He followed up on the trip to Sweden, Turkey, Canada, and finally Israel.
He identifies himself today as Jewish, and studied in Israel at the "Ohr Sameach" Yeshiva
Yeshiva
Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...
. He also joined a short volunteer program at the Israeli army.
Rigg has done humanitarian activities in Romania, Bulgaria, the Bahamas, South Africa, and France.
His discoveries and writings have been used both by Holocaust researchers, as well as Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial is the act of denying the genocide of Jews in World War II, usually referred to as the Holocaust. The key claims of Holocaust denial are: the German Nazi government had no official policy or intention of exterminating Jews, Nazi authorities did not use extermination camps and gas...
and anti-Zionist groups.
Criticism
David CesaraniDavid Cesarani
David Cesarani OBE is an English historian who specialises in Jewish history, especially the Holocaust. He has also written several biographies, notably Arthur Koestler: The Homeless Mind.-Early life:...
, professor for Jewish history in Southampton, England, and Raul Hilberg
Raul Hilberg
Raul Hilberg was an Austrian-born American political scientist and historian. He was widely considered to be the world's preeminent scholar of the Holocaust, and his three-volume, 1,273-page magnum opus, The Destruction of the European Jews, is regarded as a seminal study of the Nazi Final...
, emeritus of the University of Vermont
University of Vermont
The University of Vermont comprises seven undergraduate schools, an honors college, a graduate college, and a college of medicine. The Honors College does not offer its own degrees; students in the Honors College concurrently enroll in one of the university's seven undergraduate colleges or...
judge Rigg’s work negatively, because they believe Rigg’s thesis is presented in a sensationalistic and unbalanced way.
Some scholars also resent that Rigg tried to gain public attention when his work was still in an early stage. Other scholars, like Richard J. Evans
Richard J. Evans
Richard John Evans is a British academic and historian, prominently known for his history of Germany.-Life:Evans was born in London, of Welsh parentage, and is now Regius Professor of Modern History at the University of Cambridge and President of Wolfson College...
, history professor in Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, and Omer Bartov
Omer Bartov
Omer Bartov is the John P. Birkelund Distinguished Professor of European History and Professor of History and Professor of German Studies at Brown University....
, history professor at the Brown university
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
, consider the titles of Rigg's books such as "Hitlers Jewish Soldiers" misleading, because the books are not about Jews but in most cases about "mixed Jews" as defined by the Nazi ideology, but not according to the Jewish view.
External Links and More Information
- Rigg's personal website
- Meno BurgMeno BurgMeno Burg , also referred to as Judenmajor , was a Prussian field officer. Burg reached the highest rank ever attained by a Jew in the Prussian Army of the 19th century...
The highest ranking Jewish officer in the Prussian army, during World War I. - The Dallas Observer On Rigg's interviews.
- (Hebrew) Haaretz newspaper article on Bryan Mark Rigg and his books.
- Article covering the critics of Bryan Mark Riggs's work