The Inglourious Basterds in Historical Reference
The Real Military History Behind the Movie
Sep 2, 2009
The fictional Inglourious Basterds are first of all an all-Jewish unit with the exception of their commanding officer, Lt Aldo "the Apache" Raine. While the United States military did tragically segregate African American (92nd and 93rd Infantry Divisions) and Japanese American (442nd RCT) soldiers in combat units, there is no record of an all-Jewish American unit in World War II.
The Basterds as an All-Jewish Unit
Overall some 800,000 Jewish American soldiers, sailors and marines served in fully integrated units in the US military during the war, of which no less than 11,000 gave their lives. The British Army however did have an all-volunteer Jewish Brigade Group and the Special Interrogation Group comprised of volunteers from Palestine. This unit did in fact have many personnel that were fluent German linguists being Palestinian Jews of German origin. At least 35 of the members of the famous British unit went on to become generals in the Israeli Army.
Scalping by US Soldiers in WWII
The Inglourious Basterds are noted in several scenes of the movie as ‘taking scalps’ for the purpose of demoralizing German troops. While this was far from common practice among US troops in World War II, there was at least one small unit that actually did.
Sgt John Fulcher was a full blooded Cherokee Indian in the US 36th Infantry Division landing at Salerno on September 8, 1943. Fighting up the Italian countryside, Fulcher became the head of a scout sniper section of ten men that operated in the gray areas between the US and German lines, ambushing small patrols and sniping Nazi officers. His sniper section included several other Native Americans, among them two Black Hills Sioux Indians who, besides being skilled marksmen, were very adept at the use of small army hatchets in close warfare. On one occasion they left a patrol of "nine [German] soldiers, all scalped, sitting neatly like ducks in a row alongside the road with their hands crossed neatly in their laps" Fulcher also stated that "When you go into combat you revert to the most vicious kind of animal that ever walked the earth. You become a predator. I got to where it hurt me more to kill a good dog that a human being."
After World War II other Native American tribes including at least one group of Comanche and the Skidi Band of the Pawnee nation added authentic German scalps to their scalp dances for young men going off to war. How these scalps came to be in America is not known.
Operating Behind the Lines in Nazi Occupied France
The Basterds are shown to be operating 'in Nazi occupied France’ in 1944 with the upcoming Allied invasion imminent. This in itself is not too far off of the historical mark.
Between June-September 1944 some 93 Allied "Jedburgh" teams were operating on their own bringing terror to the German occupation forces. The Jedburghs were 3-man teams of officers and men chosen for their ability to work in small unit operations. These men, drawn almost equally from Free French, British and American operators with a few Belgian and Dutchmen thrown in for good measure were specially trained in shadow warfare. The teams were codenamed after common first names (e.g. Norman, Giles, Felix, Gavin) and parachuted into France at night. They ranged all over the country for weeks and sometimes months where their mission was to link up with the French Resistance. Once connected to the local 'maquisards' the Jedburghs would have supplies and arms dropped and lead them in guerilla warfare with the Germans.
While the Basterds share some of the basic similarities to these units, it should be noted that the Jedburgh teams were much smaller (3-men rather than 10) and no such record of war crimes were linked to them. The Jedburgh personnel were under orders to operate in uniforms, and practice the laws of war insomuch as they took and cared for captured prisoners and attacked only militarily useful targets. The Basterds are depicted operating in civilian clothes, executing and mutilating captured prisoners, killing civilians and committing other crimes.
Sources:
Beavan, Colin Operation Jedburgh: D-Day and America's First Shadow War
Carroll, Al Medicine bags and dog tags: American Indian veterans from colonial times to the present.
Ghiglieri, Michael Patrick The dark side of man: tracing the origins of male violence
Haskew Michael E The sniper at war: from the American Revolutionary War to the present day
Pegler, Martin Out of Nowhere: A History of the Military Sniper
Sasser Charles W, Roberts Craig One Shot One Kill
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