Martin Selling in uniform

Martin Selling

Question: "May I inquire where you learned to speak such good German?" - German captive, France, 1944

Answer: "In Germany. And I learned to interrogate prisoners when I was a prisoner in Dachau. When the German captive heard this, he soiled his pants." - S/Sgt. Martin Selling (U.S. Army)

Martin Selling was jailed for two months in Dachau concentration camp following Kristallnacht. Upon release in January 1939, he secured a visa and arrived in New York in February 1940. Eager to seek retribution for his mistreatment at the hands of the SS, he eventually became a sought- -after interrogator with the 320th Regiment of the 35th Infantry after extracting vital intelligence during the stalemate at St. Lo and during the Battle of the Bulge. Near the end of the conflict, he was made a Second Lieutenant and received the bronze star plus five battle stars to his ETO ribbon.

When the war ended he was given a team of three men and two jeeps. At the first opportunity, along with his staff sergeant, Selling drove to Lehrberg, his former hometown. "I was so proud to be an American soldier. An old neighbor said, 'that man with you I see his stripes, I know he's a sergeant, what are you?' When I told him I was a Lieutenant he practically fell off the chair. The word got around like wildfire that 'Lieutenant Selling' is back. With some, I shook hands and with others I did not. I also saw some people that should not be walking around because they were Nazi party members. I went to the nearest CIC office and told them that there were some automatic arrests not immediate walking around. Later they were arrested."