The Lost Eleven: The Forgotten Story of Black American Soldiers Brutally Massacred in World War II

Nearly forgotten by history, this is the story of the Wereth Eleven, African-American soldiers who fought courageously for freedom in WWII--only to be ruthlessly executed by Nazi troops during the Battle of the Bulge.

Their story was almost forgotten by history. Now known as the Wereth Eleven, these brave African-American soldiers left their homes to join the Allied effort on the front lines of WWII. As members of the 333rd Field Artillery Battalion, they provided crucial fire support at the Siege of Bastogne. Among the few who managed to escape the Nazi’s devastating Ardennes Offensive, they found refuge in the small village of Wereth, Belgium. A farmer and supporter of the Allies took the exhausted and half-starved men into his home. When Nazi authorities learned of their whereabouts, they did not take the soldiers prisoner, but subjected them to torture and execution in a nearby field.

Despite their bravery and sacrifice, these eleven soldiers were omitted from the final Congressional War Crimes report of 1949. For seventy years, their files--marked secret--gathered dust in the National Archive. But in 1994, at the site of their execution, a memorial was dedicated to the Wereth Eleven and all African-American soldiers who fought in Europe.

Drawing on firsthand interviews with family members and fellow soldiers, The Lost Eleven tells the complete story of these nearly forgotten soldiers, their valor in battle and their tragic end.

INCLUDES PHOTOS

Denise George is a world-traveled author and speaker who has written or cowritten thirty books, including Orchestra of Exiles, Behind Nazi Lines, The Secret Holocaust Diaries, While the World Watched, and The Gentle Giant of Dynamite Hill. She is married to author Dr. Timothy George, founding dean of Beeson Divinity School, Samford University. Visit her online at denisegeorge.org.

Robert Child is an Emmy nominated writer and director. He has directed films all over the world, including Canada, UK, France, and Belgium. Child has garnered more than twenty-five writing and directing awards and is one of only a handful of directors whose work has screened in the Congress of the United States.