According to the official citation, Mr. Thomas was awarded the Silver Star, one of the nation’s highest honors, “For gallantry in action against the enemy in France from August to September 1944, while a Lieutenant in the French Forces of the Interior (Maquis Commando Group) attached to the 1st Battalion, 180th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division.”

During his time in World War II, Mr. Thomas reports capturing numerous Nazi leaders, including Emil Mahl, the “Hangman of Dachau;” uncovered the Nazi Party’s “Master File” of over 11 million worldwide members that is now the centerpiece of the Berlin Document Center; and conceived of and executed “Operation Black Eagle,” which resulted in the exposure, capture and trial of numerous SS leaders and other Nazis attempting their own plan to retake control of Germany.

The Citation concludes, “The gallantry displayed by Lieutenant Thomas was in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflects great credit on himself, the 180th Infantry Regiment, and the French Forces of the Interior.”

Born in Poland but reared and educated in Germany and France, Mr. Thomas describes living through the most difficult of circumstances, surviving concentration, slave labor and deportation camps before joining the French Resistance and eventually becoming a member of the U.S. Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC).

Congresswoman Maloney, who was instrumental in advancing the decision to award Mr. Thomas the Silver Star, said, “Mr. Thomas earned our country’s greatest respect and appreciation, even if it took sixty years to obtain this honor for him. Hollywood could not invent a war hero that matches what Mr. Thomas achieved for our country and for the world in real life, in a real war. He is truly a shining star from the world’s greatest generation.”

Today’s ceremony took place in the historic Tiffany Room of the Seventh Regiment Armory in New York City, 643 Park Avenue. The following is a more detailed description of the life and service of Mr. Thomas:

Michel Thomas
A Brief History of Heroic Service
(Provided in Part by the Offices of Alex Kline and Dan Klores Associates)

Born in Lodz, Poland, Mr. Thomas’s Jewish family was murdered by the Nazis during World War II. After the war began, he survived two years of slave labor and deportation camps in Vichy, France, then fought for two years with the French Resistance. He fought as a maquisard for the French Forces of the Interior (FFI) in the Vosges mountains in southern France. In 1943, Thomas was caught by and escaped from Klaus Barbie, the notorious Butcher of Lyon (In 1987, Thomas testified at Barbie's war-crimes trial in Lyon).

In 1944, he was attached to the U.S. Army's 45th Infantry Division (The Thunderbirds), and for the following two years he served as an Agent in the U.S. Army's Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC).

On April 29, 1945, Agent Thomas arrived at Dachau concentration camp on the day of liberation, with then-Lieutenant Colonel Wilson Gibson. Both men took extensive photographs, and Thomas interrogated and photographed the crematorium workers. Two days later Thomas captured the "Hangman of Dachau," Emil Mahl, who was subsequently convicted of war crimes.

In early May 1945, Thomas tracked a convoy of trucks to a paper mill outside Munich, where he rescued from destruction the Nazi Party's worldwide membership card file of over ten million members. The Nazi leadership had shipped the cards, along with tons of other important Third Reich government documents, to be pulped in the final days of the war. These documents became the heart of the collections of the U.S.-run Berlin Document Center, and were crucial in the Nuremberg war crimes trials and in the denazification of Germany.

Robert Wolfe, formerly Senior Archivist at the US National Archives, has praised Thomas for his historic contribution in rescuing these documents from destruction, saying, “These records were the most important documentation of the war. If they had been pulped in that paper mill, we would not have been able to prove, in spite of the deniers, that the Holocaust and other victimizations occurred, and the deniers would be having even more of a field day today. If any one of us could make such a contribution in our lifetime, it would be enough.”

In 1946, Thomas and his fellow CIC Agent Theodore Kraus captured a top-priority war criminal in Germany, Gustav Knittel, who was convicted of war crimes for his role in the Malmedy massacre of American POWs at the Battle of the Bulge. Also working with Kraus, Thomas posed as an SS officer, and headed a sting operation that netted a number of underground SS terrorists, who were convicted for their activities. Kraus now lives in Connecticut.

After WWII, in 1947 Thomas moved to Los Angeles and became a U.S. citizen. He now lives in New York City. He has devoted his life to the development of superior methods of teaching and has applied his findings to create a uniquely effective language teaching system, which is now sold worldwide on tapes and CDs. He has taught many prominent persons from the entertainment world, business, and government at the Michel Thomas Language Centers, which he continues to operate from New York City.

Below is the complete language of the Citation presented to Mr. Thomas with the Silver Star:

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, has awarded the SILVER STAR to: Michel Kroskof-Thomas, (Then Lieutenant, French Forces of the Interior) For gallantry in action against the enemy in France from August to September 1944, while a Lieutenant in the French Forces of the Interior (Maquis Commando Group) attached to the 1st Battalion, 180th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division. During this time in adverse weather conditions and against intense enemy resistance, Lieutenant Thomas successfully led reconnaissance patrols into enemy territory to gain vital information necessary for the continued advances of allied forces. Often he led as a many as three patrols in one day and on several occasions volunteered to go on these patrols alone with utter disregard for his personal safety. Lieutenant Thomas was instrumental in capturing many enemy prisoners whom he personally interrogated and obtained much vital information. His fluent knowledge of various languages was beneficial in interrogating enemy prisoners and captured slave laborers, and French civilians. The gallantry displayed by Lieutenant Thomas was in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflects great credit on himself, the 180th Infantry Regiment, and the French Forces of the Interior.

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