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Henry H. Kolm
| Henry H. Kolm | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born | 10 September 1924 Vienna, Austria |
| Died | 2010 |
| Nativity | Austria |
| Religion | Jewish |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Army |
| ASN | 33784680 |
| Camp Ritchie | Class 29 (13 April – 12 June 1945) |
| Unit / division | 20th Armored Division |
{{Needs source}}, or explain disagreements on talk. Baseline import notes: About the data.
Henry H. Kolm (10 September 1924–2010) was an Austria-born United States Army soldier who served as an armored engineer with Patton’s 20th Armored Division, trained at Camp Ritchie with Class 29, and was selected for secret interrogation work at P.O. Box 1142.
Biography
Henry H. Kolm was born on 10 September 1924 near Vienna, Austria, into a well-educated, multilingual family; his father was a physician and medical researcher. After the Nazi annexation of Austria the Kolms fled—first to Czechoslovakia, then Luxembourg, Brussels, and Paris—before reaching the United States in December 1939. Kolm personally saw Hitler enter Vienna and later Prague. Part of the escape included being smuggled under barbed wire into Luxembourg with help from HIAS. The family settled in Philadelphia; he graduated from Gratz High School in June 1942.
He enlisted on 26 March 1943 and took infantry basic training at Camp Wheeler, Georgia, becoming a United States citizen during service (naturalized 1 October 1943). He had hoped for the Air Force but was placed in the infantry, then assigned to the 220th Armored Engineer Battalion of Patton’s 20th Armored Division. There he did dangerous frontline engineer work: flamethrowers with jellied gasoline that could melt bunker hatch armor, satchel charges to breach thick concrete, and shaped charges against “dragon’s teeth.” He extracted stuck tanks, ran bulldozers and tank-dozers, helped test weapons for Siegfried Line assault training, and remembered driving Eisenhower and Patton to demonstrations. Befriending the motor-pool sergeant, he became licensed on every Corps of Engineers vehicle from bulldozers to tanks.
Kolm attended Officer Candidate School at Fort Belvoir but decided engineering was not his long-term fit. He walked uninvited into the Pentagon’s G-2 office and asked for military intelligence; General Clayton Bissell reportedly ordered him sent to Camp Ritchie. From late 1943 into spring 1944 he trained there with Class 29—aerial photo interpretation (including stereoscope work that later required a year of eye therapy), foreign weapons, German order of battle, aircraft silhouette recognition, orienteering drops, parachute-tower training, and mock combat. Among fellow refugee trainees he later recalled were Arno Mayer and Peter Weiss.
At graduation only a small group—about seven to ten men from his class—were chosen for a classified assignment and taken by staff car to P.O. Box 1142 at Fort Hunt, Virginia, under orders not to tell anyone where they were. Kolm lived in bachelor officers’ quarters and joined the top-secret interrogation program that handled German POWs, scientists, engineers, and other high-value targets—work the Army did not publicly acknowledge for decades. He died in 2010.
Research notes
- Fort Hunt / P.O. Box 1142 — selected from Camp Ritchie class for secret interrogation assignment (NPS oral history).
- U.S. maneuvers with 20th Armored Division / 220th Armored Engineer Battalion.
- Trained alongside classmates he later named including Arno Mayer and Peter Weiss.
Gallery
No portrait on file yet.
Technical record
| Field | Imported value |
|---|---|
| Approx Age at Death | 86 |
| Nara ASN | 33784680 |
| Nara Name | KOLM HENRY H |
| Nara State | 32 |
| Nara County | 101 |
| Nara POE | 3295 |
| Nara DOE | 90643 |
| Nara Grade Alpha | PVT |
| Nara Grade Code | 8 |
| Nara Branch Alpha | NO |
| Nara Branch Code | 2 |
| Branch | No branch assignment |
| Nara Term or Enlistment | 5 |
| Term of enlistment | Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law |
| Defer. Date | 0 |
| Nara Source | 0 |
| Nara Nativity | N2 |
| Nara Year of Birth | 24 |
| Nara Race | J |
| Nara Race Description | White not yet a citizen |
| Nara Education | 4 |
| Nara Civilian Occupation | 867 |
| Nara Marital Status | 6 |
| Nara Height (inches) | 38 |
| Nara Weight (lbs) | 494 |
| row_source | demographics |
Timeline
- 10 September 1924 — Born near Vienna, Austria (parents Richard and Elly Kolm).
- 1938–1939 — Family fled Austria via Czechoslovakia, Luxembourg (HIAS; barbed-wire crossing), Brussels, and Paris; witnessed Hitler in Vienna and Prague.
- December 1939 — Arrived in the United States; settled in Philadelphia.
- June 1942 — Graduated Gratz High School.
- 26 March 1943 — Enlisted; infantry basic at Camp Wheeler, Georgia.
- 1 October 1943 — Naturalized as a U.S. citizen.
- c. 1943–1944 — 220th Armored Engineer Battalion, 20th Armored Division (Patton): demolitions, flamethrowers, engineer vehicles; drove Eisenhower and Patton to weapons demonstrations; OCS at Fort Belvoir; walked into Pentagon G-2 (Gen. Clayton Bissell → Camp Ritchie).
- Late 1943 – spring 1944 — Camp Ritchie Class 29 (photo interpretation, OB, weapons, orienteering, parachute tower).
- Graduation — Selected with ~7–10 classmates for P.O. Box 1142 (Fort Hunt) interrogation assignment.
- 2010 — Died.
Sources
- NPS Fort Hunt Oral History — Henry Kolm interview transcript (armored engineer / Camp Ritchie / P.O. Box 1142; formerly published on the NPS Fort Hunt oral-history exhibit)
- Camp Ritchie Museum, Inc. (The Ritchie History Museum), Classes 1–31 roster data
- Dan Gross research spreadsheets, including original Excel timeline/roster work, combined with other research and records
- NARA World War II Army enlistment records (where a NARA ASN is present)
- 1940 U.S. Census (where a census match is present)
- Dan Gross, Timeline of Henry H. Kolm for Camp Ritchie (private research document; 1 source documents reviewed)
- Dan Gross, Timeline of Kolm, Henry H. for Camp Ritchie (private research files; selected non-private narrative findings; 1 source files: HENRY H. KOLM (2020).doc)