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Angress, Werner T. (33043440): Difference between revisions

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|class_number=11
|class_number=11
|class_section=5A
|class_section=5A
|class_rank=Sgt
|class_rank=Sergeant
|birth_year=1920
|birth_year=1920
|death_year=2010
|death_year=2010
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|marital=Single without dependents
|marital=Single without dependents
|certificate=3743
|certificate=3743
|photo=Angress, Werner (33043440).jpg
|photo=Angress, Werner (33043440) press TANGRAM.jpg
|confidence=high
|confidence=high
|class_display=11
|class_display=11
|overseas=Y
|overseas=Y
|birth_place=Berlin son of Henry and Henny
|birth_place=Berlin, Germany
|rank_final=Colonel
|rank_final=Colonel
|awards=Purple Heart
|awards_grid=Purple Heart
|awards_ribbons=Ribbon_Purple_Heart_ribbon.png
|awards_ribbon_rows=Ribbon_Purple_Heart_ribbon.png
|birth_date=27 June 1920
}}
}}


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== Biography ==
== Biography ==
Werner T. Angress (1920–2010) was a German-born Jewish trainee who studied German Order of Battle at Camp Ritchie in class 11 and served with IPW Team 45. His memoir ''Witness to the Storm'' recounts his route from Nazi Berlin to the U.S. Army. Teammates included Fred Guttman, Siggi Koesterich, Leo Brodsky, and [[Greenwald, Ernest (31003792)|Ernest Greenwald]].
Werner Angress was born in Berlin in 1920. In 1937 his family fled to the Netherlands, and about two years later he emigrated to the United States with a group of friends. He joined the U.S. Army in 1941. After infantry service he was sent to Camp Ritchie in 1943—where trainees joked that MITC stood for “Military Institute of Total Confusion”—then to England with an airborne assignment.


He parachuted into France on D-Day with the 82nd Airborne Division, was captured and held as a prisoner of war, later jumped into Holland in Operation Market Garden, fought in the Battle of the Bulge, and helped liberate Camp Wöbbelin, a subcamp of Neuengamme. He received the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star.
On D-Day night he parachuted into France with the 82nd Airborne Division despite never having jumped before; after a misdrop he evaded capture for nine days before he and other lost GIs were betrayed and taken prisoner. He concealed his identity and was liberated about two weeks later. He later parachuted into Holland in Operation Market Garden, fought in the Battle of the Bulge, and helped liberate Camp Wöbbelin, a subcamp of Neuengamme.
 
On Mother’s Day in 1945 he was reunited in Amsterdam with his mother and two younger brothers, who had survived in hiding; his father, arrested in 1941, had been killed in Auschwitz. In fall 1945 he returned to the United States, studied at university, and later became a professor of history at Berkeley and then at Stony Brook. He later published the memoir ''Invisible Ink''.


== Research notes ==
== Research notes ==
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* Historian, SUNY Professor
* Historian, SUNY Professor
* Author, "Between Fear and Hope"
* Author, "Between Fear and Hope"
* Portrait and summary from Notable Ritchie Boys slides ([https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ij8PP9weF976Lb5_Ic4bFimcuAZzXRn3cHfNCk5nTdM source]).


== Gallery ==
== Gallery ==
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4323984584290096.jpg
4323984584290096.jpg
Angress, Werner (33043440).jpg|Earlier profile photograph (retained after press-photo update)
</gallery>
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== Timeline ==
== Timeline ==
* 7/13/1844 Captured some Germans (23). Interrogated German Cpl Kegel. (Dan Gross private research timeline; WERNER T. ANGRESS (2021).doc, page unknown; paragraph 45)
<div class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed soldier-timeline">
* 6/27/1920 Born in Berlin son of Henry and Henny Angress (Jewish). (Dan Gross private research timeline; WERNER T. ANGRESS (2021).doc, page unknown; paragraph 4)
<div class="soldier-timeline-body">
* 8/25/1943 Entered Class 11. (Dan Gross private research timeline; WERNER T. ANGRESS (2021).doc, page unknown; paragraph 14)
* Born 27 June 1920 in Berlin son of Henry and Henny Angress (Jewish).
* 12/15/1943 Promoted to S/Sgt. (Dan Gross private research timeline; WERNER T. ANGRESS (2021).doc, page unknown; paragraph 19)
* 1937 — Family fled to the Netherlands.
* 6/27/1944 Liberated by US 9th Infantry Division. Rejoined the 508th PIR. (Dan Gross private research timeline; WERNER T. ANGRESS (2021).doc, page unknown; paragraph 40)
* c. 1939 — Emigrated to the United States.
* 6/28/1944 Started to interrogate POWs while with 1st Battalion, 508th PIR. (Dan Gross private research timeline; WERNER T. ANGRESS (2021).doc, page unknown; paragraph 42)
* 1941 — Joined the U.S. Army; father arrested (later killed in Auschwitz).
* 9/9/1944 Assigned to IPW Team 40 (thru 12/13/1944). (Dan Gross private research timeline; WERNER T. ANGRESS (2021).doc, page unknown; paragraph 48)
* 15 December 1943 — Promoted to S/Sgt.
* 9/9/1944 Assigned to IPW Team 40 (thru 12/13/1944). (Dan Gross private research timeline; WERNER T. ANGRESS (2021).doc, page unknown; paragraph 48)
* 23 October 1943 — Graduated Class 11 (German Document Examiner).
* 12/11/1944 Promoted to T/Sgt per Special Order F-88. (Dan Gross private research timeline; WERNER T. ANGRESS (2021).doc, page unknown; paragraph 53)
* 25 August 1943 — Entered Class 11.
* 12/13/1944 Assigned to IPW Team 47 from IPW Team 40. (Dan Gross private research timeline; WERNER T. ANGRESS (2021).doc, page unknown; paragraph 54)
* 11 December 1944 — Promoted to T/Sgt per Special Order F-88.
* 12/16/1944 Unit moved to the Ardennes. (Dan Gross private research timeline; WERNER T. ANGRESS (2021).doc, page unknown; paragraph 55)
* 11 November 1944 — Moved to Camp Sissones (nr Reims).
* 1943 Maneuvers in North Carolina with 116th Infantry Regiment (29th Infantry. (Dan Gross private research timeline; WERNER T. ANGRESS (2021).doc, page unknown; paragraph 10)
* 13 December 1944 — Assigned to IPW Team 47 from IPW Team 40.
* 7/1943 Communications Sergeant with 314th Infantry (Nashville). (Dan Gross private research timeline; WERNER T. ANGRESS (2021).doc, page unknown; paragraph 12)
* 13 December 1944.
* Assigned to IPW Team 45 attached to 82nd Airborne Division consisting of:. (Dan Gross private research timeline; WERNER T. ANGRESS (2021).doc, page unknown; paragraph 25)
* 16 December 1944 — Unit moved to the Ardennes.
* Awards: Purple Heart; Bronze Star; Combat Infantryman Badge. (Dan Gross private research timeline; WERNER T. ANGRESS (2021).doc, page unknown; paragraph 60)
* 27 June 1944 — Liberated by US 9th Infantry Division. Rejoined the 508th PIR.
* Colonel Whitfield Jack (ACoS G-2). (Dan Gross private research timeline; WERNER T. ANGRESS (2021).doc, page unknown; paragraph 70)
* 28 June 1944 — Started to interrogate POWs while with 1st Battalion, 508th PIR.
* Division). (Dan Gross private research timeline; WERNER T. ANGRESS (2021).doc, page unknown; paragraph 11)
* 9 September 1944 — Assigned to IPW Team 40 (thru 13 December 1944).
* Later, Emanuel; Angress; Brodsky; Guttman; Greenwald. Also Capt. John A. Breen. (Dan Gross private research timeline; WERNER T. ANGRESS (2021).doc, page unknown; paragraph 35)
* Fall 1945 — Returned to the United States.
* March 1945 — IPW Team 47 assigned to 82nd Airborne (1st Army).
* Mother’s Day 1945 — Reunited with mother and brothers in Amsterdam.
* Assigned to IPW Team 45 attached to 82nd Airborne Division consisting of.
* Awards: Purple Heart; Bronze Star; Combat Infantryman Badge.
* Division).
 
 
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== Sources ==
== Sources ==
* Camp Ritchie class roster (classes 1–31), merged research file
* 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)
* NARA World War II Army enlistment records (where a NARA ASN is present)
* 1940 U.S. Census (where a census match is present)
* 1940 U.S. Census (where a census match is present)
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* Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2021-05-22 (1 post)
* Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2021-05-22 (1 post)
* Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2021-06-29 (3 posts)
* Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2021-06-29 (3 posts)
* Dan Gross, ''Timeline of Werner T. Angress for Camp Ritchie'' (private research document; 2 source documents reviewed)
* Dan Gross, ''Timeline of Werner T. Angress for Camp Ritchie'' (private research document; 1 source documents reviewed)
* Dan Gross, ''Timeline of Angress, Werner T. for Camp Ritchie'' (private research files; selected non-private narrative findings; 1 source files: WERNER T. ANGRESS (2021).doc)
* [https://ritchieboys.com/EN/boys_angress.html The Ritchie Boys: Werner Angress]
* [https://ritchieboys.com/EN/camp_life.html The Ritchie Boys film site — Life in Camp Ritchie (Werner Angress MITC quote)]
* [[The Stories/Life in Camp Ritchie]] (Bauer film excerpts)
* [https://ritchieboys.com/EN/press_photos.html The Ritchie Boys film site — press photos] (© TANGRAM; high-res https://ritchieboys.com/DL/photos-highq/boys/angress.jpg)
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