Wolinsky, Friedrich (32659188)

Friedrich Wolinsky
Frederick Wolinsky. Photo credit: (c) National Archives and Records Administration 111 SC-380425
Personal details
Born	24 September 1909 Vienna, Austria
Died	10 January 1986 Los Angeles, California
Nativity	Russia
Religion	Jewish
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
ASN	32659188
Rank	Technician Fourth Grade

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Friedrich Wolinsky (later Frederick Wolinsky; 24 September 1909 – 10 January 1986) was a Vienna-born lawyer and Ritchie Boy who passed through Camp Ritchie, Maryland, into the Mobile Radio Broadcasting Companies, trained in combat propaganda in the United States and Britain, and in May 1945 took part in the search for "Nazi gold" at Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

Biography

Friedrich Wolinsky, later known as Frederick Wolinsky, was born in Vienna on 24 September 1909 into a Jewish family. After elementary school he earned a doctorate in law in Vienna. After the Nazi takeover he fled to Switzerland, and in May 1940 he sailed from Genoa to the United States. He lived in New York City; in the autumn of 1940 he was unemployed, and he also worked as a shipping clerk and a lawyer.

Wolinsky was drafted at New York City on 9 December 1942, when he was listed as a semiskilled factory worker, and went through the Reception Center at Fort Dix, New Jersey, to rifle basic training and service with Headquarters Company, 376th Infantry Regiment, at Camp Phillips, Kansas; he became a United States citizen in April 1943. By September 1943, as a private first class, he had been sent to the Army Specialized Training Program: after the qualification course of STAR Unit No. 3701 at the University of Wyoming in Laramie he was assigned to ASTP course No. 3905 (Foreign Area and Language) at Stanford University in California. By way of Sacramento he was transferred in January 1944 to the Military Intelligence Training Center at Camp Ritchie and assigned directly to the combat propaganda troops of the 2nd Mobile Radio Broadcasting Company (Special Order 22, 26 January 1944); in February he was assigned to the 3rd MRBC (Special Order 36) and trained in propaganda at Camp Sharpe, Pennsylvania.

In April 1944 Wolinsky sailed for Europe, and from May he took advanced propaganda training at the Psychological Warfare School in Brondesbury Park, England. Probably in mid-1944 he was transferred from the MRBC propaganda troops to another unit, probably in intelligence. In May 1945 he was involved in the search for "Nazi gold" at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. His last known rank was technician fourth grade, having earlier been promoted to technician fifth grade. He died in Los Angeles on 10 January 1986.

Gallery

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Timeline

• 24 September 1909 — Born in Vienna, Austria.
• May 1940 — Sailed from Genoa to the United States.
• December 1942 — Basic training with 376th Inf Regiment (HQ Company), Camp Phillips, Kansas.
• 9 December 1942 — Drafted into Army at NYC as Pvt (ASN: 32659188).
• April 1943 — Naturalized.
• 26 January 1944 — Assigned to MRBC 2 per Special Order 22.
• February 1944 — Assigned to MRBC 3 per Special Order 36; Camp Sharpe, Pennsylvania.
• May 1945 — Search for "Nazi gold" at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
• 10 January 1986 — Died in Los Angeles, California.
• August–September 1943 — ASTP, University of Wyoming and Stanford University, as Pfc.
• April–May 1944 — Sailed for Europe; Psychological Warfare School, Brondesbury Park.

Technical record

Field	Imported value
MRBC3	3
row_source	demographics

Research notes

• The infobox nativity (Russia) conflicts with the Austriansoldiers biography's birth in Vienna; nativity left unchanged pending review.
• Final rank: the earlier import gave T/5; the Austriansoldiers biography gives technician fourth grade as his last known rank (after an earlier promotion to T/5).

Sources

• 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 Friedrich Wolinsky for Camp Ritchie (private research document; 1 source documents reviewed)
• Dan Gross, Timeline of Wolinsky, Friedrich for Camp Ritchie (private research files; selected non-private narrative findings; 1 source files: FRIEDRICH WOLINSKY.doc)
• Austriansoldiers biography: Frederick Wolinsky, Austriansoldiers / Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Research on Consequences of War (in German; accessed 25 September 2026)