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Trefousse, Hans Louis (01590860): Difference between revisions

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|surname=Trefousse
|surname=Trefousse
|first=Hans
|first=Hans
|middle=L.
|middle=Louis
|class_section=5A
|class_section=5A
|class_rank=2nd Lt
|class_rank=2nd Lt
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|class_number=8
|class_number=8
|class_display=8
|class_display=8
|birth_date=19 December 1921
|birth_date=18 December 1921
|death_date=8 January 2010
|death_date=8 January 2010
|birth_place=Frankfurt, Germany
|birth_place=Frankfurt, Germany
|death_place=Staten Island, New York, U.S.
|death_place=Staten Island, New York
|education=City College New York (B.A., 1942);; Columbia University (M.A., 1947)(PhD. 1950)
|education=City College New York (B.A., 1942);; Columbia University (M.A., 1947)(PhD. 1950)
|occupation=Author, historian, professor
|occupation=Author, historian, professor
|known_for=Author, historian, professor
|known_for=Author, historian, professor
|arm_or_service=Quartermaster Corps
|arm_or_service=Quartermaster Corps
|rank_final=Col
|rank_final=Lieutenant Colonel
|awards=Bronze Star Medal
|awards=Bronze Star
|awards_grid=Bronze Star Medal
|awards_grid=Bronze Star
|awards_ribbons=Ribbon_Bronze_Star_Medal_ribbon.png
|awards_ribbons=Ribbon_Bronze_Star_Medal_ribbon.png
|awards_ribbon_rows=Ribbon_Bronze_Star_Medal_ribbon.png
|awards_ribbon_rows=Ribbon_Bronze_Star_Medal_ribbon.png
|division=29th Infantry Division
}}
}}


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'''[[Trefousse, Hans L. (01590860)|Hans L. Trefousse]]''' (1921–2010) was a Ritchie Boy (from Germany; Jewish) who trained at Camp Ritchie in class 8 and served with IPW Team 33; 24.
'''Hans Louis Trefousse''' (18 December 1921 – 8 January 2010) was a Frankfurt-born Ritchie Boy ([[:Category:Class 8|Class 8]]) who landed with the 116th Infantry on D-Day and later became a Civil War historian at Brooklyn College.
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== Biography ==
== Biography ==
On 16 May 1942, Hans graduated from City College, NY (BA, History). He was a long-time professor (and professor emeritus) at Brooklyn College from 1950 to 1998. He later served as OIC with IPW Team 33. He also taught as a distinguished professor of history at Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He continued to teach at Brooklyn College and published many books on the Reconstruction era, including biographies of previously maligned Radical Republicans Benjamin F. Hans Louis Trefousse (December 18, 1921–January 8, 2010) was a German-American author and historian of the Reconstruction Era and World War II. Some historians consider his most influential book The Radical Republicans: Lincoln's Vanguard for Racial Justice (1969), which disagreed with the dominant historical narrative of the time regarding Reconstruction, arguing instead that Reconstruction was a failed attempt "to bring racial justice to the South." In total Trefousse authored over twenty books. He married Rachelle Friedlander two years later, and they had a son and daughter who survived them. After encountering racist incidents in New York City, he switched focus, publishing a biography, Ben Butler: The South Called Him Beast! He gained media attention during Bill Clinton's impeachment for drawing comparisons to Johnson's impeachment. Trefousse was a Ritchie Boy. At he time the article was written, he was semi-retired, and continued to publish on military and political topics.
Hans Louis Trefousse was born on 18 December 1921 in Frankfurt, Germany, the son of a German Jewish physician and World War I veteran. The family left Germany in 1936. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from City College of New York with a B.A. in history on 16 May 1942 and enlisted in the Army on 17 May 1943.
 
Fluent in German, French, and English, he trained at Camp Ritchie ([[:Category:Class 8|Class 8]]), was commissioned in the Quartermaster Corps, and was attached to the 116th Infantry Regiment for the Normandy landings. As an IPW interrogator he served through the liberation of Paris and later campaigns; near Leipzig he saved hundreds of lives by arguing for eleven hours with a German commander holding out with many troops until he agreed to surrender, and near Wurzen he persuaded the crew of a German Hummel self-propelled gun to surrender. He received the Bronze Star.
 
After the war Trefousse studied history at Columbia University on the G.I. Bill, receiving his M.A. in 1947 and Ph.D. in 1950, and two years later married Rachelle Friedlander. He became a leading scholar of the Civil War and Reconstruction, teaching at Brooklyn College from 1950 to 1998 (later professor emeritus) and at the CUNY Graduate Center. The author of more than twenty books, including ''German and American Neutrality, 1939–1941'' (1951), biographies of Benjamin F. Wade, Benjamin Butler, Thaddeus Stevens, Andrew Johnson, and Rutherford B. Hayes, and ''The Radical Republicans: Lincoln's Vanguard for Racial Justice'' (1969), he appeared as a CNN analyst and drew media attention during the impeachment of Bill Clinton for his comparisons with Andrew Johnson's impeachment. He died on 8 January 2010 on Staten Island.


== Research notes ==
== Research notes ==
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* Born 18 December 1921 in Frankfurt (Jewish).
* 18 December 1921 — Born in Frankfurt.
* 16 July 1943 — Graduated as Lt. (ASN 01590860) with Class 8 (IPW Ge).
* 1936 — Family emigrated from Germany.
* 30 October 1943 — Promoted to 1st Lt.
* 16 May 1942 — B.A., City College of New York.
* November 1944 — Served at Huertgen Forest; tried to get Germans to surrender (Bronze Star).
* 17 May 1943 — Enlisted; Camp Ritchie Class 8; commissioned.
* Served with 26th Regiment, 1st Infantry (Col. Canham).
* 6 June 1944 onward — 116th Infantry / IPW; Normandy and later ETO; Bronze Star.
* 1950–1998 — Brooklyn College history faculty; CUNY Graduate Center; Civil War scholarship.
* 1950 — Ph.D., Columbia University.
* 1969 — Published ''The Radical Republicans: Lincoln's Vanguard for Racial Justice''.
* 8 January 2010 — Died, Staten Island, New York.
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== Sources ==
== Sources ==
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_L._Trefousse Wikipedia: Hans L. Trefousse]
* Military History magazine, April 2002 — “Through an Interrogator’s Eyes” interview with Hans L. Trefousse (RB Archive)
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_L._Trefousse Wikipedia — Hans L. Trefousse]
* Camp Ritchie Museum, Inc. (The Ritchie History Museum), Classes 1–31 roster data
* 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
* Dan Gross research spreadsheets, including original Excel timeline/roster work, combined with other research and records
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