Ritchie Boys Wiki

Meyer, Alfred Georg (0555182): Difference between revisions

← Older edit
VisualWikitext
Enrich from My Life as a Fish autobiography excerpts; link Full story
Sort Timeline bullets chronologically
 
(4 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown)
Line 4: Line 4:
|surname=Meyer
|surname=Meyer
|first=Alfred
|first=Alfred
|middle=G.
|middle=Georg
|class_section=5B
|class_section=5B
|class_rank=T/4
|class_rank=T/4
Line 26: Line 26:


<div class="soldier-lead">
<div class="soldier-lead">
'''Alfred G. Meyer''' (5 February 1920&ndash;1998) was a German-born Jewish refugee, Camp Ritchie interrogator, and later a scholar of Soviet politics. After [[Class 18]] and a commission on D-Day, he served with an MII team attached to the 29th Infantry Division.
'''[[Meyer, Alfred Georg (0555182)|Alfred Georg Meyer]]''' (5 February 1920–1998) was a German-born Jewish refugee, Camp Ritchie interrogator with the 29th Infantry Division, and later a scholar of Soviet politics.
</div>
</div>


== Biography ==
== Biography ==
Alfred G. Meyer was born on 5 February 1920 in Bielefeld, Germany. As Nazi persecution closed in, he left for the United States in 1939 after a first sailing on the MS ''Donau'' was turned back, then crossed via Belgium and a Dutch ship and settled with relatives in Santa Ana, California.
Alfred Georg Meyer was born on 5 February 1920 in Bielefeld, Germany, the son of attorney Gustav Meyer and Therese Meyer. After the November 1938 pogrom curtailed his father’s practice, he emigrated to the United States in 1939 (after a first sailing was turned back), settled with relatives in Santa Ana, California, and volunteered into the draft in 1941 (enlisted ASN 39162439).


Eager to serve, he volunteered into the draft in 1941 and entered the Army from Los Angeles (enlisted ASN 39162439). After early duty that included clerical work and an assignment to the Army Specialized Training Program’s Russian-language course at Harvard, the Army recognized his German and sent him to [[Camp Ritchie]] for prisoner-of-war interrogation training in [[Class 18]].
Following clerical duty and an Army Specialized Training Program Russian course at Harvard, the Army sent him to Camp Ritchie [[Class 18]] for prisoner-of-war interrogation training. On 6 June 1944—D-Day, and his father’s birthday—he was commissioned a second lieutenant. He crossed to Omaha Beach, served on an intelligence team under Capt. Hans Kohler with other Ritchie graduates, and joined the 29th Infantry Division (roster: [[Team MII 409-G|MII Team 409-G]]). In April 1945, as a lieutenant with U.S. forces advancing through Brackwede into Bielefeld, he appears in contemporary U.S. Army film later used in a Neue Westfälische documentary about the city’s liberation.


At Ritchie he finished a demanding course that mixed order-of-battle study, aerial-photo work, map reading, Morse code, and field craft on a ten-day “Ban-Day” cycle. During a culminating exercise in early summer 1944 he was pulled aside for commissioning; on 6 June 1944—D-Day, and his father’s birthday—he became a second lieutenant after a counterintelligence interview cleared a mistranslated “Cuban cause” letter from his refugee efforts to help his parents. He soon sailed for Liverpool with other newly commissioned Ritchie graduates.
After the war Meyer studied at Harvard under the GI Bill, earned a doctorate, and became a professor of political science, teaching in Michigan and also at Harvard and in Washington; he returned to Bielefeld for guest lectures. He married Eva Apel, whom he met at Harvard. In 1991 he received the Federal Republic of Germany’s Grand Cross of Merit for strengthening German–American understanding. His parents were murdered in the Holocaust (Theresienstadt and Auschwitz). He died in 1998. Longer Camp Ritchie and wartime passages from his autobiography are on [[The Stories/My Life as a Fish]].
 
After months waiting at Broadway in Worcestershire, he crossed to Omaha Beach and was assigned in the Paris area to an intelligence team under Capt. Hans Kohler with four other Camp Ritchie graduates, then joined the 29th Infantry Division. In the field he developed a deliberately humane interrogation style and a “show of knowledge” technique drawn from Ritchie training. Roster research places him with MII Team 409-G with that division.
 
After the war Meyer entered Harvard graduate study under the GI Bill, earned a doctorate, and became a scholar of Marxism and Soviet politics. He died in 1998. Longer Camp Ritchie and wartime passages from his autobiography are on [[The Stories/My Life as a Fish]].


== Research notes ==
== Research notes ==
Line 69: Line 65:
* 1939 — Emigrated to the United States after a first sailing was turned back; settled in Santa Ana, California.
* 1939 — Emigrated to the United States after a first sailing was turned back; settled in Santa Ana, California.
* 1941 — Volunteered into the draft; entered the Army from Los Angeles as a private (ASN 39162439).
* 1941 — Volunteered into the draft; entered the Army from Los Angeles as a private (ASN 39162439).
* Assigned to the ASTP Russian-language program at Harvard University.
* Summer 1944 — Sailed to Liverpool; staged at Broadway, Worcestershire.
* Entered Camp Ritchie [[Class 18]] for IPW / military-intelligence training.
* 1944–1945 — Interrogation and related intelligence duty with the 29th Infantry Division in Northwest Europe.
* 6 June 1944 — Commissioned second lieutenant at Camp Ritchie (D-Day).
* 6 June 1944 — Commissioned second lieutenant at Camp Ritchie (D-Day).
* Summer 1944 — Sailed to Liverpool; staged at Broadway, Worcestershire.
* September 1944 — Crossed to Omaha Beach; assigned to Capt. Hans Kohler’s intelligence team (four other Ritchie graduates) with the 29th Infantry Division; roster: MII 409-G.
* September 1944 — Crossed to Omaha Beach; assigned to Capt. Hans Kohler’s intelligence team (four other Ritchie graduates) with the 29th Infantry Division; roster: MII 409-G.
* 1944–1945 — Interrogation and related intelligence duty with the 29th Infantry Division in Northwest Europe.
* April 1945 — With U.S. forces entering Bielefeld via Brackwede; appears in Army film later used in Neue Westfälische DVD documentary.
* 1946 — Began graduate study at Harvard; later scholar of Soviet politics / Marxism.
* 1946 — Began graduate study at Harvard; later scholar of Soviet politics / Marxism.
* 1991 — Awarded the Grand Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany for German–American relations work.
* 1998 — Died.
* 1998 — Died.
* 2000 — Autobiography ''My Life as a Fish'' (excerpts concerning Camp Ritchie later shared by his daughter Vera Meyer).
* 2000 — Autobiography ''My Life as a Fish'' (excerpts concerning Camp Ritchie later shared by his daughter Vera Meyer).
* Assigned to the ASTP Russian-language program at Harvard University.
* Entered Camp Ritchie [[Class 18]] for IPW / military-intelligence training.
</div>
</div>
</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>
</div><div style="clear: both;"></div>


== Sources ==
== Sources ==
* Neue Westfälische (Bielefeld) article on Vera Meyer recognizing her father Alfred Georg Meyer in the DVD documentary ''Bielefeld – Leben und Hoffen in den Ruinen'' (RB Archive PDF copy: BielefeldDVDKriegsende.pdf)
* 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
Retrieved from "https://ritchieboys.org/wiki/Meyer,_Alfred_Georg_(0555182)"