Michel, Werner E. (01329861)

Werner E. Michel
Personal details
Born	1924 Landau, Germany
Died	7 November 2020
Nativity	Germany
Religion	Jewish
Awards	Bronze Star Medal
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
ASN	01329861
Rank	Colonel
Team	IPW 270

Interview Watch Werner E. Michel on Zekelman Holocaust Center.

Awards and honors

Bronze Star Medal

Teammates

Team — IPW 270

These are other soldiers listed on the same team roster. People moved between teams; overlapping service dates are not always documented.

Research notes on this page are compiled from the source file and later edits. They may be unverified, incomplete, or incorrect, and should not be treated as established fact. Please correct the article or add sources on the talk page. For class-roster terms, see About the data.

Sources & confidence: Treat Research notes as leads, not settled fact. Prefer NARA, the class roster, newspapers, Find a Grave, or published histories for contested claims. Mark unsourced claims with {{Needs source}}, or explain disagreements on talk. Baseline import notes: About the data.

Werner E. Michel (1924 – 7 November 2020) was a Landau-born Ritchie Boy who commanded IPW Team 270 with the 9th Infantry Division and later served as a U.S. Army colonel and Defense Intelligence Inspector General.

Biography

Werner E. Michel was born in 1924 in Landau, Germany, the son of Ludwig and Paula Michel. After Nuremberg Laws segregation ended his public schooling, a St. Louis family sponsored his emigration in November 1936 at age twelve. His mother and sister later joined him; his father, unable to obtain papers, fled to France and perished at Auschwitz.

Classified as an enemy alien, Michel enlisted in May 1943, trained at Fort Knox, served as an armored-force radio operator at Camp Chaffee, and graduated Infantry OCS at Fort Benning. He then trained at Camp Ritchie as an IPW team officer and commanded IPW Team 270 with the 9th Infantry Division in occupied Germany, including debriefings of high-ranking German officers at Neu-Ulm and work connected to the Malmedy massacre investigations at Dachau. He also described undercover CIC operations in Bavaria posing as former Afrika Korps soldiers.

Michel remained in the Army through CIC, Korea, and Vietnam, retiring as a colonel after about thirty-one years. He then spent seventeen years in Defense Department intelligence oversight, including appointment as Inspector General for Defense Intelligence, ending roughly forty-eight years of public service. He died on 7 November 2020; a funeral with military honors was held at Arlington National Cemetery.

Research notes

• OTC
• 1924- A

Technical record

Field	Imported value
row_source	demographics

Timeline

• Born 1924.
• July 1944 — Assigned to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, GA and graduated as 2nd Lt.
• July 1944 — Assigned to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, GA and graduated.
• Jan 1945 — Assigned to IRTC, Camp J. T. Robinson AK as Platoon Leader.
• Jan 1945 — Assigned to IRTC, Camp J. T. Robinson AR as Platoon Leader.
• January 1945 — Assigned to IRTC, Camp J. T. Robinson AR as Platoon Leader.
• June 14,1945 Shipped out first to England and then to France; assigned head of the 270th IPW team.
• June 1945 — ? Shipped out first to England and then to France; assigned head of the 270th IPW team.
• Mar 1945 — Assigned to 76th ITR as Platoon Leader.
• March 1945 — Assigned to 76th ITR as Platoon Leader.
• 1946 — Transferred to CIC (Region 4/Munich), where He became the Resident Agent.
• 1946 — Transferred to CIC (Region 4/Munich), where He became the Resident Agent. Working with a.
• End of 1946 Transferred to CIC (Region 4/Munich), where He became the Resident Agent. Working.
• 1948 — Since German-born CIC officers were no longer permitted to serve in Germany, Michel was sent to CIC school in Fort Holabird, MD where He taught German and German document evaluation.
• 1948 — Since German-born CIC officers were no longer permitted to serve in Germany, Michel was sent to CIC school in Fort Holabird, where He taught German and German document evaluation.
• 1948 — Since German-born CIC officers were no longer permitted to serve in Germany, Michel was.
• 1948 — Since German-born CIC officers were no longer permitted to serve in Germany.
• 1951 — Michel’s next assignment was with 441st CIC Detachment where He served as.
• 1955 — 1957 After his service in Tokyo, Michel returned to the U.S. where He was integrated into the.
• 1955 — 1957 After his service in Tokyo, Michel returned to the U.S. where He was.
• 1955 — After his service in Tokyo, Michel returned to the U.S. where He was.
• 1957 — Michel was next assigned to undergo infantry and parachute training at Fort Benning GA prior to being shipped to Korea as Infantry Chief of Staff with the 7th Infantry Division as it served as part of the occupation forces in the demilitarized zone.
• Aug. 1957 Michel was next assigned to undergo infantry and parachute training at Fort Benning.
• August 1957 — Michel was next assigned to undergo infantry and parachute training at Fort Benning GA prior to being shipped to Korea as Infantry Chief of Staff with the 7th Infantry Division as it served as part of the occupation forces in the demilitarized zone.

Sources

• Zekelman Holocaust Center oral-history index
• Zekelman Holocaust Center oral history, OHV 414
• 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)
• Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2021-02-11 (1 post)
• Facebook-linked source: legcy.co
• Dan Gross, Timeline of Werner E. Michel for Camp Ritchie (private research document; 10 source documents reviewed)
• Dan Gross, Timeline of Michel, Werner E. for Camp Ritchie (private research files; selected non-private narrative findings; 10 source files: WERNER E. MICHEL (2017).doc, WERNER E. MICHEL (2019).docx, WERNER E. MICHEL (2020).doc, WERNER E. MICHEL (2020A).doc, WERNER E. MICHEL (2020B).doc, WERNER E. MICHEL (2020C).doc, WERNER E. MICHEL (2021).doc, WERNER E. MICHEL (2021A).doc, WERNER MICHEL (2020).doc, WERNER MICHEL.doc)