Zappler, Murray (32824267)

Murray Zappler
Personal details
Born	1924 Germany
Died	1944
Nativity	Germany
Religion	Jewish
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
ASN	32824267
Rank	Captain
Rank at Ritchie	Private First Class
Camp Ritchie	Class 19 (16 May – 13 July 1944)
Section	5D
Enlisted	New York City, New York
Team	IPW 154

Teammates

Team — IPW 154

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.

Murray Zappler (1924–1944) was a Ritchie Boy (from Germany; Jewish) who trained at Camp Ritchie in class 19 and served with IPW Team 154.

Biography

In July 1943, he attended ASTP (German) at University of Pennsylvania. Murray worked as clerk-typist in office. Stephen Dickerman Stange has sent a request for information related to the incident cited in Bruce Henderson's book, Sons and Soldiers, where two German-Jewish Ritchie Boys became POWs, were identified as being Jewish, and were murdered. He has sent me some photos that I want to share with the Community "Our daughter is the Primary Sentinel of Memory of Murray Zappler at the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery and Memorial. That is why we were in the footsteps of the 106th infantry division last Thursday." A Belgian Facebook friend sent the following information about the tragedy that befell Ritchie Boys Murray Zappler and Kurt Jacobs. He has sent me some photos that I want to share with the Community "Our daughter is the Primary Sentinel of Memory of Murray Zappler at the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery and Memorial. That is why we were in the footsteps of the 106th infantry division last Thursday." "This was the border between Belgium and Germany. He told 6 German soldiers to execute Zappler and Jacobs a few meters further." A Belgian Facebook friend sent the following information about the tragedy that befell Ritchie Boys Murray Zappler and Kurt Jacobs. He has sent me some photos that I want to share with the Community. "Zappler and Jacobs were with MIS etousa. They were assigned to the 423th of the 106th infantry division as interogaters for German POW's. The German POW's told Hauptman Bruns that there were 2Jewish men among the Americans." I have some information on the FRANKY MEERS family in Belgium that has "adopted" the grave of Ritchie Boy Murray Zappler at the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery and Memorial. Here is what he wrote: "We live in Zutendaal, Belgium and our son and I are very interested in WWII. When the German Commanding Officer learned they were Jewish, he had them summarily executed.

Research notes

• ASTP; KIA Murdered as POW; http://www.online.uni-marburg.de/icwc/dachau/000-006-0056.pdf

Gallery

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Technical record

Field	Imported value
Approx Age at Death	20
Nara ASN	32824267
Nara Name	ZAPPLER MURRAY
Nara State	23
Nara County	5
Nara POE	2364
Nara DOE	50343
Nara Grade Alpha	PVT
Nara Grade Code	8
Nara Branch Alpha	NO
Nara Branch Code	2
Branch	No branch assignment
Nara Term or Enlistment	5
Term of enlistment	Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law
Defer. Date	0
Nara Source	0
Nara Nativity	N1
Nara Year of Birth	24
Nara Race	J
Nara Race Description	White not yet a citizen
Nara Education	4
Nara Civilian Occupation	137
Nara Marital Status	1
Nara Height (inches)	44
Nara Weight (lbs)	120
Class_ASN	32824267
Class_Name	ZAPPLER, Murray
match_method	asn_exact_name_exact
row_source	both

Timeline

• Born 1 September 1924 in Germany (Jewish).
• 30 June 1943 — Became naturalized U.S. citizen.
• 13 July 1944 — Graduated Class 19 (German Linguist #2).
• 28 November 1944 — Assigned to IPW Team 154 attached to 106th Infantry Division.
• 4 September 1944 — Promoted to T/5; transferred to DEML.
• Buried at the American War Cemetery Henri-Chapelle, Belgium.

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)
• Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2017-09-03 (1 post)
• Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2019-06-06 (4 posts)
• Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2021-03-08 (1 post)
• Dan Gross, Timeline of Murray Zappler for Camp Ritchie (private research document; 1 source documents reviewed)
• Dan Gross, Timeline of Zappler, Murray for Camp Ritchie (private research files; selected non-private narrative findings; 1 source files: MURRAY ZAPPLER.doc)