Krakowski, Meyer (0582821)

Meyer Krakowski
Personal details
Born	1901
Died	1978
Nativity	Poland
Religion	Jewish
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
Arm / service	Air Corps
ASN	0582821
Rank	Second Lieutenant
Camp Ritchie	Class 21 (21 July – 18 September 1944)
Section	5D

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.

Meyer Krakowski (1901–1978) was a Ritchie Boy (from Poland; Jewish) who trained at Camp Ritchie in class 21.

Biography

Some information on RB Meyer Krakowski Meyer Krakowski was a language teacher at Los Angeles City College when he enlisted in the U.S. After being discharged, he reenlisted, as an officer, for the Camp Ritchie Intelligence Training School program. He was was a "Ritchie Boy" and followed Patton all the way to Germany. He was attached to a forward fighter squadron of P47s in France and he interrogated Luftwaffe pilots and other German officers. With enemy surrender in May of 1945, he was sent to Germany and asked to stay to place German orphans in good homes so they wouldn’t be raised as Nazis. For his service he was commended by West Germany officials and awarded the civilian version of the Iron Cross. He is believed to be one of the few Jewish American soldiers, perhaps the only Jewish soldier, awarded the German Iron Cross for his work at the end of World War II. After the War, he returned to Los Angeles City College and eventually retired as the head of the language department.

Research notes

• OCR (100%) of `5707496559272218.jpg` (CAMP RITCHIE, MILITARY INTELLIGENCE TRAINING CENTER, Camp Ritchie) — dated 18 Sept 1944.
• OCR (83%) of `5707496525938888.jpg` (gallery document).

Gallery

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Technical record

Field	Imported value
Approx Age at Death	77
Class_ASN	582821
Class_Name	KRAKOWSKI, Meyer
match_method	asn_exact_name_exact
row_source	both

Sources

• Camp Ritchie class roster (classes 1–31), merged research file
• 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 2022-09-24 (1 post)
• OCR-reviewed Facebook gallery document: 5707496559272218.jpg
• OCR-reviewed Facebook gallery document: 5707496525938888.jpg