Rosenthal, Frederick John (32860017)

Frederick John Rosenthal
Personal details
Birth name	Fritz Rosenthal
Born	4 September 1923 Cologne, Germany
Died	24 April 2024 Asheville, North Carolina
Nativity	Germany
Religion	Jewish
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
ASN	32860017
Rank	Technician 4th Grade
Camp Ritchie	Class 15 (4 January – 3 March 1944)

Interview Watch Frederick John Rosenthal on Ritchie History Museum.

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Frederick John Rosenthal (4 September 1923–24 April 2024), born Fritz Rosenthal in Cologne, Germany, trained at Camp Ritchie with Class 15 (alerted overseas before completing the course) and later served in Antwerp tracking V-weapons and collaboration cases.

Biography

Frederick John Rosenthal was born Fritz Rosenthal on 4 September 1923 in Cologne, Germany, the son of Philipp and Polly Rosenthal. As a Jewish boy he faced antisemitism from classmates and bans on ordinary places such as public baths and movie houses. During Kristallnacht the family hid for three days. His parents sent him to relatives in Holland and Belgium. A Jewish high school in Cologne gave some stability.

His father reached a former school friend in New York who provided an affidavit of support. The family received visas in Stuttgart. Their German passports were stamped with a red J. They stayed briefly with a Dutch host family, then sailed to New York before the borders closed. In the city his mother designed knitted garments and employed other refugees. Rosenthal attended the High School of Commerce, George Washington High School, and Food Trades Vocational High School, learning American English and switching from short pants to long trousers.

He was drafted in 1943 despite his mother's fears over childhood polio. Basic training at Camp Croft, South Carolina, brought more antisemitism; he became a U.S. Citizen there. A short assignment to the Army Specialized Training Program at the University of Minnesota for German area studies followed. Colonel Banfield was pushing teams out quickly; Rosenthal was alerted overseas before he finished the course. He later remembered serving as barracks fireman and a Passover service led by the comedian Zero Mostel.

Rosenthal went to Northern Ireland, then England, then to Normandy shortly after D-Day, when the sky was full of Allied aircraft. He traveled over bombed French rail lines to Paris and heard a concert of Mendelssohn, Jewish music newly allowed after liberation. His main assignment was Antwerp, the Allied supply port under V-1 and V-2 attack. He read Flemish newspapers to gauge opinion of Allied troops, plotted rocket impacts on a wall map to help find launch areas, questioned civilians suspected of collaboration, and inspected barges and ships for contraband. He later called living under that bombardment his most vivid memory of the war. On VE-Day he remembered "peaceful rockets exploding all over" and wondered whether he would be sent to the Pacific. He was promoted to technician 4th grade shortly before discharge.

He returned to New York and worked in his parents' business. He married Carolyn; they were together more than seventy years. On the G.I. Bill he earned a bachelor's degree, a master's degree, and a master's in library science at Columbia University. He spent about thirty years in combined military and civilian federal service, including some twenty-seven years at the Library of Congress, where he became an administrative librarian and assistant chief of a division. He died on 24 April 2024 in Asheville, North Carolina, at one hundred.

Research notes

• Title expanded from Fred J. to Frederick John; ASN 32860017 unchanged. Birth name Fritz Rosenthal.
• Death year 1991 previously on the roster page was incorrect. Obituary: died 24 April 2024 in Asheville, North Carolina.
• Class 15 member; did not complete the course (Landon Grove interview).
• ASTP at the University of Minnesota; prior research also notes a later transfer toward Signal (SIG).
• Elie Wiesel Award is to the Ritchie Boys as a group (USHMM), not a personal decoration.

Gallery

• 
  PFC Frederick John Rosenthal in service uniform (wartime portrait).
• 
  Memoir: ASTP → PFC; arrives Camp Ritchie 24 November 1943.

Technical record

Field	Imported value
Approx Age at Death	68
Nara ASN	32860017
Nara Name	ROSENTHAL FRED J
Nara State	23
Nara County	61
Nara POE	2364
Nara DOE	110343
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	23
Nara Race	J
Nara Race Description	White not yet a citizen
Nara Education	7
Nara Civilian Occupation	405
Nara Marital Status	6
Nara Height (inches)	33
Nara Weight (lbs)	129
row_source	demographics

Timeline

• 4 September 1923 — Born Fritz Rosenthal in Cologne, Germany.
• 1930s — Sent to relatives in Holland and Belgium; Jewish high school in Cologne; family hides during Kristallnacht.
• — Visas at Stuttgart; Dutch host family; sails to New York (passports stamped J).
• 1943 — Drafted; Camp Croft, South Carolina; naturalized; ASTP at the University of Minnesota.
• 24 November 1943 — Arrives Camp Ritchie; Class 15 (mapmaking, photo interpretation, field orientation); alerted overseas before completing the course.
• 1944 — Northern Ireland and England; Normandy after D-Day; Paris; Antwerp (V-weapons, Flemish press, collaboration cases).
• 8 May 1945 — VE-Day in Antwerp.
• — Promoted technician 4th grade shortly before discharge.
• Postwar — Columbia University (B.A., M.A., M.L.S.); Library of Congress.
• About 2023 — Video interview with Landon Grove, Ritchie History Museum.
• 24 April 2024 — Died in Asheville, North Carolina.

Sources

• Obituary of Frederick John Rosenthal — Penland Family Funeral Home
• Ritchie Boy Interviews — conversation with Landon Grove (YouTube)
• Wartime PFC portrait
• Memoir excerpt — Camp Ritchie arrival 24 November 1943
• Personal memoir excerpt (Camp Ritchie arrival 24 November 1943; RB Archive / family)
• 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)