Lehman, Emil (32019848)

Emil Lehman
Personal details
Birth name	Emil Sprinzeles
Born	6 August 1907 Mattersburg, Austria
Died	15 February 1999
Nativity	Austria
Religion	Jewish
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
ASN	32019848
Rank	Technician Third Grade
Rank at Ritchie	Private First Class
Camp Ritchie	Class 13 (30 October – 23 December 1943)
Section	E

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.

Emil Lehman (born Emil Sprinzeles; 6 August 1907 – 15 February 1999) was a Burgenland-born historian, teacher, and Ritchie Boy who trained at Camp Ritchie, Maryland, in Class 13 and served in Europe as a radio writer and propaganda interrogator with the 2nd Mobile Radio Broadcasting Company.

Biography

Emil Lehman was born Emil Sprinzeles (later Emil Lehmann) in Mattersburg on 6 August 1907 into a Jewish family. He completed studies in literature, history, and education and earned a doctorate in history and literature, worked as an official of the Jewish Community of Vienna (Israelitische Kultusgemeinde), and from 1934 taught Jewish religion at a Gymnasium in Vienna. After the Anschluss he fled with his siblings to London, where according to Army records he ran a children's hospital, and in December 1939 he emigrated to the United States. In New York City he worked as a scholarly writer, editor, and executive secretary for Jewish organizations.

Lehman was drafted in February 1941 and first served for eight months as a clerk (librarian) in a service command. By February 1943 he had gone through Camp Upton, New York, to basic training with the 82nd Combat Engineer Battalion and with Company B of the 291st Combat Engineer Battalion at Camp Swift, Texas. In September 1943 he was transferred to the Military Intelligence Training Center at Camp Ritchie, where he trained as a prisoner-of-war interrogator and graduated with Class 13 (IPW 5C, German; certificate 4719), rated a typist-linguist. At the turn of 1944 he was assigned there to the combat propaganda unit of the 2nd Mobile Radio Broadcasting Company and took a propaganda course at Camp Sharpe, Pennsylvania.

In April 1944 Lehman sailed for Europe and took an advanced propaganda course at the Psychological Warfare School in Brondesbury Park near London. With the 2nd MRBC, from the summer of 1944 under the Publicity and Psychological Warfare Section of the 12th Army Group, he served as a radio writer and as an interrogator for propaganda intelligence in France (field radio at Lorient and with the Ninth U.S. Army), Belgium, Luxembourg (probably at Radio Luxembourg), and Germany. At the end of the war he worked in the radio studio of the 6870th District Information Services Control Command in culture and media control. His last known rank was technician third grade, and he was probably discharged after the war. He died on 15 February 1999, probably in Milton, Wisconsin.

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Timeline

• 6 August 1907 — Born Emil Sprinzeles in Mattersburg, Austria.
• 1934 — Teacher of Jewish religion at a Gymnasium in Vienna.
• 1938–1939 — Fled with his siblings to London.
• December 1939 — Emigrated to the United States.
• February 1941 — Drafted (ASN 32019848); clerk in a service command.
• February 1943 — Basic training with combat engineer battalions, Camp Swift, Texas.
• September 1943 — Transferred to Camp Ritchie (roster arrival 28 October 1943); graduated with Class 13 (IPW 5C, German). Certificate # 4719.
• 31 December 1943 — Assigned to 2nd MRBC; Camp Sharpe, Pennsylvania.
• Summer 1944 – 1945 — Radio writer and propaganda interrogator in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany.
• April 1944 — Sailed for Europe; Psychological Warfare School, Brondesbury Park.
• 1945 — Radio studio, 6870th DISCC.
• 15 February 1999 — Died, probably in Milton, Wisconsin.

Technical record

Field	Imported value
MRBC2	2
Approx Age at Death	92
Class_ASN	32019848
Class_Name	Lehman, Emil
match_method	asn_exact_name_exact
row_source	both

Research notes

• Lerner's Prof in Vienna
• ASTP
• to 2nd MRBC 12/31/43
• The Austriansoldiers biography gives his Class 13 section as IPW 5C; the roster records section E.

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)
• Austriansoldiers biography: Emil Lehman, Austriansoldiers / Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Research on Consequences of War (in German; accessed 25 September 2026)