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Dieter D. Kober
| Dieter D. Kober | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Werner D. Kober |
| Born | 2 January 1920 Posen (poznań), Poland |
| Died | 2015 |
| Nativity | Germany |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Army |
| ASN | 37467752 |
| Rank | Master Sergeant |
| Rank at Ritchie | Private |
| Camp Ritchie | Class 5 (8 February – 9 April 1943) |
| Section | 10 |
{{Needs source}}, or explain disagreements on talk. Baseline import notes: About the data.
Dieter D. Kober (roster Werner D. Kober; 2 January 1920–2015) was a U.S. Army Master Sergeant and Ritchie Boy who trained at Camp Ritchie with Class 5. He then served in the Military Intelligence Research Section at P.O. Box 1142 and at the Pentagon, and later wrote a Hitler Youth intelligence monograph in London.
Biography
Dieter D. Kober was born on 2 January 1920 in Posen (later Poznań, Poland), then newly Polish after World War I. His family soon left for Germany because of his father’s German military service. He grew up under early Nazi militarization in the schools and was barred from the Hitler Youth because of partial Jewish ancestry, which helped decide him to leave Germany. In 1936, at sixteen, he emigrated to the United States. He attended high school in New York and later the University of Nebraska, joining ROTC through a music-school partnership.
Drafted in 1942 as an enemy alien, Kober became a United States citizen during service. He took infantry basic training at Camp Kearns, Utah, under harsh conditions and was first slated for X-ray technician school before being redirected to Camp Ritchie. There he trained for prisoner-of-war interrogation work with Class 5, learning weapons identification (including German equipment such as Tiger tanks), Morse code, German military terminology and structure, interrogation methods, field exercises, and related communications. The roster also notes a later PG Class 4 German Order of Battle connection.
Kober was then sent to Washington, D.C., and assigned to the Military Intelligence Research Section at the secret Fort Hunt installation known only as P.O. Box 1142. Sworn to absolute secrecy—even from family—he worked in the Order of Battle section reconstructing the German military structure. His small team of analysts built the “Red Book” and related intelligence volumes from captured documents shipped from Europe: letters, diaries, Soldbücher, newspapers (especially death notices), hospital casualty lists, interrogation reports, and other clues. They lived and worked together and had no day-to-day contact with the interrogation or monitoring sections at 1142; a British liaison, Captain Horton Smith, visited regularly.
His OB work was strong enough that he was informally allowed to work daily at the Pentagon, where he helped reorganize divisional OB tracking and collaborated with civilian intelligence analyst Phillip Tucker on MIRS publications, once supplying urgent information requested by General Mark Clark. Before the Battle of the Bulge, Pentagon leadership ordered OB work halted and materials discarded; after German infiltration in American uniforms, the work was urgently revived, and Kober was placed in charge of rebuilding the divisional OB section with about forty personnel. A revised Red Book was printed in New York but arrived too late to be used before the war ended.
Sent to London for up to ninety days with MIRS, Kober was reassigned from menial tasks to write a complete intelligence monograph on the Hitler Youth from captured membership cards, press reports, interrogation summaries, embassy contacts, British archives, and graphic plates of insignia and uniforms. In London he worked among a multinational staff and lived through V-1 and V-2 attacks. Returning to 1142, he continued Hitler Youth analysis and, after Germany’s surrender, began translating German intelligence on Soviet forces before transferring back to Camp Ritchie. There a massive shipment of German General Staff archives from Berlin arrived; prisoners unloaded and organized the documents, and Kober worked with a former German officer, Lt. Col. Fellner, who volunteered to assist. He socialized with prisoners and played music with an Austrian violinist POW.
Discharged as a Master Sergeant, Kober completed college, earned a Doctor of Fine Arts, became a conductor, and founded the Chicago Chamber Orchestra. He later moved to Dresden, Germany. He died in 2015.
Research notes
- Roster class name: Werner D. Kober; preferred form Dieter D. Kober.
- Also PG Class 4 GerOB (roster research note).
- Fort Hunt / P.O. Box 1142 — MIRS Order of Battle (NPS oral history).
Gallery
No portrait on file yet.
Technical record
| Field | Imported value |
|---|---|
| Approx Age at Death | 95 |
| Class_ASN | 37467752 |
| Class_Name | KOBER, Werner D. |
| match_method | pass2_asn_last |
| row_source | both |
Timeline
- 2 January 1920 — Born in Posen (Poznań), then Poland.
- 1936 — Emigrated to the United States at age 16; high school in New York; later University of Nebraska (ROTC via music-school partnership).
- 1942 — Drafted as an enemy alien; became a U.S. citizen during service.
- c. 1942 — Infantry basic training at Camp Kearns, Utah; redirected from X-ray technician training to Camp Ritchie.
- 2015 — Died.
- Class 5 — Trained at Camp Ritchie for IPW / intelligence work (weapons ID, Morse, German OB terminology, interrogation, field exercises).
- Also noted — PG Class 4 German Order of Battle (roster research note).
- Assigned to MIRS Order of Battle section at P.O. Box 1142 (Fort Hunt); built Red Book and related OB volumes from captured documents; no contact with interrogation sections.
- Informal daily Pentagon OB work with Phillip Tucker; supplied urgent data requested by General Mark Clark.
- Pre–Battle of the Bulge — OB work ordered halted/discarded; after German infiltration in U.S. uniforms, Kober led rebuilding of divisional OB section (~40 personnel); revised Red Book printed in New York too late for wartime use.
- Up to 90 days — MIRS London; authored Hitler Youth intelligence monograph; experienced V-1/V-2 attacks.
- Returned to 1142 — continued Hitler Youth analysis; after VE Day translated German intelligence on Soviet forces; transferred back to Camp Ritchie.
- Postwar Camp Ritchie — German General Staff archives from Berlin; worked with Lt. Col. Fellner (former German officer volunteer); music with Austrian violinist POW.
- Discharged as Master Sergeant.
- Postwar — Doctor of Fine Arts; conductor; founded Chicago Chamber Orchestra; later moved to Dresden, Germany.
Sources
- NPS Fort Hunt Oral History — Dieter Kober interview transcript (Brandon Bies, Chicago, 17–18 January 2008) (P.O. Box 1142 / MIRS; formerly published on the NPS Fort Hunt oral-history exhibit)
- 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)
- Dan Gross, Timeline of Dieter D. Kober for Camp Ritchie (private research document; 1 source documents reviewed)
- Dan Gross, Timeline of Kober, Dieter D. for Camp Ritchie (private research files; selected non-private narrative findings; 1 source files: WERNER D. KOBER.docx)