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Konrad Kellen
| Konrad Kellen | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Katzenellenbogen |
| Born | 14 December 1913 Berlin, Germany |
| Died | 8 April 2007 Pacific Palisades, California |
| Nativity | Germany |
| Religion | Protestant |
| Awards | Legion of Merit |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Army |
| ASN | 39701828 |
| Rank | Technician Fourth Grade |
| Rank at Ritchie | Private |
| Camp Ritchie | Class 13 (30 October – 23 December 1943) |
| Section | E |
|
| Legion of Merit |
{{Needs source}}, or explain disagreements on talk. Baseline import notes: About the data.
Konrad Kellen (born Konrad Katzenellenbogen; 14 December 1913 – 8 April 2007) was a German-born American Ritchie Boy who trained at Camp Ritchie in Class 13, served in psychological warfare with the 2nd Mobile Radio Broadcasting Company, and later became a political scientist and intelligence analyst at the RAND Corporation.
Biography
Konrad Kellen was born Konrad Moritz Adolf Katzenellenbogen on 14 December 1913 into a prominent Jewish family in Berlin, the son of Ludwig Katzenellenbogen; the economist Albert O. Hirschman was his cousin. His religion was recorded as Protestant. He was studying law in Munich when he fled Germany with his family in March 1933, at 19, to escape Nazi persecution. After living in France, the Netherlands, and Yugoslavia he reached New York in 1935, settled in Los Angeles, and became an American citizen under the name Konrad Kellen. From 1941 to 1943 he was private secretary to the author Thomas Mann.
Kellen arrived at Camp Ritchie as a private on 28 October 1943 and trained in Class 13, section E. He was assigned to the 2nd Mobile Radio Broadcasting Company on 19 January 1944, leaving Camp Ritchie on 16 March 1944. He served overseas as an intelligence NCO specializing in psychological warfare, reached the rank of technician fourth grade, and was awarded the Legion of Merit. After the war he stayed in Germany as a political intelligence officer with the occupation forces, interviewing German soldiers about why they had kept fighting long after the war was lost. In 1945, in a Paris café, Marc Chagall's daughter asked him to help bring a stack of her father's canvases to the United States, a task that took him more than a month; he received one of the paintings in return.
Kellen later interviewed defectors from behind the Iron Curtain for Radio Free Europe and in the early 1960s worked at the Hudson Institute with Herman Kahn. He joined the RAND Corporation in the mid-1960s, where in 1965 he was among the first analysts to conclude that enemy morale in Vietnam was high and the war could not be won, and he co-wrote an open letter from RAND colleagues urging the withdrawal of U.S. troops. He went on to study terrorism, identifying trends in the late 1970s and early 1980s that emerged a decade later. His books include Khrushchev (1961), The Coming Age of Woman Power (1972), and the autobiography Katzenellenbogen (2003). He died at his home in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, on 8 April 2007.
Research notes
- Section V 1/7/44; to 2nd MRBC 1/19
Gallery
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All the men identified in the pix are "Ritchie Boys." Seated - Hans Habe. Standing L-R - Unknown, Ernest Wynder, Konrad Kellen, unknown, Stefan Heym, Louis Atlas, Peter Weidenreich (last name later changed to Wyden), unknown, Joseph Eaton
Technical record
| Field | Imported value |
|---|---|
| MRBC2 | 2 |
| Approx Age at Death | 94 |
| Class_ASN | 39701828 |
| Class_Name | Katzenellenbogen, Konrad |
| match_method | pass2_asn_first |
| row_source | both |
Timeline
- 14 December 1913 — Born in Berlin, Germany (as Konrad Katzenellenbogen).
- March 1933 — Fled Germany with his family.
- 1935 — Arrived in New York; settled in Los Angeles.
- 1941–1943 — Private secretary to Thomas Mann.
- 28 October 1943 — Arrived at Camp Ritchie (Class 13, section E).
- 19 January 1944 — Assigned to 2nd Mobile Radio Broadcasting Company.
- 16 March 1944 — Departed Camp Ritchie.
- 1965 — At RAND, concluded the Vietnam War was unwinnable.
- 2003 — Published his autobiography, Katzenellenbogen.
- 8 April 2007 — Died in Pacific Palisades, California.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Konrad Kellen
- 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 2021-08-11 (1 post)