Soft launch: Soldier biographies and research notes vary in completeness. Prefer class-roster, NARA, newspapers, and other cited sources for contested facts — treat Research notes as leads, not settled history. Anyone can correct a page; contact us with questions.
Hans Frank Brull
| Hans Frank Brull | |
|---|---|
![]() | |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | H. Frank Brull Hans Franz Bruell |
| Born | 17 May 1921 Berlin, Germany |
| Died | 28 February 2011 |
| Nativity | Germany |
| Religion | Jewish |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | |
| Branch | |
| ASN | 32798801 |
| Rank | Private First Class |
| Camp Ritchie | Class 19 (16 May – 13 July 1944) |
| Section | 5D |
| Enlisted | New York City, New York |
| Team | IPW 157 |
{{Needs source}}, or explain disagreements on talk. Baseline import notes: About the data.
Hans Frank Brull (17 May 1921 – 28 February 2011), born Hans Franz Bruell, was a Berlin-born Ritchie Boy (Class 19) who interrogated German POWs and later served with UNRRA in Europe.
Biography[edit | edit source]
Hans Franz Bruell was born on 17 May 1921 in Berlin to Victor and Ellen Bruell. After the Nazis came to power in 1933 his parents sent him to relatives in New York; when that arrangement failed, the wife of Rabbi Stephen Wise helped place him with a foster parent. After Kristallnacht his father was briefly imprisoned at Dachau; his parents later emigrated to Australia, and he did not see them again until the late 1940s.
Brull trained at Camp Ritchie (Class 19) and served in U.S. Army military intelligence interrogating German prisoners of war. After the war he remained in Europe as a UNRRA aid worker; wartime photographs also place him among visitors at Mauthausen about 1945.
Back in the United States he earned a bachelor’s degree at City College of New York and a master’s in social work at the University of Pennsylvania. His social-work career took him to Minneapolis and Chicago, including Jewish Children’s Services and about thirty years at New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois. He died on 28 February 2011.
Research notes[edit | edit source]
- OTC from ASTP
Gallery[edit | edit source]
-
Portrait cropped from UNRRA officer photo, circa 1945
-
H. Frank Brull as a UNRRA officer, circa 1945 (USHMM / RB Archive)
-
H. Frank Brull and others visiting Mauthausen, circa 1945 (USHMM / RB Archive)
Technical record[edit | edit source]
| Field | Imported value |
|---|---|
| Approx Age at Death | 90 |
| Nara ASN | 32798801 |
| Nara Name | BRULL HANS F |
| Nara State | 23 |
| Nara County | 61 |
| Nara POE | 2364 |
| Nara DOE | 100243 |
| Nara Grade Alpha | PVT |
| Nara Grade Code | 8 |
| Nara Branch Alpha | BI |
| Nara Branch Code | 0 |
| Branch | Branch Immaterial - Warrant Officers, USA |
| 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 | 21 |
| Nara Race | J |
| Nara Race Description | White not yet a citizen |
| Nara Education | 8 |
| Nara Civilian Occupation | 117 |
| Nara Marital Status | 6 |
| Nara Height (inches) | 67 |
| Nara Weight (lbs) | 162 |
| Class_ASN | 32798801 |
| Class_Name | BRULL, Hans F. |
| match_method | asn_exact_name_exact |
| row_source | both |
Timeline[edit | edit source]
- 17 May 1921 — Born Hans Franz Bruell in Berlin.
- 1933 onward — Sent to New York; foster placement arranged via Rabbi Stephen Wise’s household.
- Kristallnacht aftermath — Father briefly at Dachau; parents later to Australia.
- Camp Ritchie Class 19 — Military intelligence / POW interrogation training.
- c. 1945 — UNRRA service in Europe; visits Mauthausen area.
- Postwar — CCNY bachelor’s; University of Pennsylvania MSW; social work in Minneapolis and Chicago / New Trier High School.
- 28 February 2011 — Died.
Sources[edit | edit source]
- Portrait cropped from UNRRA officer photo, circa 1945
- H. Frank Brull and others visiting Mauthausen, circa 1945 (USHMM / RB Archive)
- H. Frank Brull as a UNRRA officer, circa 1945 (USHMM / RB Archive)
- RB Archive photo packet captions for H. Frank Brull (UNRRA / Mauthausen, c. 1945)
- USHMM collections — H. Frank Brull photographs / catalog irn60571
- 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)


