Aaron Finger

Aaron Finger
Personal details
Born	1918 Toronto, Canada
Died	2013
Nativity	Canada
Religion	Jewish
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
ASN	32881200
Rank	Second Lieutenant
Rank at Ritchie	Private First Class
Camp Ritchie	Class 22 (23 August – 21 October 1944)
Section	6B
Enlisted	New York City, New York
Unit / division	405th Infantry, 102nd Infantry Division

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.

Aaron Finger (1918–2013) was a Toronto-born Ritchie Boy who served as a second lieutenant and battalion S-2 with the 405th Infantry, 102nd Division, in postwar Germany.

Biography

Aaron Finger was born in 1918 in Toronto, Canada, to Simon and Celia Finger, immigrants from Galicia who had married in New York City before moving north for work. Yiddish was spoken at home. The family returned to New York in 1920. Finger later enlisted in the U.S. Army in May 1943.

Strong language and IQ testing led to selection for Camp Ritchie, where he trained in intelligence work, learned German, and studied aerial photography and German military organization. After the war he went overseas in the fall of 1945. In Germany he served with the 405th Infantry, 102nd Division, including time associated with Flossenbürg and duty at Hof, Bavaria, where—using his Yiddish—he worked with a Russian counterpart on prisoner exchanges and related tasks. An April 1946 recommendation identifies him as battalion S-2 and credits him with restoring border-control effectiveness along the U.S.–Russian and German–Czechoslovak frontiers; the paper recommends an Army Commendation Ribbon but does not by itself prove the award was granted. He helped host a Seder for displaced persons in Hof in April 1946 and returned to the United States aboard the SS New Bern Victory in June 1946. He was discharged in July 1946 as a second lieutenant.

Finger married Henrietta Treister on 8 February 1948. They settled in Queens, New York, where he taught junior high school history and reading. He died in 2013.

Research notes

• Enlisted records use ASN 32881200; officer documents use ASN 01337697 (O-1337697).
• The Army Commendation Ribbon document is a recommendation, not proof of award.
• USHMM finding aid biography gives birth as either 7 or 8 August 1918; infobox keeps year-only pending a decisive primary date.
• Enlisted ASN 32881200; officer identification uses ASN 01337697 (O-1337697).

Gallery

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Technical record

Field	Imported value
Approx Age at Death	95
Nara ASN	32881200
Nara Name	FINGER AARON
Nara State	23
Nara County	5
Nara POE	2364
Nara DOE	20443
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	K9
Nara Year of Birth	18
Nara Race	1
Nara Race Description	White citizen
Nara Education	8
Nara Civilian Occupation	878
Nara Marital Status	1
Nara Height (inches)	48
Nara Weight (lbs)	142
Class_ASN	32881200
Class_Name	FINGER, Aaron
match_method	asn_exact_name_exact
row_source	both

Timeline

• 1918 — Born in Toronto, Canada (USHMM biography notes 7 or 8 August 1918).
• 1920 — Family moved from Toronto back to New York.
• May 1943 — Enlisted in the U.S. Army.
• Trained at Camp Ritchie (Class 22).
• Fall 1945 — Went overseas to postwar Germany (Flossenbürg; Hof, Bavaria).
• April 1946 — Battalion S-2, 405th Infantry; letter of commendation / recommendation; Hof Seder for displaced persons.
• June 1946 — Returned to the United States aboard SS New Bern Victory.
• July 1946 — Discharged as second lieutenant, 405th Infantry, 102nd Division.
• 8 February 1948 — Married Henrietta Treister; settled in Queens, New York, as a junior high teacher.
• 2013 — Died.

Sources

• USHMM Collections Search — Aaron Finger papers (irn710957)
• 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 2022-10-28 (1 post)
• Medium / USHMM Memory & Action — Aaron Finger’s US Army journey (29 April 2022)
• OCR-reviewed Facebook gallery document: 5812455455442994.jpg
• Finger officer identification card
• Finger portrait in uniform