| Hans Curt Bubel | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Curt Bubel |
| Born | 3 October 1925 Mannheim, Germany |
| Died | 16 November 2018 Cincinnati, Ohio |
| Nativity | Germany |
| Religion | Catholic |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Army |
| ASN | 39926772 |
| Rank | Private First Class |
| Camp Ritchie | Class 26 (3 January – 3 March 1945) |
| Section | 5A |
| Team | MII 490-G |
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Hans Curt Bubel (known as Curt; 3 October 1925–16 November 2018) was a Mannheim-born U.S. Army interrogator associated with Camp Ritchie. He trained with Class 26, reached Europe as the war ended with MII 490-G and the 13th Airborne Division, collected documents for the Nuremberg trials, and later taught microbiology and virology at the University of Cincinnati.
Biography
Hans Curt Bubel, known as Curt, was born on 3 October 1925 in Mannheim, Germany, to Curt and Maria Bubel. His father worked as an accountant in the foreign-exchange department at BASF. Street fighting, inflation, and the rise of the Nazis decided the family to leave; Bubel later said one of his father's friends was killed in the riots, and his father resolved to get out. In 1928, when Curt was three, they moved to Murray, Utah, sponsored by an aunt who had converted to Mormonism years earlier. Bubel grew up speaking German and English and attended Murray High School. He was in the tenth or eleventh grade, sixteen, when Pearl Harbor was attacked; he later recalled a movie being stopped with an announcement that foreign nationals should go home. His parents became United States citizens within five years of arriving.
He wanted to join the Navy at seventeen, but his mother would not sign the papers. Drafted at eighteen in Utah in March 1944, he trained as a medic for seventeen weeks at Camp Barkeley, Texas, and also received infantry training. The Army then held him from overseas shipment for nearly ten months while it investigated neighbors' accusations of Nazi sympathy, which grew from a 1933 family trip back to Germany to settle a small inheritance. He later said someone claimed the family were "sub rosa Nazis," which was not true. The FBI cleared him, and he was sent to Camp Ritchie. Bubel trained as an interrogator of prisoners of war, and in photo and military intelligence, with Class 26 (3 January – 3 March 1945).
He sailed to Europe on the Île de France, landed in Scotland, passed through England, then France, and was assigned to the 13th Airborne Division with MII 490-G and the 326th Glider Infantry. He practiced on wooden gliders that he later said were crash landings more than landings. The war in Europe was ending, so he did little front-line interrogation. When he did question German prisoners, the work was unit, rank, division, commanders, and morale; he later said fear of being handed to the Russians brought a great deal of information. After non-fraternization rules eased, he also spoke with civilians.
German fluency sent him into the War Crimes Trial Document Section. With another German-born soldier he traveled through Bavaria collecting military, political, and scientific records for the Nuremberg trials, including a complete Associated Press photographic archive hidden in a monastery. He looked into rumors that Martin Bormann had survived and found no evidence. As a reward for the document work, he sat three days as an observer at Nuremberg and saw Göring, Ribbentrop, Hess, Keitel, and Baldur von Schirach. He was discharged on 1 June 1946.
Bubel used the GI Bill at the University of Utah, earning a bachelor's degree in microbiology, a master's in experimental biology, and a doctorate in virology as a polio fellow. He married Marilyn, known as Sammie, after completing the doctorate. They had two children, Heidi and Peter. He then joined the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, teaching microbiology and virology and directing research for more than thirty years. He was a member of Sigma Xi and Alpha Omega Alpha and received the Golden Apple for teaching. He died in Cincinnati, Ohio, on 16 November 2018.
Research notes
- Il de France
- Trained at Augers
- Utah Polio researcher moved to Cincinatti to work with Sabin
- Prof. emeritus U
- 490-G 326th GIR
Gallery
Technical record
| Field | Imported value |
|---|---|
| Approx Age at Death | 93 |
| Nara ASN | 39926772 |
| Nara Name | BUBEL HANS C |
| Nara State | 96 |
| Nara County | 35 |
| Nara POE | 9629 |
| Nara DOE | 110344 |
| 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 | N1 |
| Nara Year of Birth | 25 |
| Nara Race | 1 |
| Nara Race Description | White citizen |
| Nara Education | 4 |
| Nara Civilian Occupation | 992 |
| Nara Marital Status | 6 |
| Nara Height (inches) | 0 |
| Nara Weight (lbs) | 0 |
| Class_ASN | 39926772 |
| Class_Name | BUBEL Hans |
| match_method | pass2_asn_last |
| row_source | both |
Timeline
- 3 October 1925 — Born in Mannheim, Germany, to Curt and Maria Bubel.
- 1928 — Immigrated at age three to Murray, Utah, sponsored by an aunt.
- 1933 — Family trip back to Germany; later cited during a wartime loyalty investigation.
- 7 December 1941 — Pearl Harbor; Bubel was sixteen and a student at Murray High School.
- 11 March 1944 — Drafted into the Army in Utah (NARA).
- 1944 — Medic and infantry training at Camp Barkeley, Texas; then held nearly ten months pending an FBI investigation of Nazi-sympathy accusations.
- 3 January – 3 March 1945 — Camp Ritchie Class 26 (IPW / photo and military intelligence).
- 1945 — Sailed on the Île de France; Scotland, England, then France; MII 490-G / 13th Airborne Division / 326th Glider Infantry.
- 8 May 1945 — Reached Europe as the war in Europe ended.
- 1945 — War Crimes Trial Document Section in Bavaria; Associated Press photographic archive; observed three days of the Nuremberg trials.
- 1 June 1946 — Discharged from the Army.
- Late 1940s–1950s — University of Utah: bachelor's in microbiology, master's in experimental biology, doctorate in virology (polio fellow).
- After the doctorate — Married Marilyn (Sammie); later taught at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.
- 16 November 2018 — Died in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Sources
- Veterans History Project interview (watchlist card)
- Cincinnati Enquirer obituary for Hans Curt Bubel (19 December 2018)
- Cincinnati Enquirer, 19 December 2018 — Hans Curt Bubel obituary (RB Archive ProQuest PDF)
- 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 2022-11-28 (1 post)
- YouTube interview — Hans Curt Bubel (Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library Veterans History Project)
- Cincinnati & Hamilton County Public Library — Veterans History Project record
- Dan Gross, Timeline of Hans C. Bubel for Camp Ritchie (private research document; 1 source documents reviewed)
- Dan Gross, Timeline of Bubel, Hans C. for Camp Ritchie (private research files; selected non-private narrative findings; 1 source files: HANS C. BUBEL.doc)