Ralph Frederick Manheim
| Ralph Frederick Manheim | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 4 April 1907 New York City, New York |
| Died | 26 September 1992 Cambridge, England |
| Nativity | United States |
| Religion | Jewish |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Army |
| ASN | 32977412 |
| Rank | Private |
| Camp Ritchie | Class 23 (25 September – 23 November 1944) |
| Section | 5E |
| Enlisted | New York City, New York |
{{Needs source}}, or explain disagreements on talk. Baseline import notes: About the data.
Ralph Frederick Manheim (4 April 1907 – 26 September 1992) was a Ritchie Boy (from United States; Jewish) who trained at Camp Ritchie in class 23.
Biography edit
Ralph Frederick Manheim was born on 4 April 1907 in New York City, New York to American parents of Lithuanian and German descent. He graduated from Harvard in 1926, studied further at Yale and Columbia, and spent time in Vienna and Munich. He taught school in Connecticut and wrote under the WPA Federal Writers’ Project before turning to literary translation; his early wartime bibliography included an English Mein Kampf (1943) and Konrad Heiden’s Hitler biography.
Drafted into the Army, Manheim trained at Camp Ritchie (Class 23) for prisoner-of-war interrogation but, by his own later account, was assigned instead to translating German documents—work that sharpened the military vocabulary he used after 1945.
After the war Manheim became one of the leading translators from German (and French) into English, rendering Günter Grass, Brecht, Handke, Cassirer, and many others. He settled in Paris in 1951 and later in Cambridge, England, receiving a MacArthur Fellowship and the PEN translation medal. He died of cancer on 26 September 1992.
Research notes edit
- 5th Army ?
- Normalized birth_place from “New York” to New York City. No military decoration is asserted.
Gallery edit
-
Ralph F. Manheim portrait (RB Archive)
Technical record edit
| Field | Imported value |
|---|---|
| Approx Age at Death | 85 |
| Nara ASN | 32977412 |
| Nara Name | MANHEIM RALPH F |
| Nara State | 23 |
| Nara County | 61 |
| Nara POE | 2364 |
| Nara DOE | 10743 |
| 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 | 23 |
| Nativity.1 | NEW YORK |
| Nara Year of Birth | 7 |
| Nara Race | 1 |
| Nara Race Description | White citizen |
| Nara Education | 4 |
| Nara Civilian Occupation | 68 |
| Nara Marital Status | 7 |
| Nara Height (inches) | 94 |
| Nara Weight (lbs) | 949 |
| Class_ASN | 32977412 |
| Class_Name | MANHEIM, Ralph F. |
| match_method | asn_exact_name_exact |
| row_source | both |
Timeline edit
- 4 April 1907 — Born in New York City, New York.
- 1926 — Graduated from Harvard.
- 1943 — Published English translation of Mein Kampf; drafted and trained at Camp Ritchie (Class 23).
- World War II — Assigned to German document translation rather than front-line interrogation.
- 1951 — Settled in Paris to translate full time.
- 1985 — After his third wife’s death, later settled in Cambridge, England.
- 26 September 1992 — Died in Cambridge, England.
Sources edit
- Ralph F. Manheim portrait (RB Archive)
- The Guardian, 29 September 1992 — John Willett, “Englishing the Germans from Hitler to Grass” (RB Archive ProQuest copy)
- 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)
- Wikipedia