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.
Rudolph E. Friedman
| Rudolph E. Friedman | |
|---|---|
![]() | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1914 Germany, Of Jewish Faith |
| Died | 1999 |
| Nativity | Germany |
| Religion | Jewish |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | |
| Branch | |
| ASN | 39076100 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Rank at Ritchie | Corporal |
| Camp Ritchie | Class 16 (6 February – 5 April 1944) |
| Section | 7C |
| Enlisted | Sacramento, California |
| Specialty | Interrogation of prisoners of war |
| Team | IPW 164 |
{{Needs source}}, or explain disagreements on talk. Baseline import notes: About the data.
Rudolph E. Friedman (1914–1999), known as Rudy, was a German-born Jewish Camp Ritchie graduate of the 16th class (April 1944) who served as a master sergeant on IPW Team 164 in France and Germany. Family posts on the Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page preserve his diploma, IPW photographs, and unit mementos shared by his son Ronald.
Biography
On 1 February 1941, Joined the Army in Sacramento, CA (ASN: 39076100). College in Germany (Economics) (non-graduate). Worked as Chief Clerk in Coca-Cola plant. Rudolph E. Friedman (ASN 39076100) was born in 1914 in Germany, of Jewish faith, with Camp Ritchie Class 16 (section 7C, corporal), IPW Team 164, overseas service, and enlistment at Sacramento, California. Records list four years of college and an occupation as a manufacturing foreman. By June he was a master sergeant serving on IPW Team 164 with Harold Bergstrom, Andrew Akos, Jack Hillesum, and Fred W. Hellman (also referred to as Captain Frederick Hellman), in France and later into Germany. Family photographs show Friedman with IPW Team 164: one taken April 12, 1945 at Geislingen, southwest of Stuttgart, with an Interrogators of Prisoners of War (IPW) sign behind him; others from June 1945 at Lindenfels, south of Frankfurt; and additional undated images with teammates, two of whom Ronald believed to be Bergstrom and Akos. The family also kept a unit memento—a cross-section of an 88 mm howitzer prepared by Friedman and his teammates to commemorate the advance into Germany. Ronald later noted the Latin motto on the MITC completion certificate, Fas est ab hoste doceri ("It is right to be taught even by an enemy"), as a fitting description of how Ritchie Boys worked.
Research notes
- Also Class 1 IPW Ge
Gallery
-
The second photo on the right was taken on June 26, 1945 at Lindenfels, south of Frankfurt, Germany Courtesy of his son, Ronald Friedman.
Technical record
| Field | Imported value |
|---|---|
| Approx Age at Death | 85 |
| Nara ASN | 39076100 |
| Nara Name | FRIEDMAN RUDOLPH E |
| Nara State | 91 |
| Nara County | 89 |
| Nara POE | 9170 |
| Nara DOE | 10241 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Term of enlistment | Enlistment for Hawaiian Department |
| Defer. Date | 0 |
| Nara Source | 0 |
| Nara Nativity | N1 |
| Nara Year of Birth | 14 |
| Nara Race | J |
| Nara Race Description | White not yet a citizen |
| Nara Education | 8 |
| Nara Civilian Occupation | 591 |
| Nara Marital Status | 6 |
| Nara Height (inches) | 73 |
| Nara Weight (lbs) | 158 |
| Class_ASN | 39076100 |
| Class_Name | FRIEDMAN, Rudolph E. |
| match_method | asn_exact_name_exact |
| row_source | both |
Timeline
- 4 June 1943 — Became naturalized citizen in Seward, AK (No.
- 5/1943 Clerk with 267th Sep CA Battalion as Cpl.
- 16.
- Assigned to IPW Team 164 attached to Seventh Army, XXI Corps.
Sources
- 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 2018-01-10 (4 posts)
- Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2018-01-15 (1 post)
- Dan Gross, Timeline of Rudolph E. Friedman for Camp Ritchie (private research document; 1 source documents reviewed)
- Dan Gross, Timeline of Friedman, Rudolph E. for Camp Ritchie (private research files; selected non-private narrative findings; 1 source files: RUDOLPH E. FRIEDMAN.doc)







