William R. Perl

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William R. Perl
Personal details
Born	21 September 1906 Prague, Austro-hungarian Empire
Died	24 December 1998 Beltsville
Nativity	Austria
Religion	Jewish
Known for	Chief interrogator during the Malmedy massacre trial
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
ASN	0555149
Rank	Private
Camp Ritchie	Class 6 (13 March – 11 May 1943)
Section	4
Teams	IPW 175, IPW 177

Teammates

Team — IPW 175

Team — IPW 177

These are other soldiers listed on the same team roster. People moved between teams; overlapping service dates are not always documented.

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.

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William R. Perl (September 21, 1906 – December 24, 1998) was a Prague-born American lawyer and psychologist who was the chief interrogator during the Malmedy massacre trial.

Biography

Perl (September 21, 1906 – December 24, 1998) was a Prague-born American lawyer and psychologist who was the chief interrogator during the Malmedy massacre trial. Perl was born to a textile merchant in Prague on September 21, 1906, in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

In 1950, Perl attended PhD in Clinical Psychology, Columbia University. William attended college, University of Vienna (Psychology & Law, PhD, LLD). Perl attended the University of Vienna, where he earned a Ph.D.

Perl continued his study of psychology at Columbia University and then served as an army psychologist until his retirement with the rank of Lt.

On 20 May 1943, Became naturalized citizen (Certificate No. Joachim Peiper and other members of the Waffen-SS were prosecuted for the murder of American prisoners of war at Malmedy, Belgium in December 1944. He worked as a practiced law in Vienna.

He returned to Vienna to locate and rescue wife. He (handwriting expert and personnel consultant). He spent much of his youth and early adulthood in Vienna.

He joined Ivria, one of several Jewish fraternities, as a student and soon became deeply immersed in the growing Zionist movement. Perl was a chief interrogator during the Malmedy massacre trial, where Col. Byrne, Morris Ellowitz, Harry Thon and Joseph Kirschbaum, Perl was criticized for alleged torture at the interrogations.

He died at his home on December 24, 1998.

Research notes

• Malmedy Trials; Retired 58 Lt.Col.
• Rescued an estimated 40,000 Jews
• Author, "Operation Action"
• Portrait and summary from Notable Ritchie Boys slides (source).

Gallery

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Technical record

Field	Imported value
Approx Age at Death	92
Class_ASN	32712884
Class_Name	PERL, William
match_method	pass2_unique_name
row_source	both

Timeline

• Born 21 September 1906 in Prague, son of Rudolf and Camilla (Fischer) Perl.
• 17 April 1938 — Married Lore Rollig (who secretly converted to Judaism).
• 17 August 1943 — Served as instructor, Section V.
• ?/1944 Transferred to forward intelligence unit (IPW Team 177) on the.
• ?/1945 Assigned to War Crimes Branch as interrogator.
• 1958 — Retired from Army as Lt.
• Promoted to Staff Sergeant (T/3) and assigned to DEML Section.
• Returned to Vienna to locate and rescue wife.
• and enlisted men included Lt. Frank “Brandy” Brandstetter; Cpl.

Sources

• Wikipedia: William R. Perl
• 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)
• Dan Gross, Timeline of William R. Perl for Camp Ritchie (private research document; 1 source documents reviewed)
• Dan Gross, Timeline of Perl, William R. for Camp Ritchie (private research files; selected non-private narrative findings; 1 source files: WILLIAM R. PERL - TIME LINE.doc)