Hans J. Epstein

Record status: unconfirmed. Class-roster match confidence is medium. Correct the infobox if you have a source, and note it on talk.

Hans J. Epstein
Personal details
Born	12 April 1920 Hamburg, Germany
Died	1986
Nativity	Germany
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
ASN	0552559
Rank	Corporal
Camp Ritchie	Class 4 (6 January – 6 March 1943)
Section	1

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.

Hans J. Epstein (1920–1986) was a Hamburg-born Military Intelligence soldier and Camp Ritchie instructor (Class 4) who later served in Psychological Warfare with SHAEF and First U.S. Army.

Biography

Hans J. Epstein was born on 12 April 1920 in Hamburg, Germany. He earned an A.B. from Brown University in 1941. During World War II he served in Military Intelligence as a private through technical sergeant, instructed in German intelligence field work, and was a member of the staff and faculty of the Military Intelligence Training Center at Camp Ritchie, Maryland (1942–1944); roster records place him in Class 4. He was later commissioned and served as chief of the Propaganda Section, 5th Mobile Radio Broadcasting Company; as a special intelligence officer with SHAEF / 12th Army Group; and as chief interrogation officer and deputy chief of intelligence for Psychological Warfare, First U.S. Army (1944–1945), continuing interrogation and information-control work during the occupation (1945–1946).

After the war Epstein married Cathleen Jephson O'Conor on 15 June 1948. He took an A.M. At Harvard University in 1950, taught as a Teaching Fellow in Germanic Languages and Literatures at Harvard (1949–1951), and later held PsyWar and intelligence research posts for the Air University and Columbia University’s War Documentation Project. He died in 1986.

Research notes

• Technical record lists Class_ASN 31183135 alongside officer ASN 0552559 — dual ASN possible; canonical page kept as officer title.

Gallery

• 
  Society of Fellows entry for Hans J. Epstein (p. 1) — Archive.org.
• 
  Society of Fellows entry for Hans J. Epstein (p. 2) — MITC staff / PsyWar positions.

Technical record

Field	Imported value
Approx Age at Death	66
Class_ASN	31183135
Class_Name	Epstein, Hans J.
match_method	pass2_unique_name
row_source	both

Timeline

• 12 April 1920 — Born in Hamburg, Germany.
• 1941 — A.B., Brown University.
• 1942–1944 — Military Intelligence Training Center staff/faculty, Camp Ritchie (Class 4 roster).
• 1944–1945 — PsyWar / SHAEF and First U.S. Army interrogation and propaganda assignments.
• 1945–1946 — Information Control Division, occupation.
• 15 June 1948 — Married Cathleen Jephson O'Conor.
• 1950 — A.M., Harvard University.
• 1986 — Died.

Sources

• Archive.org: Society of Fellows — Hans J. Epstein entry (Camp Ritchie / MITC)
• 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)