| Norman N. Graber | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1916 Jasło, Poland |
| Died | 2009 |
| Nativity | Austria |
| Religion | Jewish |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Army |
| ASN | 0927260 |
| Rank | Staff Sergeant |
| Camp Ritchie | Class 21 (21 July – 18 September 1944) |
| Team | IPW 407 |
{{Needs source}}, or explain disagreements on talk. Baseline import notes: About the data.
Norman N. Graber (1916–2009) was a Jasło-born U.S. Army Staff Sergeant and Dachau and Buchenwald survivor who trained at Camp Ritchie with Class 21 and served with IPW Team 407. He was also assigned for a time to P.O. Box 1142.
Biography
Norman N. Graber was born in 1916 in Jasło, then in Austria-Hungary, where his father served in the Austrian Army. In 1918 the family returned to Vienna. He grew up there, went to gymnasium, studied English, German, and Hebrew, and learned tailoring and cutting—trades that later helped him get by. The family ran a successful men’s clothing store until March 1938, when Nazi stormtroopers seized the stock and the property after the Anschluss.
In May 1938 he was arrested without charges and sent first to Dachau for about four months, then to Buchenwald for about eight. He saw executions, torture, starvation, and forced labor—carrying stumps, pick-and-shovel work, wheelbarrows, bricklaying. He survived a thirty-day starvation punishment and credited, among other things, a Seventh-day Adventist prisoner who taught him bricklaying, a possible Gestapo intervention tied to a woman connected with his family, and a visa process started through the American embassy.
Released in May 1939, he went to England, lived in a refugee work camp, monitored radio transmissions for the British, and sailed to the United States in 1940. His parents escaped separately by way of Holland. In New York he worked in tailoring shops and volunteered for the draft in April 1941. Citizenship paperwork trailed him from camp to camp, but he was not classed as an enemy alien. Roster records show enlistment from the Bronx under ASN 32086622; this page carries officer ASN 0927260.
Early Army stops included Camp Croft and the 20th Division, then specialized training in San Antonio that pointed him toward intelligence work. He trained at Camp Ritchie with Class 21 and is listed with IPW Team 407. Fluent German, firsthand knowledge of Nazi camps and military culture, and a drive to serve made him a natural fit for intelligence.
He was also assigned to P.O. Box 1142 at Fort Hunt. An NPS oral history places him there when his long-delayed American papers finally caught up and he went into Washington to collect them; the surviving excerpt does not spell out his day-to-day duties at the post. He died in 2009.
Research notes
- Fort Hunt / P.O. Box 1142 — assigned there; NPS interview excerpt ends before day-to-day duties (citizenship papers caught up while at 1142).
- Also enlisted ASN 32086622 (Bronx, 17 April 1941); page ASN 0927260.
- FH to CR (roster research note).
Gallery
No portrait on file yet.
Technical record
| Field | Imported value |
|---|---|
| Approx Age at Death | 93 |
| Class_ASN | 32086622 |
| Class_Name | GRABER, Norman N. |
| match_method | pass2_unique_name |
| row_source | both |
Timeline
- 1916 — Born in Jasło (then Austria-Hungary).
- 1918 — Family returned to Vienna; gymnasium; languages; tailoring.
- March 1938 — Family clothing store seized after the Anschluss.
- May 1938 – May 1939 — Imprisoned at Dachau (~4 months) then Buchenwald (~8 months); released May 1939.
- 1939–1940 — England (refugee work camp; radio monitoring for the British); parents escaped via Holland.
- 1940 — Arrived in the United States; New York tailoring work.
- 17 April 1941 — Volunteered / enlisted, Bronx (ASN 32086622).
- 1941– — Camp Croft; 20th Division; specialized training in San Antonio.
- Class 21 — Camp Ritchie; IPW Team 407.
- P.O. Box 1142 — Assigned to Fort Hunt; citizenship / visa papers caught up while he was there.
- 2009 — Died.
Sources
- NPS Fort Hunt Oral History — Norman Graber interview transcript (Dachau/Buchenwald survivor; Camp Ritchie; P.O. Box 1142; formerly published on the NPS Fort Hunt oral-history exhibit)
- 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 Norman N. Graber for Camp Ritchie (private research document; 1 source documents reviewed)
- Dan Gross, Timeline of Graber, Norman N. for Camp Ritchie (private research files; selected non-private narrative findings; 1 source files: NORMAN N. GRABER.docx)