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Erich W. Kramer
| Erich W. Kramer | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Eric M. Kramer |
| Born | 13 September 1920 Bavarian Palatinate, Germany |
| Nativity | Germany |
| Religion | Jewish |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Army |
| ASN | 42176712 |
| Rank | Staff Sergeant |
| Rank at Ritchie | Private |
| Camp Ritchie | Class 27 (5 February – 5 April 1945) |
| Section | 5A |
{{Needs source}}, or explain disagreements on talk. Baseline import notes: About the data.
Erich W. Kramer (known as Eric; 13 September 1920–) was a Germany-born U.S. Army Staff Sergeant who trained at Camp Ritchie with Class 27 and stayed on as an IPW instructor. He later interrogated prisoners at P.O. Box 1142 and helped process V-weapon scientists at Fort Strong in Boston Harbor.
Biography
Erich W. Kramer (Eric) was born on 13 September 1920 in a small town in the Bavarian Palatinate, Germany. His father, a Jewish veteran of the German Army in World War I, had been discharged as a first lieutenant in 1919. The family moved to Munich in 1924; Kramer attended Gymnasium until 1937, when Jews were expelled from German schools. That October, at seventeen, he emigrated alone to the United States, sponsored by a distant relative who provided affidavits for dozens of family members. He lived frugally with relatives in New York, worked as a delivery boy, and later studied pharmacy at Columbia College, graduating in June 1942. He worked as a licensed pharmacist until entering the Army. His parents escaped Germany in 1940 via Italy; Kramer helped arrange their passage.
In 1944 he declined further deferment and was drafted. Assigned to Camp Barkeley, Texas, for medical training because of his pharmacy background, he was redirected once the Army noted he was German-born and fluent: he went to Camp Ritchie for the standard seven- to eight-week interrogation-of-prisoners-of-war course with Class 27, learning German Army organization, German map reading, and night navigation with enemy cartography. As the European war wound down he was retained as an instructor for three to four months, teaching German Army organization and German map reading. His wife later worked in a Hagerstown factory while he was at Ritchie.
Kramer was then bused to the secret Fort Hunt installation known only as P.O. Box 1142—he believed at first he was going overseas and learned the name Fort Hunt only after the war. Secrecy was so strict that even his wife, given only the Alexandria P.O. Box address, could not find the post. He lived in barracks with other interrogators and translators on the small Potomac-side installation, worked roughly business hours, and could visit Washington or take weekend trains to New York. He told family only that he “worked with German prisoners.”
At 1142 Kramer conducted interrogations—typically four or five a day, about fifteen to twenty a week—from standardized question lists. Prisoners included captured POWs, German civilians, voluntary defectors, and scientists and technical specialists, many cooperative once Germany’s defeat seemed clear. Translators typed the reports for the Pentagon; Kramer rarely learned how the intelligence was used. Prisoner quarters had hidden microphones (one man found a mic when cigarette smoke rose into a ceiling fixture). Some prisoners were escorted into Washington for shopping; interrogators carried no weapons. He recalled on the order of thirty to forty prisoners on post at a time, and one anecdote that information from an interrogation allegedly helped prevent a German U-boat attack on a U.S. Submarine.
When 1142 wound down, Kramer and others were sent to Fort Strong in Boston Harbor (via Long Island), where they processed the first group of V-1/V-2 scientists and support personnel—about seventy-three people including Wernher von Braun—before the group moved on to White Sands, New Mexico. He was discharged in June 1946 as a Staff Sergeant, returned to pharmacy work, and later owned a pharmacy on Lexington Avenue in New York for more than a decade.
Research notes
- Also known as Eric Kramer (NARA: Erich M.).
- Fort Hunt / P.O. Box 1142 — interrogator (roster FH 9 June 1945); later Fort Strong / Operation Paperclip processing (NPS oral history, 12 September 2006).
- Section V (roster).
Gallery
No portrait on file yet.
Technical record
| Field | Imported value |
|---|---|
| Nara ASN | 42176712 |
| Nara Name | KRAMER ERICH M |
| Nara State | 23 |
| Nara County | 061 |
| Nara POE | 2364 |
| Nara DOE | 280744 |
| Nara Grade Alpha | PVT |
| Nara Race | 1 |
| Nara Race Description | White citizen |
| Class_ASN | 42176712 |
| Class_Name | KRAMER, Erich M |
| match_method | asn_exact_name_exact |
| row_source | both |
Timeline
- 13 September 1920 — Born in the Bavarian Palatinate, Germany.
- 1924 — Family moved to Munich; attended Gymnasium until Jews were expelled from schools (1937).
- October 1937 — Emigrated alone to the United States at age 17.
- 1940 — Parents escaped Germany via Italy; Kramer helped arrange passage.
- June 1942 — Graduated Columbia College (pharmacy); worked as a licensed pharmacist.
- 1944 — Drafted after declining further deferment; medical training at Camp Barkeley, Texas; redirected to Camp Ritchie.
- Class 27 — IPW course at Camp Ritchie (German Army organization, German map reading, night map exercises); then instructor for 3–4 months.
- 9 June 1945 — Assigned to P.O. Box 1142 (Fort Hunt) as interrogator (roster FH note); ~15–20 interrogations per week; reports to Pentagon.
- Late war / postwar — Fort Strong, Boston Harbor: processed first V-1/V-2 scientist group (~73, including Wernher von Braun) en route to White Sands, New Mexico.
- June 1946 — Discharged as Staff Sergeant; returned to pharmacy; later owned a Lexington Avenue pharmacy in New York.
Sources
- NPS Fort Hunt Oral History — Eric Kramer interview transcript (Brandon Bies, 12 September 2006) (P.O. Box 1142 interrogator / Fort Strong Paperclip processing; 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 Erich W. Kramer for Camp Ritchie (private research document; 1 source documents reviewed)
- Dan Gross, Timeline of Kramer, Erich W. for Camp Ritchie (private research files; selected non-private narrative findings; 1 source files: ERIC W. KRAMER.doc)