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.
John W. Kluge
| John W. Kluge | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | John Werner Kluge |
| Born | 21 September 1914 Chemnitz, German Empire (today Chemnitz, Germany) |
| Died | 7 September 2010 Charlottesville, Virginia, United States |
| Nativity | Germany |
| Religion | Protestant |
| Known for | Chairman, Metromedia |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Army |
| Arm / service | Transportation Corps |
| ASN | 01577435 |
| Rank | Second Lieutenant |
| Camp Ritchie | Class 7 (15 April – 12 June 1943) |
| Section | 8 |
{{Needs source}}, or explain disagreements on talk. Baseline import notes: About the data.
John W. Kluge (1914–2010) was a Ritchie Boy (from Germany; Protestant) who trained at Camp Ritchie in class 7.
Biography
I found this research study published in 2015 in Rubrica Contemporanea, Vol. 8, a Journal of the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. Close Encounters: The Role of Culture in Interrogation and Questioning in the Second World War. The author, Simona Tobia of the University College, London, describes the interrogation techniques that were taught in the UK and at Camp Ritchie, and how effective it was to use emigres from Germany and other AXIS occupied countries to gather human intelligence (HUMINT) by interrogating captured soldiers close to the fronts. The article provides some insights into the work of a couple of Ritchie Boys, John Kluge and Gerd Miller (?). More to follow.
Research notes
- Also Class 5 OB MIRS
- Metromedia owner; billionaire philanthropist
- Portrait and summary from Notable Ritchie Boys slides (source).
Gallery
Technical record
| Field | Imported value |
|---|---|
| Approx Age at Death | 96 |
| Class_ASN | 577435 |
| Class_Name | KLUGE, John W. |
| match_method | asn_partial_name_exact |
| row_source | both |
Sources
- Wikipedia: John Kluge
- Camp Ritchie class roster (classes 1–31), merged research file
- 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 2017-09-03 (1 post)