Joseph Haas

Joseph Haas
Personal details
Born	1922
Died	1993
Nativity	Austria
Religion	Jewish
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
ASN	32785028
Rank	Private
Camp Ritchie	Class 7 (15 April – 12 June 1943)
Section	7
Team	MII 448-G

Teammates

Team — MII 448-G

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.

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.

Joseph Haas (1922–1993) was a Ritchie Boy (from Austria; Jewish) who trained at Camp Ritchie in class 7.

Biography

I've just begun to read Ritchie Boy Werner Angress' autobiography. It is a well-written book packed with facts and memories from growing up in Berlin in the 1920's and 1930's. One interesting anecdote he mentions is the involvement by Reichswehr General Gerd von Rundstedt in enforcing an emergency measure in 1932 following the Coup of Prussia. Coincidentally, just this week we learned that another Ritchie Boy, Joseph Haas, was involved in the interrogation of Wehrmacht Field Marshall Gerd von Rundstedt!

We thank Mark Haas for forwarding the below information and photo about his father, Ritchie Boy Joseph Haas. Joseph Haas was born in Vienna on March 10, 1922. In 1939, at the age of 16, he fled for New York City. At that time he spoke only high German, but by 1943, when he got drafted into the US Army, he was not only fluent in English, but also spoke unaccented English. You would never know he wasn't born in the US. According to the documentation provided by Mark, Joseph's entry into service was February 3, 1943. A summary of his military occupations says: "Assisting in collecting, evaluation interpreting and distribution of information of enemy and counter intelligence activities and safe guard of military information. Question prisoners. Supervised and directed men in searching prisoners for maps, weapons, etc. Investigated underground activities. Questioned political internees. Translated documents. Expert on foreign maps. Served 24 months in European Theater of Operation." Joseph was involved in the following battles and campaigns: Ardennes, Central Europe, Northern France, Rhineland. Joseph's decorations and citations included: American Campaign Medal, European–African–Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, Good Conduct Medal and World War II Victory Medal. Joseph graduated from Class 7 at Camp Ritchie, and was assigned to MI Team 448-G attached to 99th Infantry Division. Joseph separated from the Army on February 8, 1946. Joseph Haas passed away in 1993 having never mentioned anything about Ritchie Boys.

Research notes

• 448-G

Gallery

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Technical record

Field	Imported value
Approx Age at Death	71
Class_ASN	32785028
Class_Name	HAAS, Joseph
match_method	asn_exact_name_exact
row_source	both

Sources

• 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 2021-05-22 (1 post)
• Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2023-02-15 (1 post)