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.
Walter H. Lubran
| Walter H. Lubran | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1912 |
| Died | 2000 |
| Nativity | Germany |
| Religion | Jewish |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Army |
| ASN | 33668332 |
| Rank | Private |
| Camp Ritchie | Class 16 (6 February – 5 April 1944) |
| Section | 5B |
| Enlisted | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Team | IPW 141 |
{{Needs source}}, or explain disagreements on talk. Baseline import notes: About the data.
Walter H. Lubran (1912–2000) was a Ritchie Boy (from Germany; Jewish) who trained at Camp Ritchie in class 16 and served with IPW Team 141.
Biography
On Christmas Day 1944, my late Dad, Walter Lubran, was serving with IPW (Interrogator of Prisoners of War) Team 141 attached to the 84th Infantry Division. Victor Wolff, 19th Class SSgt Joseph Wertheim, 19th Class MSgt Walter Lubran (my late Father), 16th Class In a letter home from my Father on March 6, 1945, he wrote that, ..."even though I have not seen the 'River (ie. the Rhine),' as yet it is very close from here." He also wrote, We (IPW Team #141) will be assigned to another outfit and I have no idea when we will go...." His next letter is dated March 16, 1945 and it in he says that, "...we were just a couple of miles from the Rhine when we were ordered to move to this new unit." That unit turned out to be the 16th Armored Division which went South through Germany into Czechoslovakia where they liberated Pilzen.
Prior to being transferred to Camp Ritchie, my Father, Ritchie Boy Walter Lubran, attended training at Camp Ellis (IL), Fort George G. My late Father, MSgt Walter Lubran and the others of the 141th IPW team interrogated German soldiers fleeing from Prague as the Russian Army approached that city from the East. In an interesting coincidence, my Father, Walter Lubran, also sailed on the SS Georgic in the Fall of 1939.
Harry had invited me because my late Father, Ritchie Boy Walter Lubran, had served in the US Army's 16th Armored Division, which had liberated Pilzen, Czechoslovakia around the same time that the 4th Armored Division was fighting in Czechoslovakia. Landauer (below left), the son of Ritchie Boy Henry Landauer; Ambassador Richard Schifter (below center), one of the original Ritchie Boys; and Bernie Lubran (below right), the main speaker whose father, Walter Lubran, was a Ritchie Boy. In addition to the showing of the Ritchie Boys documentary film, there will be a presentation by the sons of two Ritchie Boys, Bernie Lubran (son of RB Walter Lubran and Rafael Kellman (son of RB William Kellman).
Research notes
- Also PG Class 13 GerOB
- CIB
- ASTP
- 16th Armd
Gallery
-
-
-
From left to right they are: Gerard Pick, 20th Class Captain Henry Wagner, 20th Class T3 Kurt Schimmerl (Curt Shelton), 19th Class 2nd Lt. -
-
-
-
-
-
-
Pictured below, they are (left to right): Harry Jacobs, Gideon Kantor, and Alfred Shehab. -
Technical record
| Field | Imported value |
|---|---|
| Approx Age at Death | 88 |
| Nara ASN | 33668332 |
| Nara Name | LUBRAN WALTER H |
| Nara State | -2 |
| Nara County | 3 |
| Nara POE | 3298 |
| Nara DOE | 170343 |
| Nara Grade Alpha | PVT |
| Nara Grade Code | 8 |
| Nara Branch Alpha | NO |
| Nara Branch Code | 2 |
| Branch | No branch assignment |
| Nara Term or Enlistment | 5 |
| Term of enlistment | Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, subject to the discretion of the President or otherwise according to law |
| Defer. Date | 0 |
| Nara Source | 0 |
| Nara Nativity | N1 |
| Nara Year of Birth | 12 |
| Nara Race | 1 |
| Nara Race Description | White citizen |
| Nara Education | 4 |
| Nara Civilian Occupation | 72 |
| Nara Marital Status | 2 |
| Nara Height (inches) | 22 |
| Nara Weight (lbs) | 120 |
| Class_ASN | 33668332 |
| Class_Name | LUBRAN, Walter H. |
| 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 2014-03-21 (1 post)
- Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2017-01-16 (1 post)
- Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2017-01-22 (1 post)
- Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2018-01-15 (1 post)
- Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2018-02-05 (1 post)
- Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2018-03-16 (1 post)
- Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2018-04-16 (1 post)
- Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2020-02-22 (1 post)
- Ritchie Boys of WWII Facebook page, post dated 2023-07-23 (1 post)
- Facebook-linked source: bit.ly