| 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 | |
| Branch | |
| Arm / service | Transportation Corps |
| ASN | 01577435 |
| Rank | Second Lieutenant |
| Camp Ritchie | Class 7 (15 April – 12 June 1943) |
| Section | 8 |
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.
John W. Kluge (1914–2010) was a Ritchie Boy (from Germany; Protestant) who trained at Camp Ritchie in class 7.
Biography
John W. Kluge trained at Camp Ritchie and served in military intelligence.
A 2015 article in Rubrica Contemporanea (Vol. 8), a journal of the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona — Simona Tobia, "Close Encounters: The Role of Culture in Interrogation and Questioning in the Second World War" — describes interrogation methods taught in the United Kingdom and at Camp Ritchie, and the effectiveness of using emigres from Germany and other Axis-occupied countries to gather human intelligence (HUMINT) by interrogating captured soldiers near the front. The article discusses the work of Ritchie Boys including John Kluge and Gerd Miller.
Research notes
- Also Class 5 OB MIRS
- Metromedia owner; billionaire philanthropist
- Portrait and summary from Notable Ritchie Boys slides (source).
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)
