Otto K. Gruenbaum

Otto K. Gruenbaum
Personal details
Born	18 August 1918 Vienna, Austria
Died	18 November 1945
Nativity	Austria
Religion	Protestant
Awards	Purple Heart
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
ASN	32527211
Rank	Captain
Rank at Ritchie	Technician Fifth Grade
Camp Ritchie	Class 20 (19 June – 16 August 1944)
Section	5B
Enlisted	Ft Jay Governors Island, New York
Team	IPW 120

Awards and honors

Purple Heart

Teammates

Team — IPW 120

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.

Otto K. Gruenbaum (1918–1945) was a United States Army Technician Fifth Grade who trained at Camp Ritchie, Maryland, in Class 20. Otto enlisted at Ft Jay Governors Island, New York.

Biography

Otto K. Gruenbaum (also spelled Greenbaum) was born on 18 August 1918 in Vienna, Austria, the second of two children. His father, a Jewish furrier and former Austrian Army non-commissioned officer, and his Catholic mother raised him in a musical household. Gruenbaum studied piano at the Vienna Conservatory of Music from age ten and later continued in Paris and in New York under Arthur Schnabel. After the Anschluss in March 1938 he left Austria under the pretext of a Brussels piano contest, reached Paris as a refugee, and sailed from Le Havre on 11 August 1939. In New York he gave Carnegie Hall and Town Hall recitals, toured as an accompanist, and married Susanne Hohenberg in February 1942.

Drafted in October 1942, Gruenbaum served with a medical detachment at Goldsboro, North Carolina, and at England General Hospital in Atlantic City before Military Intelligence Training Center selection at Camp Ritchie (Class 20). Overseas he interrogated German prisoners and civilians and worked as an interpreter with IPW Team 120. He received the Purple Heart and died on 18 November 1945.

Research notes

• 3rd Army; died 11/18/1945
• Folder spelling is Greenbaum; roster and wartime press use Gruenbaum. Alias/Greenbaum retained in the opening sentence. Live rank_final Captain is not reasserted; class rank and 1943 press place him as a corporal/T/5-era enlisted soldier. Purple Heart retained from the live awards block and research notes.

Gallery

• 
  Otto K. Gruenbaum playing piano in wartime uniform (RB Archive)
• 
  Otto K. Gruenbaum interrogating a German prisoner who surrendered after a propaganda broadcast, 5 March 1945 (RB Archive)

Technical record

Field	Imported value
Approx Age at Death	27
Nara ASN	32527211
Nara Name	GRUENBAUM OTTO K
Nara State	23
Nara County	61
Nara POE	2327
Nara DOE	121042
Nara Grade Alpha	PVT
Nara Grade Code	8
Nara Branch Alpha	BI
Nara Branch Code	0
Branch	Branch Immaterial - Warrant Officers, USA
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	N2
Nara Year of Birth	18
Nara Race	J
Nara Race Description	White not yet a citizen
Nara Education	4
Nara Civilian Occupation	24
Nara Marital Status	6
Nara Height (inches)	70
Nara Weight (lbs)	174
Class_ASN	32527211
Class_Name	GRUENBAUM, Otto
match_method	asn_exact_name_exact
row_source	both

Timeline

• 18 August 1918 — Born in Vienna, Austria.
• March 1938 — Fled Vienna after the Anschluss; reached Paris via Brussels.
• 11 August 1939 — Sailed from Le Havre for the United States.
• February 1942 — Married Susanne Hohenberg in New York.
• October 1942 — Drafted into the U.S. Army; medical-detachment duty at Goldsboro, North Carolina.
• January 1943 — Transferred to England General Hospital, Atlantic City, New Jersey.
• 1943–1944 — Trained at Camp Ritchie (Class 20); later served with IPW Team 120 in Europe.
• 18 November 1945 — Died.

Sources

• Otto K. Gruenbaum interrogating a German prisoner who surrendered after a propaganda broadcast, 5 March 1945 (RB Archive)
• Otto K. Gruenbaum playing piano in wartime uniform (RB Archive)
• Irene Wittig, Almost Home — Otto Gruenbaum biography (RB Archive notes)
• RB Archive clipping, The Beam (England General Hospital, Atlantic City), 9 October 1943 — “Soldier Pianist Fled from Nazis’ Terror in Vienna”
• 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 Otto K. Gruenbaum for Camp Ritchie (private research document; 1 source documents reviewed)
• Dan Gross, Timeline of Gruenbaum, Otto K. for Camp Ritchie (private research files; selected non-private narrative findings; 1 source files: OTTO GRUENBAUM.doc)