Otto Perl

Otto Perl
Personal details
Born	22 September 1915 Austria
Died	2014
Nativity	Austria
Religion	Jewish
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch	United States Army
ASN	42210252
Rank	Sergeant

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Otto Perl (22 September 1915–2014) was an Austrian-born Jewish refugee tailor who served as a U.S. Army sergeant in military intelligence and counterintelligence in Maryland (1943–1945). Research notes record that he arrived at Camp Ritchie but did not complete a numbered MITC class.

Biography

Otto Perl was born on 22 September 1915 in Austria to a Jewish family. He served nearly a year in the Austrian army (1937–1938) before the Anschluss. Arrested as a Jew, he was imprisoned at Dachau and Buchenwald for about a year; an American visa secured his release from Buchenwald. He left Austria alone in June 1939, went via England, and reached the United States in March 1940, working again as a tailor.

Initially classified 4-F because of a hernia, Perl had surgery and re-entered the draft as 1-A, serving in the U.S. Army from 1943 to 1945. With his linguistic ability he was assigned to military intelligence and counterintelligence work at army bases in Maryland, where he interrogated German prisoners of war, translated German documents, and taught German to officers. Dan Gross’s research notes record that Perl arrived at Camp Ritchie but did not take a numbered Camp Ritchie class.

After the war Perl learned that his father had died of a heart attack on the way to a death camp and that his mother had taken her own life; other relatives also perished in the Holocaust. He returned to tailoring in the United States (later living in Teaneck, New Jersey), declined a re-enlistment offer, and married Susanne, a Vienna native who had escaped on a Kindertransport. He died in 2014.

Research notes

• Arrived at Camp Ritchie but did not take a Camp Ritchie class (Gross research note).

Gallery

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Timeline

• Born 22 September 1915 in Austria (Jewish).
• 1937–1938 — Served in the Austrian army; discharged before the Anschluss.
• Imprisoned at Dachau and Buchenwald (~1 year); released with U.S. visa.
• June 1939 — Left Austria; arrived United States March 1940.
• 1943–1945 — U.S. Army sergeant; Maryland intelligence/counterintelligence (interrogation, translation, German instruction).
• Research note: arrived Camp Ritchie but did not complete a numbered MITC class.

Sources

• Otto Perl obituary (Legacy / New York Times)
• Dan Gross research archive (miscellaneous timeline-adjacent documents; not uploaded): OTTO PERL - Jewish Week.doc
• Jewish Week archive copy — Chance to Fight Back
• Steve Lipman, “The Chance to Fight Back,” Jewish Week (9 April 2004)
• Camp Ritchie Museum, Inc. (The Ritchie History Museum), Classes 1–31 roster data (where applicable)
• Dan Gross research spreadsheets, including original Excel timeline/roster work, combined with other research and records