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Albrecht Paul Barsis
| Albrecht Paul Barsis | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born | 21 July 1916 Vienna, Austria |
| Died | 18 December 1983 Boulder, Colorado |
| Nativity | Austria |
| Religion | Protestant |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Army |
| ASN | 33446585 |
| Rank | Master Sergeant |
| Rank at Ritchie | Technician Fifth Grade |
| Camp Ritchie | Class 8 (17 May – 16 July 1943) |
| Section | 5B |
| Enlisted | Ft Myer, Virginia |
{{Needs source}}, or explain disagreements on talk. Baseline import notes: About the data.
Albrecht Paul Barsis (21 July 1916 – 18 December 1983) was a Vienna-born Ritchie Boy who trained at Camp Ritchie, Maryland, in Class 8 as a German-language interrogator and served in Europe as a radio repairman and chief studio engineer with the Mobile Radio Broadcasting Companies. Albrecht enlisted at Ft Myer, Virginia.
Biography[edit | edit source]
Albrecht Paul Barsis was born in Vienna on 21 July 1916. Army records list him as Protestant; he probably had Jewish roots. He studied mathematics and physics at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Vienna until he was forced to abandon his studies in 1938, and then evidently fled to the United States. By the spring of 1940 he was living in Washington, D.C., studying electrical engineering at night at George Washington University and working as a radio technician and electrical engineer.
Barsis was drafted at Fort Myer, Virginia, on 12 October 1942 and took rifle training; from December 1942 he attended signal training at the Eastern Signal Corps School at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey. In April 1943 he became a United States citizen and began an Army Specialized Training Program course at Rutgers University in New Jersey. He was then transferred to the Military Intelligence Training Center at Camp Ritchie, where he trained as a German-language prisoner-of-war interrogator and graduated with Class 8 (certificate 2400). In January 1944 he was assigned to the 3rd Mobile Radio Broadcasting Company and shortly afterward to the 2nd, and took combat propaganda training at Camp Sharpe, Pennsylvania. He went overseas with the 2nd MRBC. From the summer of 1944, under the 72nd Publicity Service Battalion and the 2nd and 3rd MRBCs, he worked in Rennes in northern France and in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany as a radio repairman and chief studio engineer, responsible among other things for maintaining mobile broadcasting and propaganda loudspeaker equipment.
Barsis was discharged as a master sergeant at the Separation Center at Fort Meade, Maryland, in March 1946, and served further brief tours in the Enlisted Reserve Corps until 1950. He died in Boulder, Colorado, on 18 December 1983.
Gallery[edit | edit source]
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Timeline[edit | edit source]
- 21 July 1916 — Born in Vienna, Austria.
- 1938 — Forced to abandon mathematics and physics studies at the University of Vienna; fled to the United States.
- 1940 — Living in Washington, D.C.; night study of electrical engineering at George Washington University.
- 12 October 1942 — Drafted at Fort Myer, Virginia (ASN 33446585).
- December 1942 — Eastern Signal Corps School, Fort Monmouth, New Jersey.
- April 1943 — Naturalized; ASTP course at Rutgers University.
- 16 July 1943 — Arrived at Camp Ritchie; graduated with Class 8. Certificate # 2400.
- Summer 1944 – 1945 — Radio repairman and chief studio engineer in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany.
- 5 January 1944 — Assigned to 3rd MRBC.
- 11 February 1944 — Assigned to 2nd MRBC; combat propaganda training at Camp Sharpe, Pennsylvania.
- March 1946 — Discharged as M/Sgt at Fort Meade, Maryland.
- 1950 — Left the Enlisted Reserve Corps.
- 18 December 1983 — Died in Boulder, Colorado.
Technical record[edit | edit source]
| Field | Imported value |
|---|---|
| MRBC2 | 2 |
| MRBC3 | 3 |
| Approx Age at Death | 67 |
| Nara ASN | 33446585 |
| Nara Name | BARSIS ALBRECHT P |
| Nara State | 4 |
| Nara County | 1 |
| Nara POE | 3347 |
| 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 | 16 |
| Nara Race | J |
| Nara Race Description | White not yet a citizen |
| Nara Education | 4 |
| Nara Civilian Occupation | 48 |
| Nara Marital Status | 6 |
| Nara Height (inches) | 62 |
| Nara Weight (lbs) | 115 |
| Class_ASN | 33446585 |
| Class_Name | BARSIS, Albrecht P. |
| match_method | asn_exact_name_exact |
| row_source | both |
Research notes[edit | edit source]
- Vienna Also 3rd Mobile
- To 3rd MRBC
- 1/5/44
- 2nd
- 2/11/44
- The Austriansoldiers biography gives his Class 8 section as IPW 5D and dates his transfer to Camp Ritchie to May 1943; the roster lists section 5B and arrival on 16 July 1943, which are kept.
Sources[edit | edit source]
- 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)
- Austriansoldiers biography: Albrecht P. Barsis, Austriansoldiers / Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Research on Consequences of War (in German; accessed 25 September 2026)