Hans Spear
Hans Spear (born December 2, 1918 as Hans Norbert Spier in Germany , † April 15, 2009 in Tucson , Arizona ) was an American entrepreneur and member of the Ritchie Boys .
Life
Hans Norbert Spier was born into a Jewish family in Hesse after the end of the First World War . In 1938 he fled the National Socialist persecution of Jews to the USA , where he married his childhood sweetheart Beatrice Blum in New York in 1939 . In 1943 he was drafted into the US Army , which, after training in Camp Ritchie , Maryland, employed him ten days after the Allies landed in Normandy as an interrogation specialist for the 30th US Infantry Division for German prisoners of war . During his training, for example, he met Si Lewen and Victor Brombert .
After the war ended, Spear opened a painting company in Chicago , Illinois. He lived for the last sixteen years of his life in Tucson, Arizona, where he died on April 15, 2009, at the age of 90.
On February 27, 2008, the US Army awarded him the Bronze Star for his achievements . This happened after a massive internal revision of service documents, which the army undertook after years of reluctance to honor Jewish and Afro-American soldiers.
Individual evidence
- ^ Obituary in the Arizona Daily Star (English), accessed November 8, 2012
Web links
- Short biography of Hans Spear on the website of the television documentary "The Ritchie Boys"
- Gargulinski, Ryn: Vet honored 63 years later , in: Tucson Citizen, February 28, 2008 (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Spear, Hans |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Spier, Hans Norbert (maiden name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American entrepreneur and member of the Ritchie Boys |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 2, 1918 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Hesse |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 15, 2009 |
| Place of death | Tucson , Arizona |