HEADQUARTERS ARMY SERVICE FORCES
OFFICE OF THE PROVOST MARSHAL GENERAL
WASHINGTON 25, D.C.
27 March 1946
Mr. Henry W. Ehrmann
Head, Presentation Section
Special Project Center
Fort Eustis, Virginia
Dear Mr. Ehrmann:
I shall very soon be separated from the service and
therefore take the occasion to express my deep appreciation
and commendation of the considerable part you played since 17
October 1944 in developing the War Department's program of
reeducation for German prisoners of war. As civilian education-
al specialist (P-6) and as lecturer to American officers and
enlisted men at four training conferences held at Fort Slocum,
New York to prepare them for the work of the reeducation program
in camps throughout the country, your recommendations and advice
concerning the selection of media of information and education
for prisoners were from the first invaluable.
Subsequently, as head of the German History Department of
the PW Schools Branch of this Division at the Rhode Island
special prisoner of war camps at Forts Getty and Wetherill, and
since December 1945 as Head of the Presentation Section of the
Provost Marshal General's Special Project Center, Fort Eustis,
Virginia, your great abilities and patient devotion as a
lecturer and teacher in the German language of many thousands
of cooperative prisoners was outstanding.
Your contribution to the success of a difficult and delicate
War Department mission has won the admiration of your colleagues
as well as the appreciation of The Provost Marshal General.
| With every good wish for the future,
incerely yours,
ee
EDWARD DAVIS
2 1,
ARMY SERVICE FORCES
THIRD SERVICE COMMAND
SPECIAL PROJECT CENTER
FORT EUSTIS, VIRGINIA
! 4 April 1946
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: | a
It is with distinct pleasure that I recommend Dr. Henry
W. Ehrmann, He has been associated with the program of the
Special Projects Division, Office of the Provost Marshal Gene-
ral, since 17 October.1944, and since 8 June 1945 has carried
on his work under my command. I have had suffieiént acquaintance
with him professionally as well as personally to commend him
without reservation. )
We have been associated in the development and operation,
at Forts Kearney, Getty, and Wetherill in Rnode island, and
more recently at Fort Hustis, Virginia, of a special orienta-
tion program for selected German prisoners of war. It was
necessary to relate this program, which was based on the prin-
ciples of democratic life and government, to the German back-
ground and mentality. Dr. Ehrmann's intimate knowledge and.
understanding of the German people combined with his dedication
to the implications of democratic life caused us to rely greatly
upon him for the selection and preparation of course materials.
In addition, his command of both the German and English langu-
ages and his platform ability gave him superior qualifications
in the presentation of our material in lectures and discussion
groups, with audiences of from 50 to 1000.
More specifically, he has participated in the planning
of curricula at the four schools mentioned. He is almost com-
pletely responsible for the creation of the courses in German
history and politics, and to a large extent for their presen-
tation. :
Dr. Ehrmann had charge of the staffs composing the German
History Departments at Forts Kearney, Getty, and Wetherill.
He supervised the work of various college teachers and assis-
tants, mostly trained specialists in their field. At Fort
Eustis he has been in charge of the Presentation Section and
has trained and supervised a heterogeneous group of 40 in-
structors, including officers, enlisted men and civilians, as |
well as selected prisoner of war assistants - a difficult assign-
ment which he has carried out with eminent success. =
For all of these activities it was necessary to produce
specially designed teaching materials, as well as to select
films and other visual aids to assist in presentation, Dr.
Ehrmann did this task efficiently and almost single-handed.
?
He also devised various tests to evaluate the educational and
political backgrounds of German prisoners of war. The making
of these tests required exhaustive knowledg ge of German history,
politics, education, and social structure. ;
i He served as a permanent member of the Faculty Board at
the Rhode Island installations, and as a member of the Orien-
tation Board at Fort Eustis.
Dr. Ehrmann's personal attributes have impressed them-
selves most favorably upon his associates. During various
trying periods his intelligence, ability, and unfailing cheer-
fulness have contributed greatly to the accomplishment of our
mission.
W. SMITE
Lt. Colonel, AUS
Commanding
Princeton, Nd.
November 26, 1948
Dear Henry;
It was swell to reeeive your long letter last weeke I too wisk that we
could get together and have a long talke After Christmas 1 am going to the
West coast and I am trying to figure out some way of stopping over in Boulder
on the way back, wut so far 1 have not been able to devise any max reasonable
exeuse or logiwal itinerary which would permit me to do soe Before I leave,
jneidentally, I shall send you the diary of my European trip of last Spring,
since you were kind enough to say that my notes a year ago were of intersst to
you. Tkat will give you at least 2 weeks to read the stuff and then return it
by the time I get back here, since I still have only the one bound copye But
enourk of this prehiminary chit-chate
My contact with the German problem has ween frequent in the last month or
twoe The radio wroadeasters were pretty good, on the wholes a copy of the
first broadcast given wy the most intractable of the lot (Herr of Radio
Frankfurt) after his return indicates that he has acquired, both eonsciously
and unconsciously, an entirely different outlooke Reinkolz, from the Britisk
Zone has already been promotec to a more important job, less than 2 months after
kis return. -= The jéurmalists were a very uneven £eoupe Probably the most
naive and @ifficult of the lot was young Ebbingkaus, the son of tke former
Reetor of Marburge Among other things, he left kis brief case, witk all his
money for tke final 2 weeks of living expenses and travel, outside his hotel
room at 2 A.M., went off and left it for @ hours (Where did ke go?) anc upon kis
return found that $210 had been removed, but trat ¢150 wes still theres The
next day he lost his exit permite Me Clure finally hustled him on a plane and
sent him home two days earlye Kogon and another were AWOL for 4 dayse Still
another insisted on going home a week before ke was scheduled to goe Still and
all, I think they profited a great deale A letter from Walter Gong of Bremen
after his return skows that ke is putting into practice several things he
learned on the technique of newspapers (separation of news desk and editorial
writers, more frequent use of pictures, more personal news to increase the
closeness between newspaper and readers) and is also ealling kis staff together
weekly to tell them about his experiences in the U.S. From the immediate point
of view, I should rate the radio project A-, and the journalists’ project Op;
in gies Clea effectiveness, my guess is that the radio project might rate Bb and
the newspaper projeet Bee -- I saw little of the ten educational administrators
and their trip was not well balanced or carefully vlanned (in my opinion) by
the NEA. Baeuerle, Minister of Education for Wuerttemberg-Bacen, came in a
week ago, the day before returning to Germany, and seemed to have profited much,
but then ke is an umusual person. -- Today, & German trade-union leaders
(Sckleicker, Ludwig, Sehamnowski and Daklmann) came to lunch. I found them very
disappointinge Althougk very flattering avout the U.S. and the A-l'. of L
Congress in Cincinnati (Mett Wohl was © at the lunckeon,too), they were
definitely propagandistic in tkeir remarks, stressing tae refusal of Mil Govt
to give labor a proper share tn the dtermination of economic policy, tke dis-
crediting of the Social Democrats by the veto of democratically passed reforms,
socialization of the Ruhr ete. ete. Furtkermore, mot a one of the 4 spoke any
English and only 1 could understand any at all. Hence, most of their knowledge
and impressions of the U.S.,ef labor and of everything else was sereendd throusk
their interpreter wko was a conscientious guy, put not overly bright, exceedingly
slow, and definitely inclined to take all the "pite™ cut of what was said by
poth Germans and Americans. - The youth leader training project seems to be the
pest handled of all, but I have uot met any of the persons coneerned.-- The
teacher training project is probably going all rickt, wut I have little information
. Ze
about* etitet that one of the partieipants, Elizabeth | Ktnkelnete of Berna. is
studying at the Colorado State College of E ueation at Greeleys Have you met her,
ey any shance 2- : : J wees tae Pak ee fee : : ; a Bes
It is now Decemser 6, for weich I apologize, but you know how it roese
To continue with Reorientation and such, for a moment. Jellinek has just
returned from Germany and Austria and is pessimistic about the vrograme The
whole of Reorientation branch, excest Education and Religion Policy and Special
Serviees or whatever it was called, moves to New York any minute nowe Dave
Warner and kis wkole skop have resigned, es-have all of Simeson's outfite Tom
will stay, ss Washington Liagison of{iesr for the New York Field Offices Me Clure
is soing back to duty with troops, in Tehidies. and the New York office is keeping
its fingers crossed. Jellinek says he will resign and wany others will,too.
Harrison Kerr is probably now on his way to Germany and Austria, after waiting
arounc for orders for 6 weeks. Last week, at the invitation of Henry Luce, I
attended a showing of the Life Pictursma which has just besn supplied with Korean,
Japanese and German sound traek for showing in the occupied territorities. The
pictures are truly magnificent and the effeet is stunning, but the script oozes
with 150% wer cent Americanism, of the sort that will make all Germans who see
the picture shriek, “Proparcanda."
But enough of this. WeVve heard it all before, so rany times. At least Clay
s now regarding Reorientatioa as a major cbiective and kes about $4 million in
his fiseal 49 wudset for the purpose, ineludins paper, salaries for visiting
professors etee So you ané I ean feel that by our work on the 1947 Directive
we forced the authorities to pay some attention to this asnect of the erobleme
Alexander, as ususl, sneers at Washineton and says veople there sit on their
fannies and-do nothing to help our heroes in the field, but as a matter of fact
I honestly believe that we accomplished? some very importent things in that year
in Waskineton on the woliecy side. And we'd have done more on the operational
end of thines if we'@ had a little eo-operation from Taylor, Alexander and co.
But there. -- One last reminiscneee of Pentagon days: Ben O'Sullivan and kis wife
came up for the Dartmouth game and dropped in for a drink afterwards. They are
pert and cute and brigkt as ever, and Ben claims to be very happy about leaving
State and being in srivate practice.
Now to the more important part of our correspondence. I was surprised, on
reading your letter, to find that you spent so muck time on the methods, d6gree
of accuracy ete im the Social Sciences. 1 wouldn't disazree with what you said,
but that wasn't what I trought I was talking aeoute I was concerned with the
coneepts, the ideas, rather than the methodse To be more exvlieit: in chemistry
there is tke eatalytie agent, which breaks down the other suestancese and makes
them fuse (or whatever they do). This agent can be withdrawn intaet, without itself
having lost its mature. Now weat I had in mind was something of this sort: this
phenomemon is known as being a “scientific” phemomenon, and is always spoken of
as pertaining to chemistrye Actually, I selieve, it is a social phenomenon. To
quote from personal experience, when we were at Vassar, Crit and I were on Reindix
friendly terms with several persons interested in music, with others interested in
literature and the arts, with others interested chiefly in bridge. While we were
there, we got the whole lot together on several oceasions and they mixed very
well and became, for the evenins, skall we say, a homoreneous groupe Some of them
contin ed their frienéskip after we left, but for the most part the little grouss
split up asain into their original components. In cther words, Crit and |! had
acted as catalytic arents. I would even fo one stes farther and sugrest that this
phenomenon is prokably more significant as a social phenomenon than as a chemical
okenomenone Quite possibly the idea for chemical experimentation came from an
oeservation(conseious or uneonscious) of this whenomenon in the social field.
Now it seems to met that it is just this kind of concept which is not readily
available in the Social Sciences.and Humanities. (The closest. approximation, I-.
suspect, isthe idea-of. theobserver, but this isnot the seme thing at all, since
the observer, by d=finitiicn remains alaof from the sroup, whereas the catalytie
is the agent, the “cause” if you like, of the fusion.) Of eourse, I do not mean
to suggest that in any social situation there is suck a catalytic arent, or that
this concept is always relevante After all, there are “any situations in chemeistry
where the catalytic arent doesn't figure and shouldn't. But until we kave a
sufficiently large battery of equipment, of eoncepts, from which we can choose, we
shall probably overwork the small numeer we have and try to make them universally
applicable, wkether tkey are or note
The other concept to which I referred has the teeknical name, I believe, of
skaxsuxsomormkkamux stereoisomerism, whick brings in tke whole set of shenomena
associated with right-handed and left-handed erystals. Here (as I understand it)
is the instance of two sets of parts, apparently identical, but one set produces
something (or is something) , wrereas the other looks the same, but just doesn't
funetion.e The prime example of this phenomenon ix recent times, it seems to me,
is represnted by the aetions of Litchfield and his group in OMGUS. By setting up
political parties, eleetions, legislatures ete % l'amérieaine, Litekfiela and Cos
thought they were creating demoeracy in Germanys Actually, these are sterile forms
without something behind them, with a corpus imbued with democratic ideas and
desires.
It's setting late, and if I don't finish this tonight, it will probably wait
another week, so I shall stop here and set this off. Your letter about meeting
Miss Winkelmann came today, and Crit called it to my attention after I had started
typing. - As for the Sritvisk course for junior lawyers, I kmow that Havighurst was
in elose toueh with our Civil Administration Division and is ec msidering some
of its projects, of whieh this may be ones But to make sure, way don't you
write me at rreatew length about it and I can discuss the matter with Havighurst
when ke returns avout January 15.-- I must add that Farrell Dyde dropped in asout
10 days ago and we had a fine time singing your praises, xkx antiphonally, for
quite some timee-- Howard Jones was ix priefly today. Ee is willing to go to
Cologne in Ameriean studies, ut so far Cologne has been vague, and Hervard will
probably be reluctant.
And so, farewell for nowe Crit joins me in sending our best to all of yous
We are tryins hard to figure some way of gsoime to Boulder next summer, but the
combination of distance and expense is a hard one to beat, as you undouvetedly
have found. Meanwhile, if you fo to Germany, plan to stop kere for a day or twoe
As ever,
Ch
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Sam 4
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$f | September 12, 1947 |
pte we pew Lette to Mos. fer) heh oa Cx ss ee
Dear Colleague from Forts Kearney, Getty, Wetherill, and/or Eustis: : As
Possibly you have wondered, during the past year and more, just what has
become of all the German PWs we worked with during 1945 and 1946, Since the
War Department (including one Henry W. Ehrmann, who has been working in the
Re-orisntation Branch of the Civil Affairs Division) also thought it worthwhile
to find out something about the present activities of our PWs, they decided
last spring to send someone over to Germany to renew contacts with these men
and to gather information about their doings. I was lucky enough to be the man
chosen to do the job. I left this country on April 26th, and reached Berlin on
April 29th. After getting acquainted with the people for whom I was to work in
the Information Control Division (ICD) and the Education and Religious Affairs
(ERA) Branch of OMGUS, and after looking up the former PWs I could locate in
Berlin, I set out for a trip of about a month and a half to various points
within the American Zone, plus a side trip to Hamburg. I concentrated on ths
Cities of Frankfurt, Stuttgart, and Munich,e-first, because I had the largest
number of addresses in these cities; and secondly, because I also wanted to
talk with the ICD and ERA people in these three Land capitals. I felt that I
had a threefold mission: (1) to gather information on our former special
Prisoners; (2) to show them that we are still interested in them; and (3) to
remind Military Government (especially ICD and ERA) again of the existence of
these men. I returned to Berlin on June 18th, reported to the ICD and ERA
offices on the results of my trip, and then came back te this country on June
e7the (The funds out of which I was paid expired at the end of the fiscal year;
hence my orders told me to be back in the U, S, by the 30th of June.)
The inclosed document is the formal report which I submitted to the ICD
and ERA offices, Although it was written Specifically for these two offices,
I am sending it along to you in the hope that you will also be interested in it.
In writing it, I left out a great many things I might otherwise have mentioned,
because people in Military Government already know tham. The general picture
in Germany today is not a pretty one. Nearly every man I met expressed the
opinion that no progress whatever has been made during the past two years,
Whether in the economic, political, or any other fields. True, political
parties have beep organized and German officials have been elected by popular
vote; but nearly all former PWs feel that only a pseudo-democracy has been
established, that it has no real popular Support, and that it will never get
such popular support until the economic Situation has improved. Our own
Military Government is, of course, a military dictatorship (how could it be
otherwise), albait a benevolent one; and, like any dictatorship, it is com-
Pletely enmeshed in bureaucratic red tape, The whole picture is the curious
one of a democracy trying to run a dictatorship to teach the Germans about
democracy. Although most of our PWs understand the inevitability of this
Situation, they resent it, and feel embarrassed when they have to explain to
other Germans that the Americans "really aren't like this." They consider
the whole thing completely un-American.
Everywhere I went, interest in the re-education work we did was still
very strong, but nearly all the men feel terribly isolated from the outside
world--particularly from America. Partly this is because all Germans suffer
from a profound feeling of isolation: lacking foreign exchange, they cannot
@ven Subscribe to a foreign magazine or newspaper, or buy a foreign book.
In addition, many of our PWs felt a terrific letdown when they discovered that
Military Government knew nothing of them, and was not even particularly
interested in theme (We of course had told them that this would happen, but
Somehow many of them just couldn't believe it. Actually, considering the fact
that they were never officially informed of our projects, Military Government
did a pretty good job of understanding and using these men.) One thing that
you and I can do to relieve this feeling of isolation is to write to the men
whom we knew personally. Some of you have already been doing that, as I found
out during my trip. Many a man told me that he was corresponding with such
and such a person, and it was obvious that this contact with one of you gave ‘
him a tremendous psychological lift,
If you want to do something more than just writing letters, there are a
great many other ways in which we can help these men, and show them we are
Still interested in them. If you want to send food, perhaps the simplest way
is to order a ten dollar food package from CARE, SO Broad St., New York 4, N.Y,
I know from experience that these food packages are good, that they are the
best you can get for the money, and that they are delivered swiftly and
efficiently. CARE also has woolen packages (enough to make a suit or a coat),
blanket packages (two Army blankets, plus shoe heels and soles), and cotton
packages (for shirts and dresses--17 yards of material in all), each for ten
dollars. Or, if you want to send some food or clothes yourself, you can send
up to £2 pounds for 14¢ a pound by U. S, mail. (Filling out all the required
forms is a bit of a bother, but it's worth it.) Almost equally important are
books and magazines--the Germans are starved for foreign reading material, ant
fortunately most of our men can read English. :
We often told our PWs that their real job began when they reached Germany
again; I would like to think that our own responsibility also did not end when
they left this country. Just by keeping in contact with these men we can make
@ really big contribution. If I can help out in this prooess by serving as a
Sort of clearing house, I shall be only too glad to do so. During the course
of my trip, I collected some 500 names and addresses. If you remember the name
of some man whom you would like to write to, I may well be able to supply you .
with his address; even if I cantt, the chances are that I can put you in touch
with some other PW who will know his address, If you are already writing to
ens or more Ps, I would appreciate your sending me their names and addresses to
help me keep my file up-to-date,
Before closing this letter, it may be in order to add a word of apology
for its lateness, My exouse is that I have been expecting the inciosed report
(which was mimeographed in Berlin after I left) to arrive any day, ever since
the middle of July; it finally reached me a few days ago. Even if it had come .
earlier, however, the chances are that I would not have gotten around to send-
ing it on, since I have spent most of my summer getting a new job and a new
house. (Cornell felt I was worth more than Yale did, and I was a pushover,
The house was a bit harder, but by mortgaging my future for years to come,
I finally fixed that up, too.)
Do let me hear from you. If I get the flood of mail I hope ta get, I may
be a little slow in answering, but I'1] do my best,
Sincerely,
William G, Moulton
Division of Modern Languages
Cornell University
Ithaca, New York
P.S. The typist who cut the stencil of the report had no respect whatever fer
my punctuation and grammer. (She even made me split an infinitive.)
Most of her changes were relatively harmless, but one produced complete
nonsense, Please change tha second sentence of paragraph l2a to read:
"This was possible partly because 31 of them had written to America, and
partly because the remaining 26 had remained in close contact with these
31; in either case there is evidence of their continued interest in
the work done at the camps."
DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
WASHINGTON
23 November i949
Mr. Henry W. Ehrmann
Dept. of Political Science
University of Colorado
Boulder, Colorado
Dear Mr. Ehrmann:
It is with great pride that I transmit to
you who have served in the United States Military
Government in Germany, this message from the President
of the United States.
As Secretary of the Army I feel that this
generous praise from our Commander in Chief has been
well earned by all of you who participated in this
great accomplishment.
| incerely,
G
ordon Gray
Secretary of the Army
C OPT
oe OF THE ARMY
ASHINGTON
July 1S, 1949
Mr. Arthur Garfield Hays
General Counsel, American Civil Liberties Union
170 Fifth Avenue
New York 10, New York
Dear Mr. Hays: -.. Bape alias
This will acknowledge the receipt of your letter of July 8th
with regard to the names of seVeral persons mentioned in press dispatches
following the incident affecting Mr. Cordon Clapp. I share with you the
desire that no reflection should be cast upon these men resulting from
any act of the Army's and that both they and any persons inquiring about
them should be reassured as to this.
While I believe that my previous etateménts do Sean accomplish
this purpose, you are authori 6d to state in my behalf that instructions
have been given to remove from the records any reference to these or other
persons as unemployable by the Army and that the fact that such term may
have -been used casts ao reflection upon the persons concerned since the
word was utilized to cover a number of contingencies not indicating any
unfitness.
Should occasion arise when any of these persons are requested
for service to the Army, an entirely new security check will be made in
Which there will be no prejudice to the person irom the fact that, until
the correction recently made, the person may haw been listed as unemployable.
Sincerely yours,
/s/ Gordon ‘ray
GORDON GRAY
Secretary of the Anny
