Post by Die Fledermaus on Mar 25, 2010 22:17:25 GMT -4
It has been a sad month. I learned my two favorite professors, who I knew for decades, recently died.
There is a thread on Prof. Kiraly on this forum. Here is one for Prof. Hans Trefousse, a great scholar and a true gentleman.
Professor Hans Trefousse
Birth: 1922
Frankfurt-on-Main, Germany
Death: Jan. 8, 2010
Staten Island
Richmond County
New York, USA
Hans L. Trefousse, 88, of 22 Shore Acres Road, Shore Acres, who escaped Nazi persecution in pre-war Germany, then served in the U.S. Army during World War II, died Friday at his home.
Born in Frankfurt, Germany, he immigrated to the United States in 1935 as a refugee, escaping the pre-war nightmare.
During World War II, he served overseas with the Army, from 1941 to 1946.
In combat, he interrogated prisoners.
"The way you get information is to trick them," he told Brooklyn College Magazine in its Spring 2009 edition. "We used to tell the prisoners that we had two internment camps, one in Florida and the other in Siberia. "I would hang a sign around the neck of a prisoner that said ‘Russia' and send him out into the yard. He would ask a guard what the sign meant. Nine times out of 10 the prisoner came right back in and told us everything we wanted to know."
Mr. Trefousse was also instrumental in using his German language skills to negotiate the Nazi surrender of Leipzig, Germany, in 1945, according to his family.
He was awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star.
After the war, he continued to serve in the Army Reserves and retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1980.
Mr. Trefousse settled in Shore Acres in 1954.
He earned his bachelor's degree from City College of New York and his doctorate from Columbia University, both Manhattan.
"From the time I got here I wanted to be all-American, and studying history was just part of that," Mr. Trefousse told Brooklyn College Magazine.
In 1946, he joined the faculty of Brooklyn College. His interest as an historian was focused on the Civil War, and his eighteen published works included books on Rutherford B. Hayes, Abraham Lincoln, Thaddeus Stevens, Andrew Johnson, the Civil War, and Reconstruction. He also wrote about Pearl Harbor and Native Americans.
Mr. Trefousse retired in 1998 and was named distinguished professor emeritus of history.
Later in his career, he taught at the Institute for Retirees in Pursuit of Education (IRPE) at Brooklyn College. He also lectured in a similar program with retirees at the College of Staten Island, Willowbrook.
Mr. Trefousse was a member of Temple Emanu-El, Manhattan.
His wife of fifty-three years, the former Rashelle Friedlander, whom he called the love of his life, died in 1999.
There is a thread on Prof. Kiraly on this forum. Here is one for Prof. Hans Trefousse, a great scholar and a true gentleman.
Professor Hans Trefousse
Birth: 1922
Frankfurt-on-Main, Germany
Death: Jan. 8, 2010
Staten Island
Richmond County
New York, USA
Hans L. Trefousse, 88, of 22 Shore Acres Road, Shore Acres, who escaped Nazi persecution in pre-war Germany, then served in the U.S. Army during World War II, died Friday at his home.
Born in Frankfurt, Germany, he immigrated to the United States in 1935 as a refugee, escaping the pre-war nightmare.
During World War II, he served overseas with the Army, from 1941 to 1946.
In combat, he interrogated prisoners.
"The way you get information is to trick them," he told Brooklyn College Magazine in its Spring 2009 edition. "We used to tell the prisoners that we had two internment camps, one in Florida and the other in Siberia. "I would hang a sign around the neck of a prisoner that said ‘Russia' and send him out into the yard. He would ask a guard what the sign meant. Nine times out of 10 the prisoner came right back in and told us everything we wanted to know."
Mr. Trefousse was also instrumental in using his German language skills to negotiate the Nazi surrender of Leipzig, Germany, in 1945, according to his family.
He was awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star.
After the war, he continued to serve in the Army Reserves and retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1980.
Mr. Trefousse settled in Shore Acres in 1954.
He earned his bachelor's degree from City College of New York and his doctorate from Columbia University, both Manhattan.
"From the time I got here I wanted to be all-American, and studying history was just part of that," Mr. Trefousse told Brooklyn College Magazine.
In 1946, he joined the faculty of Brooklyn College. His interest as an historian was focused on the Civil War, and his eighteen published works included books on Rutherford B. Hayes, Abraham Lincoln, Thaddeus Stevens, Andrew Johnson, the Civil War, and Reconstruction. He also wrote about Pearl Harbor and Native Americans.
Mr. Trefousse retired in 1998 and was named distinguished professor emeritus of history.
Later in his career, he taught at the Institute for Retirees in Pursuit of Education (IRPE) at Brooklyn College. He also lectured in a similar program with retirees at the College of Staten Island, Willowbrook.
Mr. Trefousse was a member of Temple Emanu-El, Manhattan.
His wife of fifty-three years, the former Rashelle Friedlander, whom he called the love of his life, died in 1999.
May they rest in peace. 
