Julius Winter
- Born on: 31.8.1918
- Birthplace: Vienna (Wien),
- Category: Diploma program
- Right of domicile: Wien (Wien),
The English version is based on a translation by Artificial Intelligence. The authentic version is considered to be the German version.
Julius was the son of Berthold Winter (master butcher) and Selma Grete, née Eisler. He had two sisters: Grete and Irene.
In July 1936, Julius received the high school diploma from the Handels-Akademie der Wiener Kaufmannschaft, which was located at Hamerlingplatz 5-6 (8th district of Vienna). Between the winter semester of 1936/37 and the winter semester of 1937/38, he was enrolled at the University for World Trade for three semesters. He took the last exam, the First (general) exam, in February 1938. As a Jewish student, he had to discontinue his studies after the 'Anschluss' of Austria; in July 1938, he received a certificate from the university regarding the exam and the three completed semesters.
After Winter obtained a visa for entry into the USA, he left the parental home at Ottakringer Straße 160/2/8 (16th district) at the end of July 1939. He first traveled to Liverpool. From there, he crossed to the United States on the S.S. Samaria in the summer of 1939; on August 8, 1939, he reached New York. Subsequently, he settled in the state of Connecticut. Here, he found employment as a warehouse manager at Giltex Manufacturing Company (238 Congress Avenue, New Haven), which paid him 20 US dollars per week.
In August 1942, Julius Winter acquired American citizenship. Shortly thereafter, he joined the American army to contribute to the liberation from Nazi tyranny. On September 1, 1942, he was drafted into the 11th Battalion of the Medical Replacement Training Center in Camp Pickett, stationed in Blackstone (Virginia). On November 2, 1942, Winter – now holding the rank of Sergeant – started his service at Camp Ritchie (Maryland), where he was trained as an interrogator of German and Austrian prisoners of war. Here, he was promoted to Staff Sergeant in June 1943. Following the advance of American troops in Europe from 1943, Julius Winter, who also spoke French, was deployed as a translator in Tunisia, Italy, southern France, and the Rhineland, and received several awards. He left the US Army in March 1946.
After the war, Winter took courses in public accounting at the University of Illinois; he successfully completed his studies in July 1955. He passed away on January 15, 2006, in Chicago, where his sister Irene had also survived the war and the Holocaust.
His parents and sister Grete, who unfortunately remained in Austria, fell victim to the Holocaust. In early November 1941, the three family members were deported to the ghetto Litzmannstadt/Łódź. Here, the father (born August 24, 1875, in Bur Sankt Peter/Borský Peter in Slovakia) died on June 11, 1942, at the age of 67. The mother (born April 3, 1884) and Grete (born September 28, 1908, in Vienna) were taken to the extermination camp Kulmhof/Chełmno at an unknown time. Here, Selma and Grete were murdered in the gas chambers exactly three months after Berthold's death. Berthold, Selma, and Grete Winter were declared deceased by the Regional Court in Civil Matters Vienna after the war.
Author: Johannes Koll
Assistance in research: Robert Lackner
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Source material
Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, Universitätsarchiv, Karteikarte und Alte Prüfungsliste.
Meldeauskunft des Wiener Stadt- und Landesarchivs, GZ MA 8 – B-MEW – 755800-2013.
Dokumentensammlung PID 1552553 des Center for Jewish History des Leo Baeck Institute (New York): http://access.cjh.org/home.php?type=extid&term=1552553#1 [30. August 2013].
National Archives and Records Administration (College Park, Maryland): Record Group 165 (Records of the War Department General and Special Staffs), E 206, B 52, Karteikarte Julius Winter.
Robert Lackner: Camp Ritchie und seine Österreicher. Deutschsprachige Verhörsoldaten der US-Armee im Zweiten Weltkrieg, Wien/Köln/Weimar 2020.
E-Mail von Dr. Robert Lackner (Austrian Center for Intelligence, Propaganda and Security Studies, Graz) an PD Dr. Johannes Koll (WU Wien) vom 30. Juni 2021.
Ancient Faces, http://www.ancientfaces.com/person/julius-winter/7471497 [30. August 2013].
Opferdatenbank des Dokumentationsarchivs des österreichischen Widerstands, http://www.doew.at [30. August 2013].
Yad Vashem: The Central Database of Shoah Victims' Names, http://db.yadvashem.org/names/search.html?language=en [30. August 2013].
Österreichisches Staatsarchiv, Archiv der Republik, Finanzen, Hilfsfonds, Zl. 3200.
Österreichisches Staatsarchiv, Archiv der Republik, Finanlandesdirektion, Zl. 25364.