Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- nd (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
1 file
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Henry G Plitt [1918-1993] was born in New York City, and graduated from Staunton Military Academy, Virginia; Syracuse University and obtained a law degree from Saint Lawrence University. He practised law for a brief period before volunteering for military service.
He was in the first group of 101st Airborne Division soldiers to jump into Normandy on the night before the invasion to set flares marking landing strips for British glider pilots, and is officially credited with being the first American soldier to touch French ground.
After the war he organized a small group of volunteers, pressed several former Waffen SS officers into service and went around southern Germany and Austria looking for high ranking Nazis. According to him he brought in dozens of men but only Streicher and Ley were noteworthy.
Plitt went to work for Paramount Motion Picture Theater Chain, and in the 1960s and 1970s purchased part of Paramount and other theatre chains to become, for a time, chief executive of the largest theatre chain in the US, Plitt Theaters Inc.. He was also very active in charity work, raising large amounts of money for United Cerebral Palsy, Bar-Ilan University and The Friends of Israeli Defence Forces. Having re-joined the US Army reserves in 1962, he died with the rank of Brigadier General.
Repository
Archival history
GB 1556 WL 1282 nd Collection level 1 file Plitt , Henry G , 1918-1993 , Jewish US Major
Henry G Plitt [1918-1993] was born in New York City, and graduated from Staunton Military Academy, Virginia; Syracuse University and obtained a law degree from Saint Lawrence University. He practised law for a brief period before volunteering for military service.
He was in the first group of 101st Airborne Division soldiers to jump into Normandy on the night before the invasion to set flares marking landing strips for British glider pilots, and is officially credited with being the first American soldier to touch French ground.
After the war he organized a small group of volunteers, pressed several former Waffen SS officers into service and went around southern Germany and Austria looking for high ranking Nazis. According to him he brought in dozens of men but only Streicher and Ley were noteworthy.
Plitt went to work for Paramount Motion Picture Theater Chain, and in the 1960s and 1970s purchased part of Paramount and other theatre chains to become, for a time, chief executive of the largest theatre chain in the US, Plitt Theaters Inc.. He was also very active in charity work, raising large amounts of money for United Cerebral Palsy, Bar-Ilan University and The Friends of Israeli Defence Forces. Having re-joined the US Army reserves in 1962, he died with the rank of Brigadier General.
Frank M. Halpern
Copy of a script for a documentary (which was never produced) about Plitt's capture of Julius Streicher, containing the transcript of an interview with Plitt; various copies of photographs including of Plitt with the captured Robert Ley and Julius Streicher and copy of a New York Times article on the capture of Julius Streicher.
N/A
Open
Copies can be made for personal use. Permission must be sought for publication.
English
Description exists to this archive on the Wiener Library's online catalogue www.wienerlibrary.co.uk
With depositor
Entry compiled by Howard Falksohn.
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
February 2008 Documentary films Films Humanitarian law Ley , Robert , 1890-1945 , Nazi German Politician Nazism Plitt , Henry G , 1918-1993 , Jewish US Major Political doctrines Streicher , Julius , 1885-1946 , Nazi Publisher Third Reich Totalitarianism War crimes World wars (events) World War Two (1939-1945) Wars (events)
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Frank M. Halpern
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Copy of a script for a documentary (which was never produced) about Plitt's capture of Julius Streicher, containing the transcript of an interview with Plitt; various copies of photographs including of Plitt with the captured Robert Ley and Julius Streicher and copy of a New York Times article on the capture of Julius Streicher.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
N/A
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Open
Conditions governing reproduction
Copies can be made for personal use. Permission must be sought for publication.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
English
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Description exists to this archive on the Wiener Library's online catalogue www.wienerlibrary.co.uk
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English