JOACHIM F. PUSCH:
An Inventory of His Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society
Manuscripts Collection
OVERVIEW
| Creator: | Pusch, Joachim Friedrich, creator. | |
| Title: | Joachim F. Pusch papers. | |
| Dates: | 1923-1955. | |
| Language: | Materials in English, German. | |
| Abstract: | A certificate of naturalization and a 2-volume scrapbook detailing the adolescence (1923-1940), German military artillery career (1940-1945), and World War II prisoner-of-war experience of a young man who later immigrated to Minnesota (1951), was naturalized as a U.S. citizen (1955), and worked as a county extension agent and educator until his retirement. Scrapbooks contain photographs, maps, official records, and explanatory text. | |
| Quantity: | 0.75 cubic feet (1 box). | |
| Location: | 142.H.8.7B-1 |
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Born in Liegnitz, Germany (known as Legnica after the transfer of the eastern Silesia region to Poland following the Second World War) on May 18, 1923, Joachim Friedrich Pusch was raised in Royn, a rural farming village. Beginning at age ten, he attended a private Lutheran missionary school in Niesky. At age seventeen, Pusch was graduated early in October 1940 in order to join the German Army. He was assigned to the 14th artillery regiment, 14th infantry division, which fought Russian forces along the Eastern Front. In July 1944, Pusch was assigned to the 256th Volksgrenadier division, fighting along the Western Front. Having surrendered to American forces in early 1945, he was a prisoner of war for one year, beginning March 22.
After the war, Pusch worked as a driver for the American Red Cross and as an interpreter for the U.S. military government. Eventually he sought sponsorship for immigration to the United States. Fred and Eda Jaeger (Wells, Minnesota) sponsored him, and he arrived in summer 1951. Pusch married Evelyn Ingeborg Olson in February 1952, fathered four children, and was granted citizenship on June 7, 1955. He earned an agriculture degree from the University of Minnesota and later worked as a Fillmore County extension agent and teacher at Norwood Young America. He returned to the University for a master's degree in education and worked at North Hennepin Community College, retiring in 1991.
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Availability:
The collection is open for research use.
Preferred Citation:
[Indicate the cited item here]. Pusch, Joachim Friedrich. Joachim F. Pusch Reminiscences. Minnesota Historical Society.
See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.
Accession Information:
Accession number: 16,243; 16,469
Processing Information:
Processed by: Christopher G. Welter, June 2009.
Catalog ID number: 990069107450104294
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
| 142.H.8.7B-1 | "Reflections 1923," 1923-1951. 2 volumes. | ||||||||||
| Certificate of naturalization, 1955. | |||||||||||
CATALOG HEADINGS
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.
- Topics:
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, German.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Artillery operations, German.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Prisoners and prisons.
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Campaigns -- Soviet Union.
- Document Types:
- Reminiscences.
- Scrapbooks.
Collapse
All