Harold C. Deutsch papers

Harold Charles Deutsch was born on June 7, 1904 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He earned his B.A. in 1924 and M.A. in 1925 from the University of Wisconsin. In 1927 he earned an additional M.A. and a Ph.D. in 1929 from Harvard University. Dr. Deutsch became a professor of history at the University of Minnesota in 1929 and served as chair of the history department from 1960-1966. In addition to his academic appointment in Minnesota, Dr. Deutsch also taught at the National War College (1972-1974) and the U.S. Army War College (1974-1985). Dr. Deutsch was an internationally known expert on World War II and German history.

During World War II, he was chief of the European Axis Section of the Board of Economic Warfare and chief of political research for Europe, Africa and the Near East for the Office of Strategic Services, the forerunner to the CIA. Dr. Deutsch was involved with interviewing German political and military prisoners, many who were later tried and executed for war crimes at the Nuremburg trials. Dr. Deutsch was able to bring his personal experiences into his teaching, making his course on World War II the most popular elective on campus. He is the winner of the prestigious Horace T. Morse Award, in recognition of outstanding undergraduate teaching, in 1971 and the College of Liberal Arts Distinguished Teacher Award. Dr. Deutsch retired from the University of Minnesota as professor emeritus in 1972. Harold Deutsch died on May 15, 1995.