Leonard Greenblatt papers

Leonard (Leslie) Greenblatt was born December 3, 1917, in Vineland, New Jersey, to Jewish parents Morris (Moses) and Ida Lipman Greenblatt. Leonard had an older sister, Judith, and a younger brother, Edwin. His father, who had immigrated from Russia in the 1890s, was a chicken farmer. Morris died in 1928, when Leonard was 10 years old. During the 1930s, Leonard’s family moved to Miami, Florida. Leonard graduated from college and worked as an accountant in Miami.

On November 12, 1941, Leonard enlisted in the US Army. On December 8, the United States entered World War II. In spring 1942, Leonard was assigned to the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division. In April 1943, the 82nd Airborne was deployed to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations. Leonard was a platoon leader and participated in eight campaigns as the unit advanced through Italy, France, and into Germany: Sicilian, Naples, Foggia, Rome, Arno, Ardennes - Battle of the Bulge, Rhineland, beginning with Operation Market Garden, and Central Europe campaign. The 504th crossed the Rhine on April 6, 1945, near Hitsdorf, a diversionary tactic to mislead the Germans. On May 2, 1945, the 82nd Airborne liberated Woebbelin concentration camp, a subcamp in the Neuengamme system. Following the liberation, Leonard visited the camp and photographed the atrocities. In a May 6 letter to his future wife, Betty Mae Bender (1921 - 1999), Leonard described seeing a building where “the dead were stacked three and four deep - all just skin and bones” and wrote that “it [was] difficult to believe that human beings were responsible for such a mess - even after actually seeing it.”

Following Germany’s May 7 surrender, the 82nd Airborne remained on occupation duty in the American sector of Berlin. First Lieutenant Greenblatt returned to the US in September 1945 and was honorably discharged in November. He received a Bronze Star for amphibious activities at Anzio, a combat infantryman's badge, and a Presidential citation for the Hitsdorf battle. Leonard married Betty Mae and they had two children. Leonard, age 90, died on November 25, 2008, in Pineville, North Carolina.