George R. Field, 88, veteran and engineer

George R. Field, 88, a retired engineer and Holocaust survivor who became a decorated U.S. Army soldier, died of Parkinson's disease Monday at the Evergreens, a retirement community in Moorestown.

Mr. Field, a native of Vienna, Austria, was attending the University of Vienna in 1938 when the Nazis arrested him during the Kristallnacht pogrom. After several months, his parents were able to arrange for his release. He spent time in Palestine and, in 1940, emigrated to the United States with his parents and sister and lived in St. Louis.

During World War II, Mr. Field served in the Fifth Infantry Division as an interpreter and fought in Normandy, the Rhineland and Central Europe. In 1945, he and men from his unit rescued a group of women on a death march from Germany's Sachsenhausen concentration camp. He was awarded the Bronze Star for valor.

Mr. Field rarely discussed his war experiences until the 1990s, when he began to speak to youth groups, his daughter Debbi Rachel Gould said.

After his discharge, he earned a bachelor's degree in engineering from Washington University in St. Louis. He then began a 35-year career with RCA in Camden. While with RCA, he earned master's degrees from the Drexel Institute of Technology in electrical engineering, engineering management and business administration.

Mr. Field was past president of the B'nai B'rith Engineers and Scientists, past secretary and board member of B'nai B'rith Elmwood House in Marlton, and past president of the South Jersey Council of B'nai B'rith. He also served on the board of Temple Emanuel in Cherry Hill.

Since 1946, he had been married to Lilly Goldfarb Field, who was also born in Austria. Their mothers were friends in St. Louis.

In addition to his wife and daughter, Mr. Field is survived by a son, Alan; another daughter Ruth Jeanne Feldman; and five grandchildren.

A funeral will be held at noon tomorrow at Platt Memorial Chapels, 2001 Berlin Rd., Cherry Hill, where friends may call after 11:30 a.m. Burial will be in Locustwood Memorial Park, Cherry Hill.