The eldest
Aubrey Lee Hanes
1917 – 2001
An Army intelligence officer in the European Theater, and later a full colonel. The family holds that he was among those who documented Auschwitz.
The record as it stands
- Born
- August 12, 1917Documented
Grave marker
- Died
- March 9, 2001Documented
Grave marker
- Married
- Eloyse M. Hanes, June 12, 1940Documented
Grave marker
- Children
- NoneFamily account
Family account. He left no direct descendants.
- Branch
- United States ArmyFamily account
Family account
- Rank
- ColonelPartial
Shreveport Times photo negative #45336, May 24, 1969, indexed “Hanes, Aubrey A., promoted to colonel” — middle initial differs
- Conflict
- Second World War, European TheaterFamily account
Family account
- Field
- Military intelligenceFamily account
Family account
- Hometown
- Shreveport, Louisiana (Caddo Parish)Family account
Family account
- Service file
- Official Military Personnel FilePending
SF-180 request to the National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis
The account
Aubrey Lee was the first of Thompson and Bethie's four, born in Shreveport in the summer of 1917 — the same year his father went into uniform for the First World War.
The family account is that he served in the European Theater as an intelligence officer, and that he was among those who documented Auschwitz. If the record bears that out, he stood inside one of the places the twentieth century has the least excuse for forgetting, and his job that day was to write down what was there. That is the single most important thing this Foundation can hope to confirm, and it is the reason the education work exists at all.
He was promoted to full colonel long after the war. A Shreveport Times photo negative held at LSU‑Shreveport records the promotion in May 1969, which fits a long career: a junior officer in the war, a colonel more than twenty years later. The two facts belong in that order. He did not walk into Auschwitz wearing eagles.
He married Eloyse in June 1940, before the United States entered the war. They are buried under one marker, which carries her dates alongside his and the date they married.
They had no children. Eloyse died in 1991 and he outlived her by ten years, and when he went in 2001 there was no son or daughter to take the house apart. Of the Four, he is the one whose things had nowhere to go.
Notes on the record
Where sources disagree, the Foundation shows the disagreement rather than choosing quietly between them.
Date of death corrected
Earlier Foundation research recorded his death as approximately 1996. The grave marker gives March 9, 2001. The marker is the stronger source and the record has been corrected.
Middle initial discrepancy
The LSU‑Shreveport negative index reads “Hanes, Aubrey A.” rather than “Aubrey L.” Transcription indexes for negative collections are frequently imprecise, and this is not on its own a reason to reject the match. It is also not a confirmation. The Official Military Personnel File will settle it.
Open questions
What the Foundation still needs for Aubrey Lee
- His rank, unit, and assignment at the time of the Auschwitz documentation.
- Whether the 1969 promotion negative indexed as “Aubrey A. Hanes” is the same man — the middle initial does not match.
- His decorations, campaign credits, and dates of service.
- Whether he and Homer entered service together, as the family holds.
If you hold a document, a photograph, or a memory that answers any of these, the Foundation would like to hear from you.
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