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Archivist and economist, Martin Rogin was born in Russia on December 13, 1917. When he was ten years old, Rogin and his family immigrated to the United States and settled in Hennepin County, Minnesota. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Minnesota before working as an archivist at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.

 

Rogin enlisted in the U.S. Army in April 1942 and served in Europe. His fluency in Eastern European languages and experience with archives and manuscripts made him a useful recruit for the MFAA in Germany in November 1944. The following month, Rogin received an assignment as Archivist for U.S. Ninth Army, where he worked alongside Monuments Men Capt. Walter J. Huchthausen, Lt. Sheldon W. Keck, and Capt. William C. Bryant.

 

Rogin remained involved in the effort to locate, recover, sort, and restore looted books, manuscripts, and documents until May 1946, when he returned to the National Archives. His duties included the classification of numerous collections related to the war, most notably the creation of inventories for the Records of the War Relocation Authority (the federal agency responsible for the forced relocation and detention of Japanese Americans) and the Collection of Seized Enemy Records. In December 1952 he resumed active duty, spending the next two decades working for the U.S. Selective Service System. He retired from the Armed Forces in 1972 with the rank of Colonel. In subsequent years, he became an archivist for the General Services Administration (an independent agency of the U.S. Government devoted to managing government offices) and as a consulting economist for the state of Maryland.

 

Martin Rogin died in Fairfax, Virginia on May 4, 1997. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.