Complex sentence: Norman secured, through influence, a very desirable, but minor position with the British Economic and Scientific mission in Washington, D.C. In late August 1946, hortly after arriving in Washington, he learned that his family had been exterminated.
Split into simpler sentences: Norman secured, through influence, a very desirable, but minor position with the British Economic and Scientific mission in Washington, D.C. in late August 1946. Shortly after arriving in Washington he learned that his family had been exterminated.