You Have Been Kind Enough to Assist Me'

1
You Have Been Kind Enough to Assist Me.

• Herman Sterns Crusade to save German Jews,
  1932-1941

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Sterns German Childhood
Born in 1887, Hermann Stern was the youngest of
eight children (six sons, two daughters) born to
Samuel and Minna Stern, in Oberbrechen, Germany.
Because the family was very poor, Hermann was
forced to leave school and at age 15 apprentice
himself to a tailor in Mainz. He feared that he
would live his life in poverty.
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Family Ties
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Jewish Population in Germany
Throughout the 1860-1920 era, the proportion of
Germans who were identified as Jewish steadily
dropped toward 525,000 by 1925. Most Jews born
in Germany were conservative in outlook, many did
not practice their faith. A large number owned
small businesses.
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Straus Clothing
In 1903, M. G. Straus, a cousin of Minna Stern
and the owner of a clothing store in Casselton,
North Dakota, invited Stern to come to America
and work for him.
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Valley City
Stern immigrated in 1903 and after learning the
details of running a clothing store, moved to
Valley City, where M. G. Straus had bought out a
store owned by Adolf Sternberg.
Valley City in 1910, the year that Stern took
over the store, was a growing railroad town, the
seat of Barnes County, and an excellent location
for a shop specializing in all forms of mens
clothing.
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Jewish Life in North Dakota
Jewish farming communities in the northern
part of Dakota territory had been established in
the 1880s near Devils Lake and north of Bismarck
with the assistance of the Hebrew Emigrant Aid
Society. The members of these communities
mostly Orthodox Jews from Eastern Europe, were a
close-knit group, as described by Rachel Calof
(left) in her memoir. Other Jews, of German
origin, established businesses and small
communities in the larger towns. In contrast to
the Orthodox groups, these men and women
generally followed Reform practices.
8
American Anti-Semitism
Anti-Jewish feeling in the US was strongest in
social matters. Jews were excluded from many
organizations. Universities admitted small
numbers of Jewish students under quotas and
kept them out of most fraternities, etc. You are
Menorah boys, the Harvard president told Jewish
freshmen in 1920. We are Crimson boys.
Yiddish brochure of 1904 advocating the election
of Theodore Roosevelt (Am. Jewish Historical
Society)
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Marriage and Family
Herman Stern married Adeline Roth in 1912. The
sister-in-law of M. G. Straus, Adeline bore two
children, Richard and Edward, and would play an
important part in Sterns efforts to rescue
members of his family from Germany in the
1930s. After M. G. Straus retired, Stern managed
the growing Straus clothing chain.
Adeline Roth Sterns wedding photograph.
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Family in Germany
After World War I, Stern made several trips to
visit his family in Germany. His brothers
(Moses, Julius, Adolf, Gustav) and sisters (Dora
and Jettchen) lived comfortably in small towns
along the Rhine, but were worried about rising
anti-Semitism in Germany.
Stern family during a visit Herman made about
1910 brothers Adolf, Moses, Julius and Gustav
in last row. Sisters Dora and Jettchen with
Minna and Samuel Stern in middle row. Herman with
brother Salli in front. Salli died in the
postwar flu epidemic, while Dora died of natural
causes in 1934.
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Anti-Semitism in Germany
Although all of Sterns brothers served in the
German army during the Great War (1914-1918) and
some 12,000 died in the conflict, many Germans
believed after the war that Jews had somehow
betrayed the nation and caused the defeat.
Anti-Semitic rhetoric in speeches and print were
common and even carried over into money the
noltgeld (temporary paper script issued in
1921) had anti-Jewish images.
12
Racial Politics
Living in America since 1903, Stern was not aware
of how much Germany had changed since 1918 the
rise of racial politics as expressed in the
works of men like Hans Grimm (left) and Hans
Gunther (right) had influenced the ideas of Adolf
Hitler and other anti-Semitic German nationalists.
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National Socialism and Germanys Jews
The most virulent anti-Semites in Germany were
the members of the National Socialist (Nazi)
Party, whose leader, Adolf Hitler, had written in
his autobiography that Germany could have won the
World War by killing thousands of Jewish
traitors in Germany with poison gas.
Nazi Party parade in late 1920s.
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Jews Not Wanted
Once the Nazis gained power in Germany in 1933,
they began to persecute the Jewish population,
closing Jewish-owned businesses by intimidation,
beating Jews in the streets, and sending
prominent Jewish thinkers and educators to
concentration camps. Any Jew who wished to flee
Germany had to surrender most of their property
and accept a passport marked with a J. Only a
few countries in the world were willing to accept
Jewish immigrants.
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U.S. Restrictions
Since 1924, the U.S. had carefully restricted
immigration through a quota system. Even if a
person could find a place on the quota list he or
she could be rejected if the American consul
feared he/she would be a public charge
someone who would not earn enough and become a
welfare recipient. Americans who would file an
affidavit promising to support an immigrant could
help a person overcome this public charge
obstacle.
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State Department Personnel
Employees of the State Department generally came
from an upper middle class background, their
consulate personnel often educated at ivy league
schools who were members of a fairly elite set.
Hugh Teller, assistant consul at Stuttgart, had a
similar background. Teller admitted after the
war that he investigated both applicants for
visas and employees at the consulate for any
communist associations. (Teller personnel file
obtained via Freedom of Information Act, with
assistance from Senator Paul Wellstone).
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First Sponsorship
Herman Stern sponsored his first relative in
1933, his niece Klara, the daughter of his
brother Gustav. With the help of North Dakota
Senator Gerald Nye, Stern was able to clear the
way for her to come to the United States, live in
Valley City and attend Valley City State
College. Klara was the first of over one hundred
people helped by Stern
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Gerald Nye
Long reviled as an isolationist, a possible
anti-Semite, and as the man who was giving a
speech urging America to stay out of the war at
the very moment Pearl Harbor was attacked, Nye
was crucial to Sterns success in saving his
German relatives.
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Emigration Increases
As Nazi persecutions increased, more Jews
emigrated from Germany owners who lost
businesses, professionals like doctors who could
no longer practice, and intellectuals were among
the earliest to leave. By 1935, thousands had
left, but only a few countries accepted Jewish
refugees.
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What was Needed
Permission to enter the United States rested on
ones ability to prove he or she had enough
property to live without assistance, or a
guaranteed job, or a sponsor even then one had
to wait for place on the quota list (only so many
could enter each month). American Jewish
agencies provided help to some people and were
always seeking sponsors. Stern corresponded with
many.
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Long Lines at Consulates
As war approached, Jewish refugees flooded
American and British consulates with immigration
requests. Long lines (as in Marseilles, above,
in 1940) were a regular occurrence at the
consulates, as immigrants grew desperate. Clerks
at some consulates accepted bribes and sold false
exit visas.
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Children First?
Although Jewish groups in America tried to have
the immigration laws altered to permit more
Jewish children to enter the country, Congress
refused to consider the idea. Lore Moser (seen
here with her mother Bette) was among the
children who were able to emigrate to the U.S.
under Sterns sponsorship.
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Forced Out
Lotte Henleins father owned a small
green-grocery in the town of Bad Schwalbach.
After Hitler took power, Henlein was beaten by
Nazis who intimidated customers from shopping at
his store. His daughters middle age nanny was
forced to quit (no aryan woman was permitted to
work for a Jew). He was later forced to sell his
business. Henleins wife, Jettchen, appealed to
her brother Herman Stern for help.
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Hard choices
Lotte Henlein (second from right) with school
friends in early 1930s. Except for Dieter
Ackermann(far left) who was also Jewish, Lottes
friends later snubbed her as a Jewish
untermensch (sub human). Immigrating to the
U.S. Lotte and her parents moved to Valley City,
where she was warmly welcomed at the local school.
Dieter Ackermann was able to leave Germany with
his parents. With a Colombia passport, Dieters
mother talked talked their way into the Pananma
Canal zone in the late 1930s.
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Confusion in Names
Some of the relatives Stern sponsored had their
paperwork delayed because it became confusing as
to who was who Gustav Stern (left), the son of
Hermans brother Julius, was mixed up with
Gustave Stern, the son of Hermans brother Adolf.
Then there was Hermans brother Gustav, whos
medical history revealed a heart murmur. The
State Department consulate refused his visa
request because of this, until Herman used Nyes
influence to clear the way.
26
Finding Work in America
Herman Stern did more than help people get to
America. When Hilda and Solly Levy (standing in
rear) came to America in 1936, he helped them
find jobs and a place to live in Fargo.
27
Subterfuge
Tea Eichengruen (standing, left) was 17 when she
immigrated to America with Sterns help. Because
she was not a relative, Stern sponsored her as
the fiancé of his son Edward. Neither Ed nor
Tea knew that Herman had made this story up.
28
In Valley City
Stern may have housed some of the refugees he
sponsored by finding them a small apartment in
this converted home on Valley Citys 3rd Avenue.
29
Finding Rural Work
Willi Mueller, a refugee sponsored by Henry
Weiler, a St. Paul businessman, found work in the
Fargo cattle business. Mueller, who lived to be
108 years old, worked until he was 87 as a cattle
buyer and an antiques dealer.
30
Keeping Tabs on Émigrés
Germany often managed to gather information on
Jewish immigrants who left Europe. This cover
page of a German State Police file (found by the
US Army after the war) reveals that the Gestapo
knew where Adolf Stern lived in the US in 1943,
what property he owned, and who he associated
with. How some of this information was gathered
and what the Gestapo intended to do with it
is unknown.
31
Congressional isolationism
The very strong movement for maintaining
neutrality during the tensions in Europe had an
impact on immigration issues. Federal
immigration authorities worried about the
possibility of immigrants acting as agents for
Germany (or Russia) and many consular officials
used this reason for denying visas. Some elected
officials were involved in distributing strong
neutrality publications (and in the case of
Minnesota Senator Ernest Lundeen, pro-German
propaganda).
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Isolation and Anti-Semitism
Isolation became a factor in the 1938 and 1940
elections with the creation of the America First
movement. A great many political figures,
including Nye, Lundeen, Senators Borah (Idaho)
and Wheeler (Montana), Congressmen Fish (NY), and
Shipstead (MN), and many others. Critics charged
that a strong streak of anti-Semitism was present
in America First.
33
New Deal and Jewish Influence
While anti-Semites charged that Roosevelts
administration was a Jew Deal, in fact neither
the American Jewish Congress nor the American
Jewish Committee pressed Roosevelt to admit more
Jewish refugees.
34
Countermeasures
Groups like the Minneapolis Unit of the Committee
to Defend America by Aiding the Allies organized
to promote cash-and-carry sales of weapons to
Britain and China, and later lobbied for the
Lend-lease bill. Nye and others charged that
Jewish influence was behind many of these
actions. Charles Lindbergh stated in a 1941
speech that Jewish groups in this country should
be opposing war in every possible way for they
will be among the first to feel its
consequences. His words were taken as a threat.
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A Bold Proposal
Following the ravages of Kristallnacht, in 1938,
Stern began raising money to buy abandoned farms
in North Dakota. He appealed to Stephen Wise and
other Jewish leaders to help him brings hundreds
of Jewish refugees to the US, there to take up
farming 500,000 would make a very fine start
for 75 to 100 families. The onset of war in
September 1939 put an end to the project.
36
Stephen Wise
A leader in the Reform Judaism movement, a
Zionist and a founder of the American Jewish
Congress, Stephen Wise spoke frequently about the
danger that Nazism posed to European Jews.
However, he hesitated to push the Federal
government to alter the immigration
restrictions. When Stern proposed his plan to
settle Jewish refugees in North Dakota, Wise
rejected it as Not practical.
If 100 families (roughly 500 people) could be
aided for 500,000, then six million could be
aided for 6 billion. The U.S. alone spent 350
billion to fight and win World War II.
37
War Shuts the Door
With affidavits, Stern sponsored or co-sponsored
(with relatives and members of the North Dakota
Jewish community) about 140 men, women and
children. Most were able to reach America before
the beginning of World War II shut the door.
Germany began exterminating European almost as
soon as the war began.
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A Trickle of Immigrants
After war began in September 1939, few Jewish
immigrants could get out of Europe. A few could
leave on Spanish freighters and other ships of
neutral nations. The Navemar (above) carried
some of those sponsored by Stern. The ship
tickets may have been counterfeit.
39
Holocaust
Between 1939 and 1945, some six million European
Jews were murdered by the Nazis, most in special
extermination camps. Two of Sterns brothers,
Moses and Julius, died in this way, as did
several other relatives.
40
Bomb Auschwitz?
Documents in the National Archives reveal that
the US government knew that German army units and
special action forces were systematically
killing Polish and Russian Jews by August 1941,
but evidence of the the Nazi slaughter of Jews
did not become public knowledge until late 1942.
Debates over what the U.S., Britain, and other
nations could have done has become a major part
of Holocaust literature.
Army Air Force aerial photograph of Auschwitz,
1944 (National Archives)
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War Refugee Board
The plight of Jews in Europe was hotly debated
during World War II. In 1944, yielding to
pressure from several groups, FDR created the War
Refugee Board (with Cordell Hull, Henry
Morgenthau, and Henry Stimson as directors of
efforts to bring war refugees to the US
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Lifetime of Philanthropy
Sterns new store, built in the late 1940s, is
now known as Stern Plaza in Valley City.
In addition to his business and sponsorships of
refugees, Stern was active in numerous community
activities, played a major role in creating the
annual ND Winter Show, was a lifetime sponsor of
scouting and is in the ND Business Hall of Fame.
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They Didnt Owe Me Anything
During the remainder of his life, Herman Stern
said little about what he had done in the 1930s
to rescue family and friends from European
persecutions. At his death in 1980, he was
honored for his contributions in other areas
the Boy Scouts, the creation of the Greater North
Dakota Association, the Winter Show in Valley
City, but almost nothing was said about his
rescue efforts.
After his story became better known, he was
called North Dakotas angel on the prairie.
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Co-sponsors
Herman Stern had many co-sponsors for bringing
refugees to the US.-- Co-sponsored by Robert
Herbst Wertheim family Dr. Maurbacher (one of
physicians that Stern wanted to bring to North
Dakota) Kopfstein family (all friends of Stern
before he immigrated to U.S.) Marcus
family Albert and Friedrich Kann and families
(friends of Stern before he immigrated to
U.S) Seigfried Stern family (friends of Stern
before he immigrated to U.S.) Sol Falkenstein
family -- Co-sponsored by Max Goldberg Ludwig
Falkenstein Alfons Levy (related to Hilda Levy
Jonas -- Co-sponsored by Rabbi Papermaster Kurt
and Werner Benjamin (brothers of Hans Benjamin,
Kurt died in Auschwitz, Werner emigrated and
lived in his later years in California. A sister
also emigrated but may have had a different
sponsor.) -- Co-sponsored by Jake Stern Frankels
family Albert Winter -- Co-sponsored by William
Stern Hilda Falks family -- Co-sponsored by
Avid (Maurice Aved, New York Life insurance
agent in Fargo) Friedl Bein (a friend of the
Adolf Stern family in Duisberg)