[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 11 (Monday, January 22, 2024)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E65]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              HONORING THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE OF GUY STERN

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ELISSA SLOTKIN

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Monday, January 22, 2024

  Ms. SLOTKIN. Mr. Speaker, today I pay tribute to the life and legacy 
of a man who defined the word patriot. Guy Stern was just a teenager 
when he escaped the horrors of Nazi Germany and landed in this country, 
where he went on to live a remarkable life devoted to service, 
scholarly pursuit, and historical preservation. It is now incumbent 
upon us to share, learn from, and forever safeguard his incredible 
story, which stretched across more than a century.
  Born Gunther Stern on January 14, 1922 in Hildesheim, Germany, the 
future hero was the son of a humble textile merchant and homemaker, and 
only 11 years old when Adolf Hitler seized power. Life under Nazi rule 
quickly became untenable for this Jewish family, and in 1937 the elder 
Sterns sent their son to live with his uncle and aunt in St. Louis. 
Sadly, the rest of the family were never able to escape; Stern's 
parents and two siblings were killed by the Nazis.
  Wanting to adapt as best he could, Gunther changed his name to Guy on 
the advice of a high school girlfriend. But Guy sought not just to fit 
in but to serve his new country, and attempted to join the armed forces 
following the attacks on Pearl Harbor. Rejected by the Navy because he 
was not native born, Stern was drafted by the Army in 1943 and took his 
oath of citizenship after completing basic training in Texas. He was 
then transferred to a highly secretive facility in Maryland where he 
became part of the so-called ``Ritchie Boys,'' an elite group of about 
11,000 soldiers--many of them German-speaking European Jews like 
Stern--trained to use their language skills for interrogation, counter-
intelligence, and psychological warfare. Stern landed in Normandy 
shortly after D-Day, and served in Germany, Belgium, and France until 
the end of the war. He rose to the rank of Master Sergeant and was 
decorated with a bronze star for his innovative methods of gleaning 
information from German prisoners of war, developing critical 
techniques that gathered actionable intelligence from captured Germans 
while remaining well within the bounds of the law of war. Ultimately, 
the Ritchie boys were credited with securing more than half of the 
actionable intelligence gathered in Europe during World War II, and 
were instrumental in the defeat of the Nazis.
  Post-war, Stern turned to academia when he returned stateside, 
becoming a leading global scholar in German literature and culture. He 
taught for decades at Denison University then later at Columbia 
University, the University of Cincinnati, the University of Maryland, 
and finally, Wayne State University in Detroit. In 1978 he was named 
provost and vice-president for academic affairs at WSU, posts he held 
for 12 years before stepping down to return to the classroom as a 
professor in Wayne State's Department of Romance and Germanic Languages 
and Literature. During his tenure, he also founded the Academy of 
Scholars at Wayne State University, and was director of the 
International Institute of the Righteous at the Zekelman Holocaust 
Center, a post he held until the end of his life.
  Dr. Stern was passionate about sharing his story, publishing numerous 
papers and books, including his memoir, ``Invisible Ink.'' He was 
featured in multiple documentaries, including Ken Burns' landmark 
series on the American response to the Holocaust. I'm so fortunate he 
also shared his story with me on several occasions, including in 2021 
when we convened a group of Jewish veterans from across the area and 
across time for a roundtable at the Holocaust Center. When he spoke, 
all of us in the room could sense we were in the presence of a once-in-
a-generation national treasure.
  Guy Stern left this world on December 7, 2023 at the age of 101: a 
Holocaust survivor, a decorated war hero, a prolific author, a 
celebrated scholar, and so much more. He once said that the United 
States saved his life, and that in return, he became an American 
patriot. What a gift he gave us. On behalf of a grateful nation, I ask 
that we forever remember his extraordinary life, and that his memory be 
an inspiration and a blessing to all.

                          ____________________