An Unlikely Journey
To Judaism

RONNI DREYFUSS
SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

yen though Liesel Appel has uttered this phrase many times, she is still over-
whelmed by its magnitude.
Curled contentedly on the couch in her spacious, sun-splashed home in Jupiter,
Fla., she seems far removed from the evil legacy that haunts her sleep and tore
apart her family. With her smooth skin, bright blue eyes and white-gold hair, she hardly
appears old enough to be the daughter of a Nazi war criminal. She has an air of childlike
innocence and a ready smile that seems impossible after listening to her story.
Her recent conversion to Judaism makes her ordeal seem even more unlikely. But there
is no denying the truth.
Ms. Appel is the prized daughter of Adolf Hitler's minister of education, Wilhelm Stef-
fens. Her parents were so proud that they dedicated her to the //direr shortly after she was
born. But, 54 years later, Ms. Appel is an active member of Palm Beach County's Jewish
community.
It is difficult at first to find traces of the years of anger and self-loathing she has experi-
enced. Friends describe her as "eternally happy," "optimistic" and "inspiring." She lives
in a white, two-story, country home with her husband, Don, their two dogs and a horse.
She manages the Christian Dior cosmetics counter at Bloomingdale's and maintains a
close relationship with her son, daughter, daughter-in-law and granddaughter.

