Co-Chairs Diane &Randy Orley and Liz &Brian Guz
invite you to

Against All Odds

Maimonides Society hosts author,
a Nazi officer's son who converted to
Judaism and works to fight prejudice.

Elizabeth Applebaum

Special to the Jewish News

S

oon after moving with his
family into a new apartment,
a young boy named Bernd
Wollschlaeger became intrigued by a
photograph in the hallway. The photo
showed a dashing German official with
a Cary Grant-like chin, high cheek-
bones, dark hair parted and smoothed
back.
Claus von
Stauffenberg was a
German officer as
well as a Resistance
leader executed in
1944 for his role in an
assassination attempt
Dr. Bernd
on Adolf Hitler. His
Wollschlaeger
picture hung in the
hallway of a house
owned by Von Stauffenberg's widow,
Nina, who lived on the floor above the
Wollschlaegers.
Bernd's father, Arthur, also had worn
an army uniform. He had been one
of the youngest tank commanders in
an elite unit of the Germany Army.
He had fought "on every battlefront
from Poland to France to Russia;
Wollschlaeger said, and had been
awarded the Knight's Cross by the
Fuhrer himself. But Arthur had no
interest in von Stauffenberg, whom he
called a traitor.
How could it be, Wollschlaeger won-
dered, that two men wearing the same
uniform, who would seem to have a
great deal in common, could be so dif-
ferent?
Today, Dr. Bernd Wollschlaeger, 56, is
a father, a physician, an author and part
of a people his father referred to only as
"them:' He is Jewish.
Wollschlaeger will discuss his book A
German Life: Against All Odds, Change
Is Possible at 7 p.m. Sunday, Sept.
14, at Temple Israel, 5700 W. Walnut
Lake Road in West Bloomfield. This
community-wide event, sponsored by
the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit's Maimonides Society, is open
to all donors of $18 and more to the
Annual Campaign.
Wollschlaeger said he wrote A
German Life so his children could know
and understand the truth of his life and
to help others see that hatred can be
overcome.

Arthur Wollschlaeger was "a willing
executioner; his son said. "He support-
ed the Nazi regime because he believed
it brought Germany back to greatness:'
He was convinced that Jews were evil,
and he hated anyone who did not have
white skin. When Bernd was a boy, he
made a friend who was black; his father
admonished: "Don't play with them:'
After the war, Arthur Wollschlaeger
was captured by American forces and
spent time in a prisoner of war camp.
He and his family then settled in Bonn,
and Arthur never spoke about his past.
He became a "quiet drinker" who had
no patience for his son's frequent ques-
tions and disliked displays of emotions.
His only hobby was hunting, and "he
wanted me to be strong and invincible
Wollschlaeger said.
But Bernd always sensed darkness
about his father, and "I knew that was
something I was supposed to explore
he said.
This exploration first brought Bernd
Wollschlaeger to the German Jewish
community, and eventually to his deci-
sion to convert to Judaism and make
aliyah. In Israel, he served as a medical
officer with the IDF, and he married. In
his book, Wollschlaeger describes the
way in which his decision to become
Jewish ended his relationship with his
father, but Bernd says he never doubted
that he had made the right choice.
Wollschlaeger moved with his wife
(who was born in the United States) to
Florida, where he is now a family phy-
sician in private practice. He is active
with the American Jewish Committee
and takes frequent trips to Israel and
Germany, where he is making a TV
show about dealing with prejudice.
A great deal has changed in Germany
since he was a child, Wollschlaeger says.
The country underwent "a tremendous
transformation" and has become a place
where citizens are "dedicated to living
with the past" and engage in open dis-
cussion about the Holocaust.
Speaking the truth about hatred is
painful but ultimately the only way
to create a better life: "I say this as a
realist who understands that you can't
keep resentment and bitterness in your
heart:' ❑

To register for this event, visit
jewishdetroit.org/events.

I

Presented by World Heritage Foundation I

as well as

Wally Prechter Bank of America Shinola

Wednesday, September 17 at 6Pm
The Westin Book Cadillac, Detroit

Evening also features the premiere of
Detroit Public TV's fall season of programming

To purchase tickets, visit dptv.org/premierenight

or Contact Michelle Gaisser at 248.305.3739 or mgaisser@dptv.org

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September 4 • 2014

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