Looking Back

From the William Davidson Digital Archive of Jewish Detroit History 

accessible at thejewishnews.com

62 | DECEMBER 14 • 2023 J
N

Love Him or Hate Him
H

enry Kissinger died on Nov. 
29, 2023, at the age of 100. 
Kissinger led a remarkable life 
and, like many prominent people, he 
was a highly controversial figure within 
his lifetime. Indeed, for many observers, 
Kissinger was a great 
diplomat who did a lot 
of good in the world. For 
others, he was the devil 
incarnate, responsible for a 
lot of evil deeds. 
It is indisputable, 
however, that Kissinger 
was one of those rare 
individuals who had a 
meaningful impact on world affairs. He 
gets credit for the policy of détente with 
the Soviet Union, the beginnings of 
formal diplomatic relations with China 
and his practice of “shuttle diplomacy” 
in the Middle East, which helped end 
the Yom Kippur War and laid the 
groundwork for the 1979 Israel-Egypt 
peace treaty. 
Although Kissinger negotiated 
the end of American involvement in 
the Vietnam War, he supported the 
war until the end … as well as secret 
bombings in nearby southeast Asian 
territories. Some observers consider 
him to be responsible for thousands 
of deaths — that he was immune to 
the human costs of his policies. Just 
read a few of his obituaries to see the 
contrasting views. 
Born Heinz Alfred Kissinger 
in Germany, he and his Jewish 
family escaped the Nazis in 1938. 
They immigrated to the U.S. where 
Kissinger’s name was changed to the 
less-Teutonic-like Henry. Kissinger 
became an American in 1943, which he 
called the “most significant event of his 
life.”
There is no shortage of Kissinger 
in the William Davidson Digital 
Archive of Jewish Detroit History. He 

is mentioned on 1,592 pages 
in the Archive; 1,196 times 
in the 1970s, or about twice 
per weekly issue of the JN. 
This was during his heyday as 
U.S. secretary of state for the 
presidential administrations 
of Richard Nixon and 
Gerald Ford, 1969-1977, and 
his efforts to bring peace 
settlements to the Middle East. 
The first mention of 
Kissinger is in the Jan. 5, 1962, 
JN. The headline reads “Kennedy 
Advisor [Kissinger] Gives Opinion 
that Soviets Endanger Mid-East 
Peace.” This is the first indication 
that, for the rest of his life, global 
leaders would listen to Kissinger’s 
ideas and advice.
By the 1970s, Kissinger was a 
well-known American statesman. 
An article in the Sept. 28, 1973, JN, 
states that “Kissinger’s Maiden UN 
Speech as Secretary of State Draws 
Israel Praise.” In fact, a reader who 
just studies the JN from the 1970s 
will gain serious knowledge about 
Kissinger’s activities on behalf of the 
American government.
The fact that Kissinger was 
Jewish, however, did not always 
seem to matter to him. As an older 
statesman, he often appeared to 
minimize his Jewish roots and the 
Nazi menace that he and his family 
faced in Germany. For example, 
see “Escape from Memory,” about 
Kissinger and his Jewishness in 
Walter Isaac’s biography of him (Jan. 
1, 1993).
Another aspect of Kissinger is 
literary. There are dozens of books 
about Kissinger, and Kissinger himself 
wrote dozens of books about his ideas, 
policies and history, even the impact of 
AI. His last book was published just a 
year ago.

To the end of his life, at 100 years old, 
Kissinger was a font of ideas and his 
opinions on modern global affairs were 
respected. Love him or hate him, Henry 
Kissinger had a deep impact upon our 
modern world. 

Want to learn more? Go to the DJN archives, 
available for free at thejewishnews.com.

Mike Smith
Alene and 
Graham Landau 
Archivist Chair

