DECEMBER 21 • 2023 | 13
J
N

D

r. Günther “Guy” Stern 
of West Bloomfield — 
Holocaust survivor, 
WWII hero, esteemed scholar 
and cherished and indispens-
able member of 
The Zekeleman 
Holocaust Center 
(The HC) for 
over 20 years, has 
died. 
Stern passed 
away Dec. 7, 
2023, just a few 
weeks shy of his 
102nd birthday.
At the time of his death, 
he was the director of the 
International Institute of 
the Righteous at The HC in 
Farmington Hills. 
On Dec. 8, 101-year-old Guy 
Stern’s American flag-draped 
casket was laid to rest with 
military honors in Great Lakes 
National Cemetery in Holly, 
Michigan. Upon news of his 
passing, the flags at the town 
hall in Stern’s hometown of 
Hildesheim, Germany, were low-
ered to half-staff in his honor. 
While Hildesheim was the 
beloved home of the Stern fami-
ly, it is also where they eventual-
ly endured a storm of antisemi-
tism and violence, the outcome 
of which ultimately left Guy as 
the only one in his family to 
survive the Holocaust. For this 
reason, it is hard to imagine the 
flag ceremonies that took place 
both in America and Germany, 
could offer a more symbolic, 
yet bittersweet final chapter of 
this true American patriot and 
scholar.
Rabbis Michael Moskowitz 
and Daniel Schwartz of Temple 
Shir Shalom officiated at the 
services. Rabbi Schwartz offered 
opening prayers and Rabbi 
Moskowitz eulogized Stern. 
The members of the Jewish War 
Veterans, Dept. of Michigan 
in attendance walked in single 

file, each saluting Stern, as 
they honored their beloved 
comrade. Stern was a member 
of Michigan’s Lt. Raymond 
Zussman Post 135. 
In his eulogy, Rabbi 
Moskowitz said of Stern: “Guy 
knew his life was a blessing. He 
carried the lives of those whose 
lives were cut short, those of his 
own family, but really all that 
were lost in the Holocaust. 
“He made sure to do more 
than make the most of his days, 
of his years, but to shine the 
light of hope on our world, of 
goodness, of kindness, despite 
what we may see around us — 
to know we have a mission to 
bring light to the darkness.
”
Mark Lindke, the retired 
director of the Washtenaw 
County Dept. of Veterans 

Affairs, was also in attendance. 
Lindke befriended Stern in 
2011 and affectionately referred 
to himself as Guy’s Uber driv-
er, having driven him to and 
from the Lt. Col. Charles S. 
Kettles VA Medical Center in 
Ann Arbor at least 50 times for 

appointments.
“On those trips, he was a gift 
to me, and I felt like a student, 
one-on-one, with the consum-
mate professor,
” Lindke said. 
“My vehicle became a class-
room, and I learned something 
new every time.
”

continued on page 14

Alan 
Muskovitz
Contributing 
Writer

Guy Stern was honored as 
the “Veteran of the Game” 
at University of Michigan in 
October 2018.

Guy Stern (left) 
with fellow 
Ritchie Boys Lt. 
Walter Sears and 
Fred Howard in 
Germany on VE 
Day, May 8, 1945. 

MICHIGAN PHOTOGRAPHY

DEB FILLER

