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