14 | DECEMBER 21 • 2023

A DEDICATED VETERAN
This past January, the Welcome
Center at the Lt. Col. Charles
S. Kettles VA Medical Center
in Ann Arbor was renamed the
Dr. Guy Stern Welcome Center.
The celebration took place on
the eve of Guy’s 101st birthday.
At the dedication ceremony
Stern expressed his affection for
the medical center: “It is in this
atmosphere I feel so fulfilled. I
feel so at ease. This is my home.
And there is a line from a song
about the U.S. armed services
and it says, ‘this was, and is, and
will be worth fighting for.
’ I am
proud to have received this gift
you have bestowed upon me.
”
Stern’s affiliation with the
Dept. of Veterans Affairs
extended to his support of
Fisher House Michigan. Fisher
House provides comfort homes
where military and veterans’
families can stay free of charge
on or near the campuses of VA
hospitals.
There is a Fisher House on
the campus of the VA Medical
Center in Ann Arbor and
construction on the Fisher
House to support the Dingell

VA Medical Center in Detroit
began in October with the
opening targeted for the fall of
2024.
Stern was a beloved and
valued adviser to the board
of directors of Fisher House
Michigan. In honor of his
memory for his many contribu-
tions, the organization on Dec.
13 unanimously elected Dr.
Stern as Director Emeritus.
So expansive has been his
life’s journey that Stern cap-
tured the attention of famed
documentarian Ken Burns.
He featured Guy prominently
in The U.S. and the Holocaust,
Burns’ six-hour PBS documen-
tary series on the American
response as war began in
Europe.
Stern’s membership as one
of the “Ritchie Boys,
” the elite,
secret U.S. intelligence unit who
fought in WWII, inspired a visit
to Detroit to interview Stern in
2021 by CBS’ 60 Minutes. More
on that later.
In his interview with CBS
journalist Jon Wertheim, Stern
said: “If you live long enough,
honors are being showered

upon you.
” Among his
numerous awards are the
Bronze Star, the Grand
Order of Merit and the
Goethe Medal from his
native Germany, and France’s
Knight of the Legion of Honor
Medal, for helping free France
during the war.

A DATE WITH DESTINY
Fifteen-year-old Guy Stern
faced growing antisemitism and
ostracism in 1937 Hildesheim,
Germany, even among those
that he called his closest boy-
hood friends. A foreshadowing
of what was to come, his father
chose his oldest son named
Günther to be the sole rep-
resentative of the family to
travel alone to the U.S. The
teenager faced a daunting task
— his mission upon arriving in
America was to secure sponsor-
ship and safe passage to the U.S.
for his family.
In November 1937, Günther
“Guy” Stern walked away from
his boyhood home at Hoher
Weg 26 in Hildesheim for the
last time. In preparation for his
departure, Guy’s parents hired

an English tutor in anticipation
of the challenges of the lan-
guage barrier their young son
would encounter.
Guy came to the United
States through the German
Jewish Children’s Aid organi-
zation as an unaccompanied
minor. He first set foot on
American soil in New York and
after a stop in Chicago eventu-
ally made his way to St. Louis.
There he had the good for-
tune of being able to stay with
his mother’s brother, Benno
Silberberg. Uncle Benno and
Aunt Ethel provided a stable
home environment and access
to a good high school.
Over the years, correspon-
dences documenting Guy’s
travels to America have sur-
faced by way of the YIVO
Institute for Jewish Research.
They kindly provided a Nov. 11,
1937, administrative letter from
which we can get a glimpse of
Guy’s personality and abilities.
It reads in part: “I want to tell

OUR COMMUNITY
COVER STORY

continued on page 16

continued from page 13

LEFT: Guy Stern (left) with
his younger brother, Werner,
and mother, Hedwig.
He was the only one of
his family to survive the
Holocaust.
RIGHT: Guy Stern when he
entered the U.S. Army.