Herman Stern (August 9, 1887 – June 20, 1980) was an American humanitarian, social and economic activist, businessman, visionary and director of the

North Dakota Winter Show The North Dakota Winter Show is an agriculture and livestock show held in Valley City, North Dakota the first full week of every March. The Winter Show started in 1937 and now has an annual attendance of around 30,000 people. North Dakota's old ...

, and Holocaust rescuer.

Early life

Born in Oberbrechen, Germany in 1887, Herman Stern immigrated to America in 1903, at the encouragement of his uncle Morris G. Straus, owner of the Straus Clothing store in

Casselton, North Dakota Casselton is a city in Cass County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 2,479 at the 2020 census. making it the 20th largest city in North Dakota. Casselton was founded in 1876. The city is named in honor of George Washington Cass, ...

. After Straus purchased the former Sternberg store in

Valley City, North Dakota Valley City is a city in Barnes County, North Dakota, United States. It is the county seat of Barnes County. The population was 6,575 during the 2020 census, making it the 12th largest city in North Dakota. Valley City was founded in 1874. Val ...

, in 1908, Stern moved to Valley City in 1910 to assist in the management of that store. In 1912, he married Adeline Roth, the much younger sister of Straus' wife (and cousin of Sternberg's daughter). One by one, other members of the Straus family left North Dakota, leaving Stern as owner and manager of Straus Clothing by 1920. He would live in Valley City for the remainder of his life.

Holocaust rescuer

In the 1930s, with the aid of his wife Adeline and active cooperation from U.S. Senator

Gerald Nye Gerald Prentice Nye (December 19, 1892 – July 17, 1971) was an American politician who represented North Dakota in the United States Senate from 1925 to 1945. He was a Republican and supporter of World War II-era isolationism, chairing the Ny ...

, Stern managed to save the lives of over 140 German Jewish refugees by sponsoring them for visas (including finding them jobs), and making arrangements to bring them to the United States. He said little in later life about rescuing so many men and women from inevitable death in the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

, noting only "they did not owe me anything."

Civic and fraternal organizations

Herman Stern was inducted into the Casselton Lodge No. 3 of

Freemasonry Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

in 1908. In 1913, Mr. Stern became a member of the Valley City Lodge, and was a member of the

Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry (the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction in the United States often omits the ''and'', while the English Constitution in the United Kingdom omits the ''Scottish''), commonly known as simply the Sco ...

. He was a member of

Rotary International Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, prof ...

a service oriented organization. He founded the Greater North Dakota Chamber, which promotes business development and North Dakota tourism, and developed the

. He founded an organization called the Community Chest. The organization is the predecessor to the current United Way of Barnes County. He was also active with the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded i ...

, and led efforts to establish councils in Fargo, Valley City, Wahpeton and

Grand Forks Grand Forks is the third-largest city in the state of North Dakota (after Fargo and Bismarck) and the county seat of Grand Forks County. According to the 2020 census, the city's population was 59,166. Grand Forks, along with its twin city o ...

, which later merged into the

Northern Lights Council The Northern Lights Council of the Boy Scouts of America is the local Boy Scout council that serves all of North Dakota, parts of South Dakota, northwestern Minnesota, and northeast Montana. As of 2017, the Northern Lights Council delivers Scout ...

. In 1946, Stern started the fundraising campaign to build a regional camp for Scouting, today known as Camp Wilderness in

Hubbard County, Minnesota Hubbard County is a county in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 21,344. Its county seat is Park Rapids. Part of the Leech Lake Indian Reservation is in the county. History The co ...

Honors and awards

In 1974, Herman Stern was awarded the

Silver Buffalo Award The Silver Buffalo Award is the national-level distinguished service award of the Boy Scouts of America. It is presented for noteworthy and extraordinary service to youth on a national basis, either as part of, or independent of the Scouting pro ...

, bestowed by the

in recognition of exceptional service to youth. Camp Wilderness created an award named after Herman Stern, in recognition of his funding and creation efforts for the camp. The Herman Stern Honor Troop Award is given to troops at the end of each week of camp during the summer season. The award is given to Scouts BSA troops for camp participation, and adherence to the twelve points of the

Scout Law Scout Law is a set of codes in the Scout movement. Since the publication of '' Scouting for Boys'' in 1908, all Scouts and Guides around the world have taken a Scout Promise or oath to live up to ideals of the movement, and subscribed to the Scou ...

. For his many achievements and contributions to the state, Stern was posthumously inducted into the

Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award The Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Award is an award presented by the governor of the state of North Dakota. It is bestowed upon prominent North Dakotans. Recipients ''Note: date in parentheses indicates date of award'' * Lawrence Welk, enterta ...

in 2014 by North Dakota Governor

Jack Dalrymple John Stewart Dalrymple III (born October 16, 1948) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 32nd Governor of North Dakota from 2010 to 2016. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 36th Lieutenant Governo ...

Documentary film

In 2017, Video Arts Studio of Fargo, North Dakota, produced ''The Mission of Herman Stern'', a documentary film about Herman Stern's efforts to rescue 125 Jews from Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 1940s. The film was directed by Art Phillips and includes the stories of several people who were rescued by Herman. Congressman Earl Pomeroy discusses the role that Senator Gerald Nye played in helping Herman Stern secure visas. Historian Carl Oberholtzer describes life in the United States and Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 1940s. The filmmakers hope to have the film added to the school curriculum across North Dakota.

Early life

Holocaust rescuer

Civic and fraternal organizations

Honors and awards

Documentary film

References

Further reading