Occupation Businessman | Spouse(s) Adeline Roth | |
Born August 9, 1887 Oberbrechen, Germany Children Richard Morris Stern, Edward Stern Died 20 June 1980, Valley City, North Dakota, United States | ||
Herman Stern (August 9, 1887-June 20, 1980), humanitarian, social and economic activist, businessman, visionary and director of the North Dakota Winter Show, Holocaust rescuer.
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Early life
Born in Oberbrechen, Germany in 1887, Herman Stern immigrated to America in 1903, where he took work at the Straus Clothing store in Casselton, North Dakota, then managed the Straus businesses from his store in Valley City, North Dakota, where he lived 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, Stern managed to save the lives of over 125 German Jewish refugees by bringing them to the United States. He said little in later life about rescuing so many men and women from inevitable death in the Holocaust, noting only “they did not owe me anything.”
Civic and Fraternal Organizations
Herman Stern was inducted into the Casselton Lodge No. 3 of Freemasonry 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.
He was a member of Rotary International a service oriented organization.
He founded the Greater North Dakota Chamber, which promotes business development and North Dakota tourism, and developed the North Dakota Winter Show.
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, and led efforts to establish boy scout councils in Fargo, Valley City, Wahpeton and Grand Forks, which later merged into the Northern Lights Council. He started the fundraising campaign to build a regional camp for Boy Scouts, now known as Camp Wilderness.
Honors and Awards
In 1974 Herman Stern was awarded the Silver Buffalo Award, bestowed by the Boy Scouts of America in recognition of exceptional service to youth.
Boy Scout 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 Boy Scout troops for camp participation, and adherence to the twelve points of the Scout Law.
For his many achievements and contributions to the state, Stern was posthumously inducted into the Theodore Roosevelt Rough Rider Hall of fame in 2014 by North Dakota Governor Jack Dalyrmple.