N.D. Businessman, community and social leader, Holocaust Rescuer
Born in Germany in 1887, Herman Stern immigrated to America in 1903, where he took work at the Straus Clothing store in Carrington. Stern later managed the Straus’ North Dakota businesses from his store in Valley City, where he lived for the remainder of his life. In addition to his businesses, charitable work and support of the Boy Scouts, Stern developed the North Dakota Winter Show. In the 1930s, with the aid of his wife Adeline and active cooperation from U.S. Senator Gerald Nye, Mr. Stern managed to bring more than 125 Jewish refugees out of Germany and into new lives in 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.” For his many achievements and contributions to the state, Stern was inducted into the Roughrider Hall of Fame in 2014.
