“A Lad in Nazi Germany”

Part 2:  Surviving the War’s Aftermath

Thursday, June 18, 2017, at 6:30 p.m.

Highlands Museum & Discovery Center

Klaus Staerker was born in 1936, three years after Adolf Hitler, Chancellor of the Nazi Party, had come into power. Klaus and his family lived in Duisburg, Germany, a major logistical center in the Ruhr Valley – location of chemical and steel industries – that proved to be a critical target for Allied bombing during WWII. He and his family endured countless attacks, but were fortunate enough to survive. Klaus migrated to the United States in 1957 and two months later enlisted into the U.S. Army. He became a U.S. Citizen in 1960 and came to Ashland in 1970 to began a 22-year career at Armco Steel. Even today, 75 years later, Klaus is momentarily startled when flocks of birds pass overhead, as visions of American B-17 bombers have been permanently etched into his memory. His presentation will be in two parts – May 2017: “Surviving the Allied Bombing” and following in June 2017:  “Surviving the War’s Aftermath”