A hero decorated fighting for Germany in World War One and the USA in World War II

An intriguing little piece of  20th century history about a remarkable man.

The Jewish shopkeeper in this picture from Germany in 1933 is called Richard Stern - and he's wearing an Iron Cross awarded for serving in the German Army in World War One, while a Nazi thug stands guard outside his shop as part of a boycott of Jewish businesses.

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You can see from the wry smile of Richard Stern's face that the man had incredible guts. It's the brown shirt, not the shopkeeper, whose demeanour radiates fear and tension.

This post is taken from a tweet by Archaeo - Histories on X here which reprinted an article in the Jewish Observer.

After being awarded the prestigious Iron Cross for his service in the German army during World War I, Richard Stern was driven out of his home country by the Nazi regime.

MyHeritage’s Research team discovered records of him arriving at Ellis Island at the age of 40 in May 1939 — narrowly escaping the beginning of the war. 

In 1942, when Stern was 43 and not yet an American citizen, he enlisted in the U.S. Army to join the war efforts. And not only did he fight against the country he had once been decorated for defending, he was awarded a Silver Star in 1944: the third-highest combat award in the U.S. Army.

The research team discovered a newspaper clipping from The Long Island Star-Journal printed on July 6, 1944, describing his service: 

“The victim of German brutality, 45-year-old Sergeant Richard F. Stern, earned the Silver Star for gallantry in action during an assault Jan. 7 on the slopes of Mount Porchio when in the face of heavy enemy fire he addressed the Germans in their own tongue and demanded that they surrender, convincing them they were hopelessly outnumbered.”

Richard Stern did not have any children of his own, but his great-nephew Jack Romberg, a rabbi living in Florida, knew of his great-uncle’s actions in the war. He said that his uncle kept the Silver Star in a box at the bottom of a drawer in a back bedroom — but he did not keep the Iron Cross. Instead, he gave it to the U.S. Army, which was collecting metal to melt down and make into ammunition.

Yes, he had his Iron Cross melted down and turned into bullets to shoot at the Nazis.