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Photographs: Gift of Ruth Mermelstein, Yaffa Eliach
Collection donated by the Center for Holocaust
Studies, Museum of Jewish Heritage, New York, U.S.A.
Gift of Eric S. Morley, Museum of Jewish Heritage,
New York, U.S.A. Gift of Ronnie Hamburger Burrows,
Museum of Jewish Heritage, New York, U.S.A.
1712960
14 October 27 • 2011
Guy Stern and Susanna Piontek say they are meant to be together.
Beshert
A chance meeting inspires a love story
and a literary collaboration.
| Ronelle Grier
| Contributing Writer
T
he stories Susanna Piontek
writes are filled with surprises,
but the love story of the author
and her husband of five years, Guy Stern,
may be the most compelling of all. It has
the elements of a bestseller: a chance
meeting in a small German town, a powerful and instantaneous connection, a
new life in an unfamiliar country. Not to
mention an age difference of 41 years.
Piontek, 48, will speak at the Jewish
Community Center Jewish Book Fair on
Wednesday, Nov. 9, about her book, Have
We Possibly Met Before? And Other Stories,
which was translated from German by
Stern, 89, and published earlier this year.
When the couple met in 2004, Stern
was a widower; his wife of 25 years had
died the year before. Piontek, who had
been married briefly several years earlier, was living on her own in Saarland,
located in southwestern Germany.
Both had been invited to speak at
a program at the public library in the
small German town of Minden. The
night before Stern met his future bride,
he told a group of friends he was ready
to stop mourning his late wife and
begin a new relationship.
“The next day we met,” Piontek said.
“It was meant to be.”
Piontek was impressed when she
heard Stern’s lecture, but had no immediate romantic feelings.
“He had a marvelous voice; I just love
his voice,” she said, “and he had so much
energy and charisma — the whole
audience was taken with him.”
Only later, when they were seated
near each other at a reception did their
mutual attraction begin to surface.
Before long, they were sharing Jewish
jokes, singing songs by German-Jewish
composer Kurt Weill and discussing literature, opera and art.
“We talked for three hours,” she said.
“For both of us, it was a very special
moment. I remember very vividly the
way we looked at each other and smiled.
My heart was bumping. It was unbelievable; I’d never felt that way before.”
Before leaving the next morning for
Amsterdam, Stern invited Piontek to
breakfast. “We sat down, and he took my
hands in his and said, ‘I love you.’ And
that was the beginning,” she said.
Love Blossoms
Their meeting was prophetic in more
ways than one. Piontek gave Stern a
copy of what she considered her “most
important” story, “In the Family Way.”
He thought it was outstanding and
passed it on to a friend in publishing
who asked if she had any more. The
German version of Have We Possibly Met
Before? And Other Stories was published
in 2005.
Soon Stern met Piontek’s mother, who
approved of her daughter’s choice.
“She said it was wonderful to see the
two of us so happy, but that he would
have been too old for her,” Piontek
laughed. Stern was 14 years older than
his future mother-in-law.
Once they began making plans, it
became clear Piontek would be the one
to relocate. Stern was devoted to his
work at the Holocaust Memorial Center
Zekelman Family Campus in Farmington
Hills, where he serves as director of the
center’s International Institute of the
Righteous. Piontek, a freelance writer,
agreed to move but was reluctant to leave
her mother, who had become critically ill.
From her hospital bed, Piontek’s mother
conveyed her last wish: that her daughter
go to the United States and marry Guy
Stern. Piontek complied. They were married by Rabbi Dannel Schwartz at Temple
Shir Shalom on May 11, 2006. Four days
after the wedding, Piontek’s mother died.
The first year was challenging, despite
the couple’s romantic beginnings.
Piontek found comfort and friendship at Temple Shir Shalom, where she
remains an active participant.
“They took me in as a lost child,” she
said. “[The congregation] has become
like a family to me.”
Shir Shalom Rabbi Michael
Moskowitz said, “Susanna Stern has
made her presence felt from the day she
and Guy walked in. The literary lens and
her unique background she brings to
our Torah discussions are appreciated
by us all, but I think what we enjoy most
is how she and her husband always
advocate for one another. The respect
and reverence they show for each other
is inspiring.”
Support at Shir Shalom contributed
to Piontek’s decision to convert to
Judaism. In Germany, she studied many
religions but was always attracted to
Jewish teachings and culture.
“I always felt I had a Jewish soul,” she
said.
The Sterns are a two-shul family. He
goes with her to the weekly tish (discussion) at Shir Shalom, and he belongs
to Reconstructionist Congregation
T’Chiyah in Oak Park.
“Guy says that because of me, he’s
become more Jewish,” said Piontek.
Good Life Together
Piontek says the couple’s age difference plays no role in their daily lives,
although she is occasionally mistaken
for Stern’s daughter.
“I don’t have half of his energy,” she
said. “I was always afraid that when I
turned 44, he would exchange me for
two 22-year-olds. He gets up every day
at 5 in the morning to swim.”
Stern says the qualities he most
admires about his wife are her honesty,
her reliability and her sense of humor,
which is similar to his own.
“It is a constant intellectual challenge,
and it is a wonderful exchange of common emotions ranging from sadness to
absolute happiness; also we reinforce
each other’s interests and hobbies and
new explorations,” said Stern.
“We are a good team,” she said. “We
laugh a lot.”
Professionally, the author uses
Piontek, the name of her former husband; otherwise she goes by Stern, a
name she likes because it is the German
word for “star.”
Although Piontek speaks English
fluently, at home she and her husband
speak German, which is also Stern’s
native language.
During a recent trip to Europe,
Piontek made arrangements for the
publication of her new book, which
is scheduled for release next year in
Germany. Stern has already translated
some of the stories for an upcoming
English version.
He said that when he is translating his
wife’s work, he was surprised by the endings to her stories. After he finishes translating, they review each story together.
“I’m very critical,” said Piontek, “but
all in all, he did a great job, and I’m
grateful for his help.”
A worrier by nature, Piontek says she
tries not to fret about the future.
“I’m grateful for every year I have
with him,” she said. “One never knows
— I just try to enjoy what I have right
now and count my blessings. He is
my family, and I am his. We are best
friends.” ■
Susanna Piontek will speak about her book
“Have We Possibly Met Before? And Other
Stories” at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 9, at the
JCC in West Bloomfield and 7:30 p.m. at the
JCC in Oak Park. (See Book Fair/Holocaust
on page 49.)
ALL-YOU-CAN-SEE
BUFFET.
Friday Night Live!
The Aerial Angels conjure up their dark side with a special Halloween
performance on the aerial hoop and silk, including acrobatics,
fire eating, and more. Performances at 7:00 and 8:30 p.m.
Family Sundays
Explore the artists whose works haunt the galleries.
Follow the trail in the printed map to spaces featuring eerie
lighting, sounds in the dark, and secret-spilling guides.
Sunday Music Bar
Mexican flutist Cuauhtemoc Garcia Verdugo and
Bulgarian pianist Angelina Pashmakova perform at
1:00 and 3:00 p.m., part of a series of concerts by musicians
from Mexico. Sponsored by the Consulate of Mexico.
Now on View
Detroit Revealed: Photographs 2000-2010
All events are free with museum admission.
Find info at www.dia.org.
Sh’ma! Detroit
Day of learning uses prayer’s unifying power.
M
ore than 50 congregations and Jewish organizations have signed on to
support “Sh’ma! Detroit. Learning.
Together,” an event on Sunday, Nov. 6, at
the Jewish Community Centers in West
Bloomfield and Oak Park.
Sponsored by Federation’s Alliance for
Jewish Education, FedEd Department,
the Jewish Community Center’s
60th Annual Jewish Book Fair and
SAJE (Seminars for Adult Jewish
Enrichment), this is the second annual
community day of Jewish learning and
is tied into the international Global Day
of Learning.
Sh’ma is the first word of what is considered the most important of all Jewish
prayers; it is also the Hebrew word for
“listen.” The theme for this year’s community day of learning is the unity of
the Jewish people through the Sh’ma
— being one people. Through speakers,
workshops and activities, participants
will explore the many meanings of Sh’ma.
Sh’ma! will kick-off at 12:45 p.m.
Nov. 6 at the JCC in West Bloomfield
with keynote speaker Rabbi Joseph
Telushkin, followed by workshops featuring area rabbis, educators, community leaders and activists.
The event then will move to the JCC
in Oak Park with additional workshops,
followed by endnote speaker Rabbi
Beryl Wein.
This year, 22 workshops offer topics
ranging from music and art to history,
Bible studies and anti-Semitism. New this
year are workshops for parents learning
new tools for getting their toddler to bed,
techniques for dealing with their child’s
challenging behavior, and for developing a
model for listening to their teenager.
A special session, “Who We Are —
Listening to Our Voices,” will feature
students from Frankel Jewish Academy.
Sue Birnholtz and Cheryl Guyer are
co-chairs of the event.
Cost is $6 registration fee, free for high
school and college students with a current ID. Register by Nov. 2 and receive a
$5 coupon toward any one item at the
Jewish Book Fair. Walk-ins are welcome
and workshops are “first come, first
seat.” To register, go to jewishdetroit.org/
shma or call (248) 642-1643. ■
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October 27 • 2011
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