Gerd Schroth's Road from Child of Nazi Germany to American Citizen
The Road to Now
Benjamin Sawyer
4.8 • 628 Ratings
🗓️ 1 March 2021
⏱️ 55 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Nazi regime that came to power in Germany in 1933 unleashed the most brutal and comprehensive war that humanity has ever seen. The horrors of the Nazis and the destruction they left behind is something most of us learned about in history class, but for Gerd Schroth it is the story of his childhood. Born in Germany in 1938, Gerd came of age on the scorched earth left behind by the German war machine. Gerd's father had joined the Nazi party because he thought Hitler could restore Germany's greatness, but he bequeathed to his children a world in ruins.
Seventy-six years after the end of World War II, Gerd is still writing the story of his life. He is now an American citizen, and his children were born in the United States. Gerd has moved on from the tragedy of his youth, but he has never forgotten it. He has thought a lot about how his parents' generation and why they embraced the horrifying ideology of Nazism. He has found value in past traditions while abhorring the actions of his ancestors. And in doing this, he has built a much stronger legacy for future generations.
In this episode of The Road to Now, we revisit our 2017 episode in which Gerd shares his personal story of life as a child of Nazi Germany, refugee, immigrant, and now, American Citizen.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This podcast is in the loop, the Legion of Osiris Podcasts. |
| 0:03.9 | Osiris is creating a community that connects people like you |
| 0:06.8 | with live experiences and podcasts about artists and topics you love. |
| 0:11.6 | Get in the loop at Osirispod.com. |
| 0:24.6 | I'm Ben Sawyer, and this is the road to now. |
| 0:30.0 | Today we're re-airing an episode that we originally published in 2017. |
| 0:35.1 | We know a lot of people have recently joined and started listening and we're glad you're here. |
| 0:37.8 | And this episode was really one of our highlights from the first two years, I think. It's the story of Gertracht, who was |
| 0:42.9 | born in Nazi Germany, lived as a child through the horrors of the post-war Europe, grew up in |
| 0:51.8 | the landscape that was destroyed by Nazi Germany. And it's his story of how he |
| 0:57.6 | went from this really tragic beginning to an American citizen. He's one of us and he's he's |
| 1:04.3 | fantastic. I've had the benefit of getting to talk to him myself and he is really a gift. So I wanted to share this. |
| 1:12.6 | It's not our traditional episode. It's a bit different, but I think it really is a story |
| 1:17.4 | that is worth sharing. And so here we are this week sharing it with you. Now, before we get |
| 1:24.7 | started, I just want to give a shout out to our sponsors at La Cosecaca Coffee Roasters in Maplewood, Missouri. You guys know, a good cup of coffee can make a day better. And if a good cup of coffee can make a day better, then what can a great cup of coffee do? Check these guys out. La Coseca coffee. You can go to la Coseca coffee.com. That's L-A-C-O-S-E-C-H-A-C-O-F-F-E-E. |
| 1:51.0 | These guys have been our sponsors for years, and there is a reason that we are proud to have them |
| 1:55.2 | on board with us. It's because they make fantastic coffee. It's so good that people tweeted |
| 2:00.8 | us. They tag us an Instagram posts. |
| 2:03.0 | I get text messages from friends who learned about Laco Sacha from the road to now and are like, |
| 2:07.1 | this is as good as you said it was. You can't even imagine how amazing it is to have a sponsor |
| 2:11.3 | that you're this proud of. And if you want to know why, people go out of their way to tag us |
| 2:16.0 | and social media post or just even text me about this stuff, go to their website. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Benjamin Sawyer, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Benjamin Sawyer and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.