Holocaust author brings history alive

By Traci Storti Wilde
Special to the Pioneer Times
    Houlton residents and Houlton High students were invited to attend special presentations last week, when author Hubert Kueter journeyed north to promote his new book, “My Tainted Blood.”
Contributed photo/Traci Storti Wilde
GUEST SPEAKER — Hubert Kueter chats with event coordinator Tim Tweedie after the student presentation last week at Houlton High School.
    Kueter is a man of many faces. As he quietly approached the microphone, both body language and overall demeanor suggested that this will be a Holocaust story devoid of rancor. And so it was.
    In “My Tainted Blood”, the author recounts tales still vivid in his memory. His memory, however, is set in the devastating era of Nazi Germany. To make matters worse, he is half Jewish, a perilous trait at that time.
    The overall premise of the book and the presentations is that Kueter’s mother, a Jew by blood and Protestant by baptism, made young Kueter promise to hide this dangerous part of his heritage. He was to forever claim the Aryan birthright left to him by his father, and to be Reynard the Fox, a children’s character who, despite difficulties, always managed to procure his survival.
    Much of Kueter’s life is inextricable from that of his mother, a woman he claims “always had one foot in a concentration camp.” One of the more poignant moments at both presentations, however, was the sad recollection of Kueter’s grandmother. A vigilant woman, he tells of her struggle wearing the Star of David and her final desperate act.
VISITING AUTHOR — Holocaust author and Colby College professor Hubert Kueter also took time to make an unscheduled stop at the Cary Library to meet with the local book club. Since they had already read “My Tainted Blood”, their questions were different from those of the general audience.
    “She knew what was awaiting her,” explained the author. “[My mother] had been the wife of an Aryan and had a half-Aryan child. My presence kept her out of a concentration camp.” Kueter’s grandmother had no such protection. He simply stated that around 1941 “she received notice that she would have to report to the station carrying just a little suitcase.” Since everyone knew what that meant — impending death — she gathered a lethal dose of drugs and committed suicide. This act, according to Kueter, was common among Jews facing concentration camps.
    Kueter’s story has forever put a face on Germany’s Nuremberg Laws. He explained the concepts of rations and many anti-Semitic laws intended to persecute or simply harass those with Jewish blood. “To be Jewish meant that I would be disliked, people would discriminate against me, my playmates might turn against me, and I would be sort of ostracized,” said Kueter. This lesson he learned at the impressionable age of 4.
    Houlton High School teacher Wendy Lewis attended the student presentation. “It seemed like the students enjoyed the presentation; they were very attentive,” noted Lewis. “He had some very interesting historical insights that many of us wouldn’t have known,” she added.
    In addition to his scheduled engagements, Kueter also took time to make an unscheduled stop at the Cary Library to meet with the local book club. Since they had already read “My Tainted Blood”, their questions were different from those of the general audience.
    Frannie Grant, a member of the book club, noted the importance of Kueter’s message. “What was important was to let people realize that not all young people were involved in the Nazi youth, and that it was a big point of survival for him to hide his tainted blood,” reflected Grant. “I think people of my generation look at Germans as involved in the Nazi regime. There were people there who were outside of that and were just trying to survive.”
    Since Kueter’s message is still timely today, the HHS Civil Rights team is planning follow-up activities during the school year.
    Kueter, now retired, is a longtime professor of German literature and language at Colby College in Waterville.