ROM DREYFUSS SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN
was bom as a gift to Hitler.''
Even though Liesel Appel has uttered this phrase many times, she is still overwhelmed by its magnitude.
Curled contentedly on the couch in her spacious, sun-splashed Jupiter home, she seems far removed from the evil legacy that haunts her sleep and tore apart her family. With her smooth skin, bri^t blue eyes and white-gold hair, she hardly appears old enou^ to be the dau^-ter of a Nazi war criminal. She has an air of childlike innocence and a ready smile that seems impossible after listening to her story.
Her recent conversion to Judaism makes her ordeal seem even more unlikely. But there is no denying the trath,
Liesel is the prized daughter of Adolf Hitler's Minister of Education Wilhelm Steffens. Her parents were so proud that they dedicated her to the Fuhrer shortly after she was bom. But, 54 years later, Liesel is an active
enced. Friends describe her as "eternally happy", "optimistic" and "inspiring." She lives in a white, two-storey, countiy home with her husband, Don, tiieir two dogs and a horse. She manages the Christian Dior cosmetics counter at Bloomingdale's and maintains a close relationship with her son, daughter, daughter-in-law and granddau^ter.
For years she lied about her background. Even her children and ex-husband believed her father was a hero who saved Jews during the war. But recently she has begun to come to temis with the ghosts of her past.
"I look back now for several reasons," Liesel said in a thick German accent. "I don't feel anymore that I have to fix the world. But I do think we have to fix ourselves."
further the Aryan ra<^.
The Steffens already had a 20-year-old son, Fritz, who was fighting in the German Navy. But Else Stefiens dutiMy underwent a painful operation to enable her to become pregnant again. The pregnancy was long and difficult, but the Steffens were delighted to fulfil their obligation to the Fuhrerland.
Hundr^ of influential Nazis, including Mr. Steffens' closest fHend, Erich Koch, attended Liesel's Teutonic name-giving ceremony in the Town Hall of Klingenberg. "Uncle Erich," as Liesel knew him, was later executed for the murder of500,000 Jews and Poles.
"Religion had been abolished and Hitler had placed himself as the onlv divine uower to be wor-
shiped,"' Liesel said. "My father brou^t a big picture of Hitler to the ceremony and I was proudly dedicated in front of all our
Jewish
It is difficult traces oi
first to find of anger and
Germany seemed perched on the brink of victory in World War n when Liesel was bom in 1941. Her parents, both almost 50 years old, had been told by doctors they could not bear another child. But Adolf Hitler, at the height of his power, decreed that all able-bodied Germans must
Prom that moment, Liesel was the darling of her community.
around her, Liesel's room was filled with beautiful clothes, l:KM5ks and toys. Once her father bmught her to the school where he served as h^dmaster to show
Aiyan girl" should be.
"I was very loved," Liesel said. "Ihad a very, very happy childhood."
Liesel seldom asked about the war, and her parents rarely discussed it in front of her. They taught her to proudly salute the German soldiers who marched daily throu^ the streets. But the smoky clouds and the smell of burning flesh that permeated the air were a mysteiy to her. She did not know the Jews existed since they had been evacuated from her town before she was bom.
Liesel's most vivid childhood memories are of long, rambling walks she took with her father through a nearby forest. He taught her about nature and invent^ little songs and &iiy tales to make her laugh. Yet he never failed to remind her she owed her existence to Adolf Hitler. It was her duty, Mr. Steffens said over and over again, to make sure Germany stayed strong.
"My father was my hero," Liesel said. "He was so tall and handsome and he exuded strength. He made me feel so special. I was convinced nothing bad could happen to me as long as he was around."
Mr. Steffens instilled a strong
sense of humanity in his daughter. Throughout her childhood, he brought destitute people into their home for food and warmth. "One German is just as good as another German," he would say when his wife complained about the dirty beggars seated comfortably in her best chairs.
"He did teach me a lot of things," Liesel said. "I had blocked all those good memories out for a long time, but I have to realize he made me who I am. I have to give him some credit for some of the good things I do."
For her first four years, Liesel continued to live a charmed life. Then the constant bombing suddenly stopped and different soldiers swarmed into town. liesel's stately home became the south-em headquarters of the American army. The Steffens barely packed a tiny suitcase tefore they were thrown out into the street. Mr. Steffens fled in the middle of the night on his bi^rcle to escape the Allied forces who were hunt-