GAINESVILLE – Speaking to 26 uniquely different groups in a dozen different locations in less than five days is enough to tire out any man…especially if that man is 87-years-old…and just drove to northeast Georgia by himself from New Jersey.
But that is exactly the sort of challenge Walter P. Blass enjoys. After surviving the onset of the holocaust in Nazi Germany as a child, the man of Jewish roots finds everything else in life much less challenging.
Blass spoke Tuesday evening on the Gainesville campus of the University of North Georgia as part of the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship Program. Blass referenced his youth fleeing the horrors of the holocaust, but prefers to speak on topics including globalization, immigration and technology.
The Woodrow Wilson Fellowship aims to better the understanding of connections between the academic and nonacademic worlds. UNG officials said Blass was their first choice as guest lecturer.
Blass said of all the things he has done in his life, teaching is his favorite experience. “I love the contact I have with the students. My approach is to respond to what the students say.”
Blass did mention that something his father told him while his family was hiding in Belgium prior to World War II had a profound impact on his future. “My father told me, ‘If you see a couple of German soldiers coming down the sidewalk, the last thing you can do is show fear. You have got to just keep going.’”
That advice never left him. He says he learned to adapt, press on and never show fear.
Blass spent his career after escaping to the United States with his family working in various aspects of U.S. foreign aid, including a stint in the Navy, and two years as Afghanistan Director for the Peace Corps. In his “spare” time he gave 25-years of service to AT&T followed by a professorship in the MBA program at Fordham University.
“I think the thing that makes the difference is the people who emigrate, that is who leave their home country, have more courage, more initiative, more willingness to face dangers,” Blass told the audience about his experience as a refugee.
He credits his ability to adapt as the source of his survival and success, even though he says he loves to speak his mind when not agreeing with the status quo.
Several dozen people listened intently as Blass shared his experiences, including Tom Sidwell of Villa Rica and friend Gracie Lane, a UNG student from Cumming.
“When we heard about the event we did some quick math and we don’t really have many more years when any survivors will be around,” said Sidwell.
Sidwell and Lane agreed, preserving the experiences of the past, even when atrocious in nature, cannot be discounted.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2017/11/605831/holocaust-survivor-immigrant-business-success-shares-his-life-lessons-at-ung