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Henry Lea Obituary
AMHERST - Henry A. Lea, 92, passed away peacefully and surrounded by friends, in Amherst on April 4, 2013, after a long illness.
He was born in Berlin, Germany, on May 8, 1920. Both parents, the pianist Waldemar Liachowsky and the singer Paula Nivel, were professional musicians and Henry's first piano teachers, and so gave him his lifelong love of classical music.
In November, 1934, after the Nazis took power, he and his brother, Rudolph, immigrated to the United States, where they found a loving home in Philadelphia, thanks to the very first American effort to resettle German Jewish children. In 1938 he graduated as first honor man from Philadelphia's Central High School and won the Mayor's scholarship to the University of Pennsylvania.
Shortly after completing his bachelor's degree in 1942, he joined the U.S. Army, which assigned him to interrogate German prisoners of war in Belgium and Germany. He was one of the Ritchie Boys. On his birthday in 1945, he felt honored to help celebrate the Allied victory while serving in Germany in U.S. uniform.
In 1947/48 he became court interpreter and instantaneous translator at the Nuremberg war crimes trials, and in 1948/49 translator for the U.S. military government in Frankfurt. After returning to the U.S., he completed his doctoral studies in German literature at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1952 he accepted a professorship in the German Department of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he remained until 1986, when he retired from active teaching.
His scholarly work includes the notable book "Gustav Mahler: Man on the Margin" (1985), a study of the writer Wolfgang Hildesheimer (1997) who had been a fellow interpreter at the Nuremberg trials, and numerous papers on German-Jewish and musical topics.
He was predeceased by his wife, Charlene. He is survived by his brother, Rudolph, and his wife, Ruth, of Elkins Park, Pa.; two nephews, Joshua and David; niece Jennifer; and three grandnephews, Simon and Gabriel, and a grandniece, Angela, all with the surname of Lea.
A memorial gathering will take place in Amherst at the Amherst Woman's Club, 35 Triangle St., on Saturday, May 4, at 2 p.m.
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Memories and Condolences
for Henry Lea
3 Entries
Charles and Susan Alvanos
May 6, 2013
Our deepest sympathy to Henry's family. Henry was a good and kind man; the salt of the earth. May his memory be eternal.
Dashiell Young-Saver
April 16, 2013
Henry was inspirational to me as a friend, mentor, and man. To have lived through so much and to have come out so strong and kind serves as a testament to his fortitude. His keen mind, smile, and gentle soul will live on in our hearts. Wishing you the best through this time.
Kay Young
April 16, 2013
I am deeply saddened to learn of Henry's passing. Henry was a dear friend of my father, Stanley Young, and became a good friend to me after my dad's death in 2007. We shared many a coffee talking together about my dad, WWII, literature, politics, the past, our shared love of hot dogs. What a good friend Henry was to the whole Young family. My son Dashiell attended the 70th Reunion of the Ritchie Boys in Henry's stead, gathering materials about the gathering for Henry and having the chance of a lifetime to meet these other remarkable men and hear their stories. But no one was as remarkable as Henry--brilliant, gentle, deeply feeling--his was the sensibility of an artist who lived through the hardest losses and injustices. We will miss you so, Henry, our dear friend. In loving memory to you and your family, Kay Young and family
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