Ziefle, Helmut W. 1939–

(Helmut Wilhelm Ziefle)

PERSONAL: Born April 2, 1939, in Heilbronn-Sontheim, Germany; immigrated to the United States, 1956, naturalized citizen, 1964; son of George (a sales representative and chauffeur) and Maria (a seamstress and homemaker) Ziefle; married Christa Lembeck (an administrative assistant), September 11, 1965; children: Helmut Mark. Ethnicity: "Caucasian." Education: State University of New York at Albany, B.A., 1964, M.A., 1966; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Ph. D., 1973.

ADDRESSES: Home—Woodbury, MN. E-mail—hziefle@comcast.net.

CAREER: High school German teacher in Bethlehem, PA, 1965–67; Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL, instructor, 1967–72, assistant professor, 1972–77, associate professor, 1977–82, professor of German, 1982–2001, professor emeritus, 2001–, director of "Wheaton in Germany" program, 1977–97. German Evening School, Wheaton, president, 1978–80. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, scholar in residence, 1979.

MEMBER: North American Association of Christian Foreign Language and Literature Faculty, American Association of Teachers of German (president of Northern Illinois chapter, 1989–91), Illinois Foreign Language Teachers Association.

AWARDS, HONORS: Goethe House Certificate of Merit Award, American Association of Teachers of German, 1992.

WRITINGS:

Sibylle Schwarz: Leben und Werk (title means "Sibylle Schwarz: Life and Work"), Bouvier (Bonn, Germany), 1975.

(Editor) Sibylle Schwarz, Deutsche Poetische Gedichte (title means "German Poetic Poems"), Lang (Billings, MT), 1980.

One Woman against the Reich, Bethany House (Minneapolis, MN), 1981, updated edition published as One Woman against the Reich: The True Story of a Mother's Struggle to Keep Her Family Faithful to God in a World Gone Mad, Kregel Publications (Grand Rapids, MI), 2003.

Dictionary of Modern Theological German, Baker Book House (Grand Rapids, MI), 1982, 2nd edition, 1992.

(Compiler and editor) Theological German: A Reader, Baker Book House (Grand Rapids, MI), 1986.

(Editor) Herman Hesse und das Christentum, R. Brockhaus Verlag (Wuppertal, Germany), 1994.

Modern Theological German: A Reader and Dictionary, Baker Book House (Grand Rapids, MI), 1997.

Contributor to periodicals, including Christianity Today and Pommern.

One Woman against the Reich was translated into French, German, and Spanish.

SIDELIGHTS: Helmut W. Ziefle once told CA: "I believe that cooperation between America and Germany is vital for the survival of our western culture. We must do everything we can to strengthen the ties between the two countries and keep the public informed about past and present developments. My family biography One Woman against the Reich was a step in that direction. Unless we learn from the mistakes of the past, history might very well repeat itself."

The subject of Ziefle's book One Woman against the Reich is his mother. He told CA about her: "It was my mother who kept the family together during the Third Reich with her strong faith in God and a total commitment to Judeo-Christian values. She has taught me with her life the true meaning of discipleship under great adversity and difficult circumstances."