By Scott D. Johnston
Longtime Ocean Shores resident Arnold Samuels and former Daily World editor and publisher John C. Hughes will team up for a book signing at Ocean Shores Public Library Friday, Jan. 20, from 2-3 p.m.
Samuels’ remarkable life story is featured in the new book that Hughes co-authored, “Washington Remembers World War II.” The meticulously researched volume compellingly documents the lives of a dozen Washingtonians who served in the conflict, including a home-front “Rosie the Riveter” from Aberdeen, and an air crew sergeant from Copalis Crossing who went on to become state auditor.
Samuels and Hughes, now the chief historian for the Secretary of State’s oral-history program, will autograph copies of the book.
Hughes says Samuels’ life story is “one of the most riveting” he has encountered in a 50-year career as a writer.
In Hughes’ book, Samuels recalls how his family escaped the Nazis in 1937 and how he returned as an Army GI, helping liberate those imprisoned at the concentration camp at Dachau. After the war, Samuels served with the Counter Intelligence Corps and searched for military criminals. During this time, he worked with a 22-year-old sergeant named Henry Kissinger, who later became the U.S. secretary of state under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford and received the Nobel Peace Prize.
“Honestly,” Hughes said, “I keep expecting to hear from Arnold that Steven Spielberg just called. His story is so cinematic — and it’s all true: Influential American relatives help rescue a Jewish family from the impending Holocaust. … When the U.S. finally enters the war against fascism, Arnold … helps liberate the horrific concentration camp at Dachau. At war’s end, Samuels and Henry Kissinger are assigned to weed out hard-core Nazis and help establish a new civilian government.
“That two young German Jews returned to their homeland as liberators with the U.S. Army says something special about justice and the American experience. Members of ‘The Greatest Generation’ don’t get much greater than Arnold Samuels, if you ask me. And thousands of people on the Harbor can testify to his public spirit and generosity.”
Among many achievements, Samuels is a former Ocean Shores City Council member and one of the founders of the city’s all-volunteer radio station, KOSW 91.3 FM.
“I’ve known John for 20 years,” Samuels said. “He’s been wanting to do this book for a long time. I think he did a great job.”
Samuels said that the horrific, “un-understandable” experiences of growing up during the rise of Hitler and the Nazis in Germany haunt him even today.
“I still have some sleepless nights,” he said. “I was only a 14-year-old kid. I didn’t understand what was going on until after the war. As a kid, it was a hell of a damn experience.”
Two others profiled in Hughes’ book have Grays Harbor roots: the late Robert Graham, longtime state auditor, who grew up at Copalis Crossing, and Regina Tollfeldt, a Boeing ‘Rosie’ who headed the Vocational Rehabilitation office in Aberdeen for years.
The book will be available for purchase at the Library’s signing event.
The book signing event comes as Samuels is preparing to start another chapter in his long and fascinating life: he is leaving the home on Bass Avenue that he and his late wife, Phyllis, built 32 years ago.
“I hate to leave this house,” he said, but “I’ve fallen three times over three months. Everybody has been urging me to move … it’s time.” He is relocating to the Brookdale Ocean Shores assisted living facility at 1020 Catala Ave. SE. He assured his many friends in the area that he intends to stay active and involved in the community, simply from a new home.
