Europe and the Soviet Union
Helmut Sonnenfeldt: From Nazi Germany to American Diplomacy
Escaped Berlin as a boy in 1938 and became Counselor of the Department of State.
- Fled
- Nazi Germany
- Status
- Refugee
- Arrived in the U.S.
- 1944
- Service
- Director, Office of Research on the USSR and Eastern Europe; Counselor of the Department of State (1974 to 1977)
- Region
- Europe and the Soviet Union
Helmut Sonnenfeldt was born in Berlin to Jewish parents, both physicians. He escaped to a school in England in 1938 and reached the United States as a refugee in 1944.
He joined the Department of State's research staff on the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe in 1952, later directed that office, and served as Counselor of the Department from 1974 to 1977.
Read the history behind this story on the Nazi Germany and Austria page, or browse all the diplomats.