Europe and the Soviet Union
Henry A. Kissinger: From Nazi Germany to American Diplomacy
Fled Nazi Germany with his Jewish family at fifteen and later led the Department of State.
- Fled
- Nazi Germany
- Status
- Fled persecution
- Arrived in the U.S.
- 1938
- Service
- 56th Secretary of State (1973 to 1977); National Security Advisor
- Region
- Europe and the Soviet Union
Henry Kissinger was born in Fürth, Germany. His Jewish family fled the state-sanctioned antisemitism of the Nazi regime in 1938, when he was fifteen, and found refuge in New York.
He served in the U.S. Army in World War II, became a Harvard professor, and was National Security Advisor before serving as the 56th Secretary of State from 1973 to 1977.
Read the history behind this story on the Nazi Germany and Austria page, or browse all the diplomats.