A German Boy and the Scenic Drive – Memorial April 9th

Posted By Les Conklin on Mar 31, 2016

As published in A Peek at the Peak Magazine, May 2014

By Les Conklin

Sad note from author. Horst Berkner passed away yesterday, January 20, 2016, after a two-year battle with cancer.

Update. On January 25th, Horst’s family posted the message below on his Facebook page. Since some readers, who knew Horst,  are not on Facebook, I’ve posted the message below.  GPPA’s board is considering ways that we can ensure that Horst is remembered. Meanwhile, The Peak will be publishing a more detailed article about Horst in the near future.

Here is the Berkner family message. We cannot thank them enough for their generosity.  Les

“To all of Horst’s friends. On Jan 20th we lost a very wonderful part of our family. Dad died due to complications from pancreatic cancer. He was at peace at the end. Arrangements have not yet been made. Dad was heavily involved in The Greater Pinnacle Peak Association and in lieu of flowers or the suck we would recommend donations to the GPPA. 8711 E. Pinnacle Peak Road. #123. Scottsdale, AZ 85255. Thank you all for your friendship to Dad and his extended family over the years.”

The family has announced that a memorial service will be held on Saturday, April 9th at 10:30 a.m. at the Holy Redeemer Cemetery. The cemetery is located at 23015 N. Cave Creek Road, Phoenix, AZ 85024.

***

Volunteer Horst Berkner created replica of original Scenic Drive entry sign and other volunteers created visitor exhibits

Most area residents appreciate the fact that they live in a beautiful place that provides a comfortable quality of life. But nobody appreciates that more than Horst Berkner, a former World War II refuge, and long-time Friends of the Scenic Drive volunteer. For more than a decade, it’s been Berkner who has created many of the plant exhibit signs that you see along the Scenic Drive.

Horst experienced boyhood in war-ravaged Germany during the final terrifying months of World War II. In 1945 Horst’s family was forced to flee their German home in a small town, escaping just ahead of the Russian army’s arrival. Prior to that escape, Horst recalls a fighter plane strafing a large group of women and children as they headed to the woods seeking shelter from bombs. Through rubble and suffering, the family made it to the American zone. Horst’s father, an engineer working on advanced German aeronautical systems was brought to America along with other scientists and engineers, including Werner Von Braun. Other German engineers were not as fortunate and were kidnapped by the Russians. Horst, his mother and his siblings, like other German refuges in the American zone, endured a constant and sometimes desperate search for food, warmth, and shelter, until they could immigrate to America. For years, in many ways, they were outcasts in their own country. The family settled in Connecticut. Horst finished high school, earned an engineering degree by attending night school for seven years, and raised a successful American family.

Horst Berkner told the author about this book, some parts of which describe a wartime experience similar to his.

Berkner and his late wife, Barbara, became active in Friends of the Scenic Drive in 1996. He has been involved in numerous Scenic Drive projects, including re-vegetation of area near the north entry sign, creation of a replica for the Cave Creek Museum of the original entry sign, helping to plan and manage litter pickups, and assisting with membership. Horst has served on GPPA board since Friends became a division of GPPA in 2005. A retired senior engineering manager with a defense contractor, Horst is a resident of north Scottsdale.

The next time you are driving along Scottsdale Road and notice one of the roadside plant exhibits, think of Horst Berkner and the quality of life we all enjoy.

Author’s Note. I highly recommend “German Boy: A Refugee’s Story” by Wolfgang W. E Samuel with a forward by Stephen E. Ambrose. Samuel is about the same age as Horst and lived through many of the same inhumane and debilitating experiences during and following World War II. The book is written from the perspective an 8 years-old boy.