Spalek, Dr. John

HAVERFORD, Pa.

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Dr. John Spalek passed away peacefully on June 5, 2021, in Haverford, Pa.

John was born on July 28, 1928, in Warsaw, Poland. After his parents’ death, he was sponsored to emigrate to Montana in 1949 where he worked in a lumber mill. He then decided to pursue a college degree, and after graduating as valedictorian from Whitworth College in Spokane in 1954, John received a PH.D. in Germanic studies at Stanford in 1961.He came to SUNYA as chairman of the German Department in 1970 where he stayed for the remainder of his career.

He was a pioneer in the field of exile studies, working for 40 years to preserve the memory and documentation of the German-speaking emigration to the United States from 1933-1945. He edited a number of works that are now standards, including Deutschsprachige Exilliteratur seit 1933 in nine volumes, and his multivolume Guide to the Archival Materials of the Germanspeaking emigration to the United States after 1933. He continued his work on exiles in his retirement, partnering with the German National Library in Frankfurt, Germany, as well as the University at Albany, to locate and establish collections of scholarly materials from Germanspeaking exiles in the USA at both institutions.

In 2010, he was presented with the Goethe Medal in Weimar, Germany. In 2012, he was the subject of a documentary of his emigre work, Die Koffer des Herrn Spalek (The Suitcases of Professor Spalek), directed by Gregor Eppinger.

John had a long and productive life of incredible drive and dedication. He was known as a mentor and friend to many. He is survived by his daughter Anne and son-in-law Mark; son Frederick; and grandsons Caleb and Walker.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his name to the American Red Cross.