Many people in Grand Rapids know Joseph Stevens as the founder of the graphics business, National Correct Color Service. What they might not know, however, is that prior to moving to Grand Rapids, the Poland native evaded Hitler's death camps by concealing his Jewish identity. At the same time, he helped lead underground raids against Nazi soldiers.
Stevens has recounted his experiences in a memoir entitled Good Morning, published by Grand Valley State University and due out in bookstores this month. He will debut the book with a reading at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 16, at Schuler Books & Music, 2660 28th St. SE. A reception and book signing will follow. All are open to the public.
Stevens first began telling his story in informal college lecture settings, including GVSU classes on the Holocaust taught by political science Professor William Baum. His lectures prompted GVSU President Arend D. Lubbers to establish the Joe Stevens Freedom Endowment in 1990, which is used to bring speakers to the university to discuss issues related to the human struggle for freedom.
When Lubbers received word of the manuscript Stevens wrote as a memoir for his sons, he determined it would become Grand Valley's first university-published book. GVSU English Department faculty involved in its publication are: department Chair Roger Gilles, who served as project coordinator; Associate Professor Rob Franciosi, editor; and Assistant Professor Dan Royer, production editor. Baum wrote the preface for the book.
Good Morning, 240 pages, is available at bookstores in mid-May. It is priced at $20 for hardcover and $10 paperback, with all proceeds going toward the GVSU Joe Stevens Freedom Endowment.
Production costs are underwritten by Hank Meijer, executive committee co-chair of Meijer, Inc.
On the book's jacket, Stevens explains that the title reflects his amazement every morning during World War II that he would live to see another day. The concentration camp Auschwitz claimed his mother, father and siblings living in Poland, but Stevens was able to escape to Lithuania and avoid capture by posing as a Catholic. He was so convincing that German soldiers passing by the fishery where he worked would speak to him of troop movements ¿ information that was valuable to the underground freedom movement Stevens was a part of.
An old photograph on the cover of Good Morning shows Stevens as a young man, laughing with his friends. The photo shows just how convincing Stevens' disguise was, said project coordinator Gilles: it was taken by a German officer.
The amazing thing was that the German soldier liked him so much that he actually returned to give him a copy of the picture, Gilles said. It indicates Joe Stevens' ability to play a role convincingly. That's basically how he survived the war.
Stevens' friends also believed him to be Catholic ¿ so much so that a priest asked him to teach Catechism classes. Meanwhile, Stevens was actively engaged in guerrilla raids against Hitler's armies.
In 1949, Stevens moved with his wife to Detroit where Stevens, a printer by education and family trade, began working for the National Lithographic Company. He moved to Grand Rapids and started National Correct Color Service in 1956.
