Dorette “Dorothea” Hertha Kersten Schlidt was born on April 16, 1921, in Stargard, Pomerania (Germany) to parents Gustav and Bertha Kersten. Schlidt had a pleasant childhood in Stargard, the third-largest and one of the most thriving municipalities in western Pomerania. A few months after Schlidt’s 18th birthday, Germany invaded Poland. This historical event marked the beginning of World War II (WWII), a global conflict that changed Schlidt’s life forever. Despite the early challenges of the war, Schlidt was formally educated in business school and worked in a law office before taking on a special assignment in Peenemṻnde, Germany. There, she was hired as Wernher von Braun’s secretary, a position she held until WWII ended. Schlidt’s diaries from this time period provide a glimpse into her life as a 21-year-old secretary for von Braun, a German aerospace engineer who later became the first Director of the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama. The diary entry describes the events of Aug. 17-18, 1943, when Schlidt returned to her office after-hours to complete a work project before heading home shortly before midnight, only to witness the horrors of war first-hand. The account is quite poignant in describing the sudden air-raid sirens and detonation of bombs that left Schlidt’s home and many other buildings destroyed. “Standing outside, I am petrified: F i r e, F i r e everywhere, wherever I look it’s F i r e – what a horrible beauty!” she wrote. Although they were in great danger, Schlidt and von Braun worked together to rescue “secret documents” at risk of total loss in the immediate aftermath of the British air strikes. “The building is a mass of cracking flames, a constant roaring and crashing,” Schlidt said of the experience. “…Laden with secret papers, I run up and down the stairs several times until I can keep going no longer.” A few weeks later, Schlidt received the Kriegsverdienstkreuz II, also known as the War Merit Cross – Second Class, for her service and valiance. A 2021 piece by WAFF 48 News reveals additional details about Schlidt’s act of bravery. “Dr. von Braun brought that paperwork with him to America when he started the space program,” WAFF Anchor Liz Hurley reported. “That paperwork was later used to design the Redstone Rocket, the Mercury Redstone Launch Vehicle and, eventually, the Saturn V, which took man to the moon.” During her tenure as secretary in Peenemṻnde, Schlidt met her future husband, Rudolf Hans Schlidt, an engineer who was on von Braun’s team. They married March 1, 1945, before immigrating to the United States in Fort Bliss, Texas, in 1947. Rudolf Schlidt was a founding member of von Braun’s rocket team in Germany. In 1950, the couple moved from Texas to Huntsville, where Rudolf Schlidt joined the Army Material Test Lab at Redstone Arsenal. His obituary also describes his involvement with Explorer I, the first U.S. satellite, as well as multiple patents and co-patents. His final role was as the U.S. representative for General Dynamics in Bonn, Germany. The Schlidts enjoyed a happy, comfortable life in a home they built in 1955 on 3306 Panorama Drive S.E., on Huntsville’s Monte Sano Mountain. Together, they had four children: daughters Sabrina, Gwendolyn, and Gabriella, and son Carl. Known as the “Gray Lady” volunteer nurse at area schools, Schlidt was also a charter member of the Burritt Museum Guild and enjoyed entertaining friends at her home. From 1960 to 1980, the couple resided in Europe, specifically Germany and Belgium, before returning to Huntsville until Rudolf’s death in 2012 and her subsequent passing in 2021 at the age of 100. Buried in Huntsville’s Maple Hill Cemetery, Schlidt’s “firecracker” personality and loyalty to von Braun had an indelible impact on the U.S. Space Program and Huntsville as a whole. SOURCES: History - Stargard - Oficjalna strona miasta Germany invades Poland | September 1, 1939 | HISTORY Dorette Hertha Charlotte “Dorothea” Kersten Schlidt (1921-2021) - Find a Grave Memorial Excerpt. Dorette Schlidt diary, Aug 17-18, 1943 | UAH Archives and Special Collections Wernher von Braun - NASA Kriegsverdienstkreuz 2.Klasse - TracesOfWar.com Dorette Schlidt: Remembering Dr. Werhner von Braun’s secretary (waff.com) Schlidt (astronautix.com) Dorothea Schlidt, last of von Braun’s German rocket team, dies in Huntsville at 100 - al.com