Photo by HEATHER AINSWORTH Oskar Schriever, who immigrated to the United States 55 years ago from Germany, stands in a hallway in his home in New Hartford in front of a wall filled with photos of his family.

'I became what I am in America'

By TOM LAMBERT
Observer-Dispatch

When Oskar Schriever left Germany for the United States in 1948, he was a 16-year-old trying to find his way in life.

Now, the husband, father and grandfather says he has done that.

"I became what I am in America," says Schriever, 72, who lives in New Hartford with his wife of 42 years, Irmgard.

Nearly 70 years after the main wave of German immigration into the United States, Schriever and his parents settled in Kingston, where Schriever attended high school.

For the young man who learned English in Germany, fitting in wasn’t an issue, he says.

"When I was in high school, I did not at any time come across anyone who called me names," he says. "I was fully accepted, which really was a surprise to me."

Schriever joined the Air Force, went to Syracuse University and in 1960 moved to East Utica. He worked for 32 years at General Electric, retiring in 1993.

"There have been so many opportunities for me here," he says.

Schriever remains connected with his culture as a member of the Utica Maennerchor, a German organization established here in 1865.

But experiences and time have helped Schriever appreciate this country.

"After a while, you become an American who happens to be born in Germany," he says.

Political issues in his homeland have also strengthened his ties to the United States.

"Hitler was in control when I was from there," he says. And when Germany went against the United States in the war with Iraq, "it (made) me not very proud to be a German," he says.

But he is proud to be in America.

"We are a country of immigrants, which makes it so special here," he says.