Overcoming Adversity and Leadership: Major General Sid Shachnow
story -United States Army, Retired
By Howard Edward Haller, Ph. D.
This groundbreaking leadership research by has received
extensive endorsements and enthusiastic reviews from well-known
prominent business, political, and academic leaders who either
participated in the study or reviewed the research findings. You
will discover the proven success habits and secrets of people
who, in spite of difficult or life threatening challenges shaped
their own destiny to become successful, effective leaders. The
full results of this research will be presented in the upcoming
book by Dr. Howard Edward Haller titled "Leadership: View from
the Shoulders of Giants."
The nine initial prominent successful leaders who overcame
adversity that were interviewed included: Dr. Tony Bonanzino,
U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch, Monzer Hourani, U.S. Senator Daniel
Inouye, Dr. John Malone, Larry Pino, U.S. Army Major General Sid
Shachnow, Dr. Blenda Wilson, and Zig Ziglar.
The data from the above nine research participants was
materially augmented by seven other successful leaders who
overcame adversity including: Jack Canfield, William Draper III,
Mark Victor Hansen, J. Terrence Lanni, Angelo Mozilo, Dr. Nido
Qubein, and Dr. John Sperling.
Additionally, five internationally known and respected
leadership scholars offered their reviews of the leadership
research findings including: Dr. Ken Blanchard, Jim Kouzes, Dr.
John Kotter, Dr. Paul Stoltz, and Dr. Meg Wheatley.
This is a short biography of one of the principal participants
who generously contributed their time and insight for this
important research into the phenomenon of how prominent
successful leaders overcome adversity and obstacles. This
General Sid Shachnow's story: General Sid Shachnow survived the
Nazi Holocaust. He served two intense tours as a Green Beret
officer in Vietnam, as well as serving several tours of duty in
Germany.
Sid Shachnow was born Schaja Shachnowski in Kausas, Lithuania in
the mid-1930s. He was the elder of two sons born to a
middle-class Jewish couple. His life was materially altered by
the events of World War II in Europe and the Nazi Holocaust.
One of the first things the invading Nazis did to Sid's family
was to kill Sid's Aunt Tili and Uncle Abraham. They were "burned
alive in their home." Because Schaja and his family were Jewish,
the Nazis interned them in the concentration camp at Kovno in
Lithuania when Schaja was only 7 years old. His younger brother
was smuggled out of the camp shortly before Schaja escaped.
Schaja explained, "I escaped at age ten, with nothing but rags
on my back; I was able finally to flee that hellhole. Most of
those I left behind died." He had escaped just days before the
Nazis came in and killed every child in the Kovno Camp.
Historical records indicate that of the 40,000 Jews interred at
the Kovno Camp, a mere 2,000 survived (Shachnow, 2004, p. 30).
Young ten-year-old Sid, who was all alone after his escape, "hid
for many months from both the Nazis and the Lithuanian
partisans." His mother also escaped the Kovno Concentration
Camp, just as World War II was ending.
Sid still needed to escape from the Russians, who were in
control of his native Lithuania after the war. According to Sid,
the Soviet occupation of Lithuania was not much better than the
Nazi occupation: "It was unbearable." He learned from his mother
that "the NKVD [later known as the KGB] was as ruthless as the
[German] Gestapo."
To escape from Lithuania, Sid, his mother, and his younger
brother made an arduous journey, lasting six months, partially
on foot, carefully avoiding Russian troops. Sid's father
remained temporarily in Lithuania and rejoined the family later
in West Germany. In war-torn West Germany the Shachnowski family
struggled to exist and to make a living. There were few jobs
available, but Sid's mother "did speak German and this helped."
To survive, Sid and his mother were involved with the "black
market," selling contraband items to U.S. troops.
Sid said, "I started working in the black market. .. picking
up merchandise [on a bike]." His employer, Mr. Schmidt, "said if
I got caught it was my problem and not his." After a few delays,
Sid and his family immigrated again to the United States. In
America Sid, his parents, and younger brother all lived
together, and they found "hope and opportunity."
Sid indicated that he had always been industrious, and he worked
his way through high school, where he meet Arlene, fell in love,
and wanted to get married. Because Arlene was not Jewish, Sid's
"parents became exceedingly upset, yelling and screaming and
rending their clothes." They refused to allow the marriage. Sid
dropped out of high school when he was a senior to join the U.S.
Army. He came back from Army basic training and married Arlene.
She always encouraged him.
My wife said to me, "you know, I think you should do something
about becoming an officer." "It's easier said than done. Because
in those days, I didn't have a college education, I was a young
enlisted man without any real leadership experience, or
whatever. But it's the thing that sort of opened my eyes to, you
know, If I want to be more successful in a field that I seem to
be enjoying, I need to assume some leadership position. I need
to be in charge at night, because that's where things are
happening."
With encouragement from several senior officers, who became
mentors, Sid went on to Officer's Candidate School and earned
his commission. As a young U.S. Army officer he volunteered for
two tours in Vietnam with the U.S. Army Special Forces [Green
Berets]. In Vietnam, Sid earned two Silver Stars and three
Bronze Stars with a "V' for Valor, and other awards. Sid
primarily served with the Special Forces, in Vietnam, the Middle
East, and at the Berlin Wall. He "served in the U.S. Army for
forty years." He indicated he "spent thirty-two of those years
in Special Forces."
While in the U.S. Army, Sid served multiple tours of duty in
Germany, including "ironically helping to protect the Germans
from the Russian Communists." He was the Brigade Commander in
Berlin, Germany in charge of U.S. Army units at the Berlin Gate
at the end of the "Cold War." Sid worked closely with the West
German military while serving his tours in Germany. He reported
that his headquarters had been the headquarters of Hermann
Goring, the number-two man in Nazi Germany, "not a shabby place
by any standard."
In response to a question posed by Simon Wiesenthal (Wiesenthal,
1998), about forgiving Nazi soldiers, Shachnow replied, "I
served a considerable part of my military career in Germany
protecting [the Germans]. .. I was prepared to give up my most
precious possession, my life, in that effort" (p. 243). I
interviewed Shachnow near Fort Bragg, NC at his home for nearly
two hours. His griping and inspiring biography, "Hope and Honor"
(2004), is a great read.
Copyright 2006 © Howard Edward Haller, Ph.D.
Howard Edward Haller, Ph.D. Chief Enlightenment Officer The
Leadership Success Institute
www.TheLeaderInstitute.com
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