Title
Recognizing and honoring the legacy of Dr. George J. Beichl for his bravery as a prisoner of war, his work at Saint Joseph's University as a professor and chair of the chemistry department, and for his significant contributions to the Philadelphia German-American community.
Body
WHEREAS, George J. Beichl, Ph.D. formerly of West Philadelphia was a prisoner of war during World War II. In addition, he was a chemistry professor for five decades at Saint Joseph's University and he was formerly president of the German Society of Pennsylvania; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Beichl was born on August 20, 1918, in Brewerytown to immigrant parents who met in Philadelphia, and was raised with a strong focus on education; and
WHEREAS, After graduating at the top of his class from St. Joseph's Preparatory School on a scholarship, Dr. Beichl then attended St. Joseph's University earning his bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1939; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Beichl was draft into the U. S. Army in 1944, and was sent to Germany the next January as an infantryman; and
WHEREAS, Soon after his enlistment, Dr. Beichl's family received a telegram informing them of his death, which was reported in The Inquirer on February 22, 1945. Dr. Beichl later explained that he was living in dire circumstances in Stalag XIIA, a prisoner-of-war camp in Limburg, Germany; and
WHEREAS, As a Prisoner of War, the German-speaking Dr. Beichl befriended a sympathetic German guard, Karl Schaeffer who helped keep Beichl alive by smuggling him food, and gave him a book, Das Flammende Wort [the flaming word], a novel about Germany's first journalist that Dr. Beichl used as a diary to keep his mind sharp and his memories clear; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Beichl was rescued and liberated on March 27, 1945 when Allied planes bombed the train as he was being transported and the now-freed prisoners gathered in a field, arranging their bodies to spell out "POW" which ultimately prompted their rescue; and
WHERE...
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