Clary clearly recalls Holocaust, ‘Hogan’s Heroes’

Friday, April 26, 2002 | 9:46 a.m.

What: Book signing by Robert Clary, author of "From the Holocaust to Hogan's Heroes."

When: 2-4 p.m. Saturday.

Where: Borders, 2190 N. Rainbow Blvd.

Information: 638-7866.

As a Jewish teenager in a Nazi concentration camp, Robert Clary learned many things about life, the most difficult -- and virtuous -- of which was not to hate.

In his recently released memoir, "From the Holocaust to Hogan's Heroes" ($26.95, Madison Books), the diminutive actor who portrayed Cpl. Louis Lebeau on the TV show, writes of an incident at the Buchenwald death camp that gave him an understanding that even amid so much hate there is some good.

"In October 1944 we got a new SS lieutenant obersturmbahn fuhrer, who upon his arrival made a speech telling us not to despair, not to give up hope, that we were human beings and one of these days we would be free," Clary writes in the chapter Blechhammer No. A-5714, the identification number tattooed on him by the Nazis.

"We couldn't believe our ears. We had heard a German officer saying things nobody in his position would dare to say without being shot instantly for treason. It was a remarkable, brave thing for him to do."

Clary, in Las Vegas for a book signing Saturday at Borders Books Music and Cafe on North Rainbow Boulevard, said he doesn't remember that commandant's name, but he is passing on his message of hope.

"The message of my book is to learn from history and for people to stop hating," Clary, 76, said. "We must make an effort to try to understand other people. It's a beautiful world, yet we choose to destroy it so easily."

Clary, who was born Robert Widerman, changed his last name early on, because he said he knew anti-Semitism would cost him film and stage jobs.

In fact, he refused to talk about his death camp experiences until 1980, when he watched a television show about a woman survivor of Auschwitz, who took her children to the site. She explained to viewers that years from now, when she and all of the survivors were dead, people would write what they want, denying the Holocaust. She wanted her record to speak for itself.

"After watching that, I turned to my wife, Natalie, and said it is time for me to stand up and be counted," said Clary, whose parents were killed at Auschwitz. Three of his sisters also died in death camps, as did their husbands and children. The youngest of 14 children, Clary was the only captured member of his family to survive the camps.

Clary joined the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles as a lecturer and, in the early 1980s, met Las Vegan Edythe Katz Yarchever, chairwoman of the Governor's Advisory Council on Education Relating to the Holocaust and an official of the Holocaust Library at the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas.

"Robert has done his share to help get the message out about the importance of remembering the Holocaust," said Yarchever, who has over the years brought Clary to Las Vegas to speak to elementary, junior high, high school and college students. "He gives a marvelous presentation."

Clary also loves to talk about "Hogan's Heroes," which ran on CBS from 1965 to 1971. It was the No. 9-rated show for the 1965-66 season and the No. 18-rated show in 1966-67.

Two of his closest friends from the show were the actors who played the main German characters Col. Klink (Werner Klemperer) and Sgt. Schultz (John Banner), he said. Klemperer was half-Jewish and Banner was Jewish. Both are deceased.

Clary said he did not hang around very much with Bob Crane, who played Hogan and in real life was murdered years after the show ended.

"I wasn't with Bob a lot because, for one, we are completely opposite politically," Clary said.

As Lebeau, Clary was a gifted chef who could pry information from the rotund Schultz with gourmet delights including strudel. But in real life, his kitchen skills were lacking.

"I am French, so what else could I play but a good cook and a good lover?" he mused. "Was I a good cook? No, I was a good actor."

Then seriously, he noted, "Actually, I became a good cook when Natalie got ill and could not care for herself. I had to cook for her and take care of her."

Natalie Clary, his wife of 47 years and the daughter of crooner Eddie Cantor, died on Dec. 11, 1997. In his book Robert Clary writes that she was "my best friend, my companion and lover -- my pillar of strength."

Asked if sensitivities toward the suffering of Jews during the Holocaust has prevented "Hogan's Heroes" from being made into a modern movie, similar to other 1960s television shows, Clary said he does not believe so -- and he quickly adds it was not an issue for him taking the Lebeau role.

"I did not portray a person in a concentration camp -- I played a prisoner of war who every week made the enemy look foolish," Clary said. "It was a comedy.

"It had been rumored for many years that there would be a 'Hogan's Heroes' movie starring Mel Gibson. The rumor now is that Russell Crowe will play the part. It all depends on who wants to make the film and what big name plays Hogan."

And who would play Lebeau? "I don't know, but he would have to be short and French," the 5-foot-2-inch actor said.

Clary's career was not limited to "Hogan's Heroes." He had stints on Broadway, in films and soap operas.

Clary began his show business career at age 12 and resumed it as a singer after he was liberated from Buchenwald on April 11, 1945. He recorded songs that were popular in the United States ("Put Your Shoes On Lucy," "Johnny Get Your Girl" and "Hollywood Bowl.")

He came to the United States in 1949 and made his Broadway debut in the musical "New Faces of 1952." That was followed by a string of Broadway productions including "Irma La Douce" and "Cabaret."

Clary's film credits include "Ten Tall Men," "Thief of Damascus," "The Hindenburg," and the 1982 NBC movie, "Remembrance of Love" with Kirk Douglas, a film about the world gathering of the Jewish survivors of the Holocaust in Jerusalem.

He was in the soap operas "The Young & the Restless," "Days of Our Lives" and "The Bold & the Beautiful."

Clary said he has been fortunate to do so well for so long and that he continues to enjoy a rich, full life, making musical recordings that he sells on his website, and painting. Examples of his artwork was on display this week at the Holocaust Library.

"I was never a concentration camp survivor who questioned why me -- why did I survive?" said Clary, a grandfather of three and great-grandfather of two. "I just was lucky. That's all. I just accept that."