Heinz Seidler, 84, of Post Falls, survived World War II in Germany and came to America.

Heinz (Henry) Seidler weathered the trauma of World War II as a child in Germany, met Americans for the first time during the Allied occupation and eventually moved to Edmonton, Canada, before migrating to the United States.

He passed away peacefully at his home on Strand Avenue in Post Falls on Dec. 4, 2014, following a lengthy illness. His wife, Elli, was by his side. They had been married 59 years, raising a son and daughter.

Heinz was born in 1930 in Essen-Altenessen, Germany, two years before Hitler came to power. His father was a blacksmith, later becoming a machinist during World War II. In an interview several years ago with The Press, Heinz described how his family was opposed to Hitler but while living under the dark shadow of the Third Reich they could never reveal their true feelings.

Mercifully, young Heinz was exempted from joining the Hitler Youth because he had a full academic schedule, attending two schools at the same time - one for academics, the other an apprenticeship for office administration. He spent summers at his grandfather's farm.

Near the end of the war, children were conscripted into the labor force and Heinz was sent to dig tank traps and foxholes near the Netherlands border with Germany. An American P-38 fighter strafed the fields where he was working, but he wasn't hit.

His second encounter with U.S. forces was harrowing as well, when as a teenager he was assaulted by ill-behaving American soldiers venting their anger against the Germans.

"My parents were anti-socialist and anti-Nazi," Heinz said. "When I was old enough, I wanted to leave Germany. Why should I live there to pay reparations for a war that I didn't have anything to do with?" Then at age 23 he left for Edmonton and joined an uncle who found him work.

That was where he met 16-year-old Elli Sam at a birthday party, a farmer's daughter who was also a German immigrant whom he married a year later. They had two children, daughter Eleanor Stockdale and son Richard Seidler, both now also living in Post Falls.

Heinz worked in office administration for most of his life, except for a short time driving his own big rig. His first career job was parts manager for a Volkswagen dealership in Edmonton.

The Seidlers' life together would take them from Canada to Santa Ana, Calif., where he again worked for VW, and then to Spokane years later, before retiring in Post Falls.

"We left Washington for Idaho in 1986," he said, "because it was quieter, had less traffic, and we liked the rural atmosphere and the people."

Heinz and Elli each shared memories of growing up in wartime Germany. Elli and her family lived on a farm in eastern Germany near the Polish border. Her father was forced into Hitler's army, and then was captured by the Russians at the Battle of Stalingrad and imprisoned in a Siberian gulag.

Her father survived however, and was eventually reunited with the family. They lost the farm when Poland annexed that part of Germany after the war and confiscated farms owned by Germans. Elli's family was forced to move to another part of East Germany, by then under Russian communist rule.

Eventually, they made a dangerous escape to West Germany in the dark of night across the mined and patrolled border. Then in 1950, the family emigrated to Edmonton where Elli met her future husband.

In addition to his wife, son and daughter, Heinz is survived by son-in-law C. Ron Stockdale; grandchildren Jeremy O. Nolan, David L. Stockdale and great-grandchildren Ethan O. Nolan and Caiden A. Stockdale, all of Post Falls. Also, sister Inge R. Seidler Knodel of Gibbons, Canada; and sister-in-law Margot E. Popowich of Edmonton.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2014, at English Funeral Chapel in Post Falls. In lieu of flowers, the family asked that donations be made to the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, 30 North LaSalle St., Suite 4300, Chicago, IL 60602-2584.