Gary Sternberg was born August 25, 1931 in Cuxhaven, Germany to Hermann and Auguste Sternberg. Hermann was Jewish and Auguste was Protestant, but religion was never a point of contention in the family; they celebrated both Jewish and Christian holidays. However, despite Gary and his sister, Ruth, being raised Protestant, they still faced discrimination for their father being Jewish.

Hermann was arrested by the Gestapo on June 14, 1938. He was sent to Sachsenhausen and was imprisoned there until January 28, 1939. Following his release, Hermann and Auguste knew it was time for them to leave Germany.

They were able to find one ticket to Shanghai, which Auguste insisted Hermann take, since he was in the most danger. Hermann left for Shanghai on May 15, 1939, and months later, Auguste, Gary, and Ruth were finally able to make the trip and join him in China.

The Sternbergs spent the remainder of the war in Shanghai, and afterwards, applied to go to the United States. In 1948, the family received their visas to the U.S., and they arrived in San Francisco on July 22, 1948.

Later in life, Gary settled in Las Vegas and spent almost 32 years as a blackjack dealer at Caesars Palace.

You can read Gary’s full story in the article at the bottom of this webpage, entitled, The Dealer’s Cards: How Gary Sternberg Has Made the Best of Them, written by Professor Kevin Ostoyich.

Additionally, Kevin Ostoyich was the historical consultant for Gary’s Letter, a German documentary film about Gary, directed by Charlotte Krüger.

 

 

 

Left: Poster for Gary’s Letter film. 

 

 

 

 

Left: Gary standing in front of his Ceasars Palace buttons collection, 2015. 

 

 

[Note: Our website is a work in progress. More photos and artifacts of Gary’s will be added to this page. In the meantime, if you have any questions about Gary or the following article, please send an email to Mikayla Hoppe at: mikayla@spungenfoundation.org]