Panthers legend gains perspective on antisemitism with Holocaust tour around Munich area
The floor of the barracks creaked as Jonathan Stewart walked to the window to look outside of the wooden structure that once held thousands of Nazi prisoners at the Dachau concentration camp, about a half-hour outside Munich, Germany.
The former Carolina Panthers running back took in the detailed information from tour guide Chaim Eytan as he wrapped his mind around the horrors that happened roughly 80 years ago under the roof that hovered over his head.
It was a heavy moment for Stewart, 37, and those with him on a tour group — which also included Panthers owners David and Nicole Tepper, team president Kristi Coleman and former Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith — that spent most of that Thursday learning about Jewish culture and history in the country.
The group — including Stewart — was in Munich for the team’s NFL International Series matchup with the New York Giants at Allianz Arena on Sunday. But for several hours of their business trip, the focus was on history, education, and the rise of antisemitism amid the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East.
Stewart, who was invited to be part of the group by the Teppers, said he wanted to give his undivided attention to the words and visuals of the day because he thinks it’s important to gain perspective from understanding other cultures and history.
“I think, oftentimes, we get so caught up in our own daily lives and our own daily routine that we forget that part of being on this earth is to be here for one another,” Stewart told The Observer. “That’s what God has called us to do, is to be there for each other and given the situations that have transpired over the course of time, for every culture, for every background, everyone’s gone through something.”
Stewart’s day began with a tour of the headquarters of the Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria. Stewart listened as the community’s president, 92-year-old Charlotte Knobloch, shared her story of survival as a young girl in Nazi Germany during World War II.
Stewart listened intently as an interpreter shared Knobloch’s story in English as she recalled in her native German about the time she was told that she couldn’t play with her friends because she was Jewish. She wasn’t even a teenager when the war began and Nazis started to round up Jews throughout the area for the camps that would lead to the deaths of millions across Europe.
Her grandmother was taken to a camp after she volunteered to go instead of Knobloch, who would have been likely sent to her death as part of the young child demographic, which was paired with the elderly. Knobloch’s father, a Jewish lawyer, eventually asked for the help of a local non-Jewish woman who housed Knobloch in the countryside during the final years of war. Knobloch was able to avoid the camps because of the help of someone she barely knew, who risked her life to save Knobloch’s future in a time of unrest and horror.
Knobloch, who has three children and seven grandchildren, touched Stewart with her story of perseverance.
“For me to be in that room and to share a meal while she’s being vulnerable on her birthday, and taking herself back through something that could obviously be very traumatizing, but being vulnerable and understanding the importance of sharing — I truly, truly invested my brain, my time to really understand her story,” Stewart said. “And it was an honor.”
Following a tour of the community center, Stewart and the rest of the group were driven to Dachau for a tour of the first major concentration camp. The site, which was opened in 1933, housed thousands of Jewish prisoners over a 12-year span. According to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, the number of prisoners — which included Jews and several other groups the Nazis deemed as threats — at the camp during that time frame was more than 200,000 with an estimated 40,000 deaths.
The group toured the camp as various tour groups went in and out of the memorial site. Stewart documented the tour with his phone, taking videos and pictures of the barracks, the various memorials and the open space where prisoners would line up daily.
David Tepper, who is Jewish, told The Observer following the tour that the day of education was important because the history provides perspective on Jewish culture. Given the increased amount of antisemitism throughout the world, the Panthers owner emphasized the importance of visiting the camp and learning about the events of the Holocaust.
“Anyone who goes to Munich should see Dachau,” Tepper said. “It is an incredibly moving, solemn, and important experience. The day of meeting a survivor of the Holocaust, going to Dachau, and meeting current Jewish students in Munich was one that celebrated the resilience and hope of the Jewish people and human beings in general.”
Stewart was engaged throughout the tour, often conferring with Smith and David Tepper during the walk around the grounds. He wanted to give his full attention to understand what happened during the darkest time in Germany’s history.
Even prior to Thursday, he read a background pamphlet — curated by Hillel Deutschland — to educate himself before the tour. This day meant something to him.
“Being on that experience, I wanted to make sure that I got the most out of it,” Stewart said.
Stewart, who has gotten to know David and Nicole Tepper during their ownership tenure that began in 2018, was grateful to be a part of the tour of Dachau, which lasted roughly two hours. He was moved by the opportunity to share the experience with the Panthers owners in particular.
“We play this sport, play football, we do all these nice things, entertainment, and people going about their lives,” Stewart said. “But to take time out of your day, out of your busy schedule, to pay homage, to pay respects to other people, and their walks of life and their background and their culture … and also help others mourn — I just really have a spot for that and seeing Dave in that setting was pretty awesome and really special to share with him and his wife.”
After the tour of Dachau, the group traveled back into the city to speak with young students from Hillel Deutschland, who discussed growing up in the country as present-day Jews. The group spoke about their desire to be accepted for their Jewish heritage and the struggles that have come with the rise of antisemitism in the country and around the world.
Stewart, who grew up in Fort Lewis, Washington, and played 10 of his 11 NFL seasons in Charlotte, gained additional perspective from the young speakers, who ranged from ages 16 to 29.
“I definitely have empathy for the kids that don’t get to just feel like they can be themselves,” Stewart said. “They’re growing, they’re learning. At the end of the day, they have their innocence and to not be accepted just because of your background and where you come from, obviously, I can relate just because of the color of my skin. … And those kids are very courageous for taking a stand at an age where they have a lot of insight, a lot of pathways to fix problems and to make things better.”
Following the conclusion of the day of education, videos began circulating around social media of Israeli soccer fans being attacked in Amsterdam. According to the Associated Press, five victims were hospitalized following the attacks and “dozens” were arrested for their involvement in the assaults.
Just a few hours earlier, Smith posted on “X”, formerly known as Twitter, shortly after the tour of Dachau that he was “learning about what was and what should never happen again!!!”
Stewart, who had a day to process the experience before speaking with The Observer, spoke about the importance of different perspectives when it comes to seeking out education.
During a week that features Sunday’s regular-season matchup between his two former teams, the Panthers and the Giants, at Allianz Arena, several fan-oriented gatherings with the Roaring Riot, a Carolina legends event, and a youth flag-football event with local kids at the headquarters of FC Bayern Munich, Stewart’s time spent learning about Judaism, and its past and present, around Munich will be among the most memorable experiences of his overseas trip.
Said Stewart: “It was an awesome opportunity.”
This story was originally published November 9, 2024 at 1:13 PM.
