Paul Spiegel

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Paul Spiegel
Not to be confused with Paul B. Spiegel.

Paul Spiegel (31 December 1937, in

Nazis
into the third largest Jewish community in western Europe.

Early life

Paul Spiegel was born into a

Auschwitz, and Dachau
, but survived to reunite with Spiegel and his mother in Warendorf after the war. Spiegel described these events in his book At home again? (Wieder zu Hause?).

Siegel was the nephew of Siegmund, a cattle and horse trader, and Marga Spiegel, both of whom survived the Holocaust with the help of farmers and their families. Marga wrote the memoir Saviors in the Night, which was made into a film.[2][3]

Journalist

In 1958, he began practical training as a journalist with the Allgemeine Jüdische Wochenzeitung, now the Jüdische Allgemeine [de; he], in Düsseldorf. He was also active as an editor at this newspaper until 1965, when he became editor of the Jewish Press Service and assistant to the secretary-general of the Zentralrat der Juden. During the 1960s he worked for various other newspapers as well.

Zentralrat der Juden

In 1993 he became a member of the executive committee of the Zentralrat der Juden, first as vice president and later (as of 9 January 2000, following the death of

Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf, and was made an honorary citizen of Warendorf
, the city of his birth. Since 1986 he ran an agency for artists and media in Düsseldorf.

Equal status for Jewish community in Germany

On the 58th anniversary of the liberation of

Auschwitz in 2003, Spiegel and Chancellor Gerhard Schröder
signed an agreement that granted Germany's Jewish community the same legal status as the country's Christian religions, thereby tripling annual government funding of the Zentralrat der Juden to $3.8 million.

Outspoken as leader

Spiegel was an outspoken critic of lawyers who took what he felt were overly large fees to represent Jews who had been

Holocaust Memorial
in Berlin, stating at its dedication in 2005 that it failed to address the basic question, "Why were members of a civilized people in the heart of Europe capable of planning and carrying out mass murder?"

Death

Paul Spiegel died in the morning hours of 30 April 2006, in Düsseldorf, after suffering from cancer. He is survived by his wife, Gisèle Spatz, whom he married in 1964, and their two daughters.

Bibliography of Paul Spiegel

References

  1. ISSN 2195-1349
    . Retrieved 2022-10-13.
  2. ^ Stein, Ruthe. "Marga Spiegel's memoir inspires film". Hearst Communications, Inc. Retrieved 22 March 2014.
  3. ^ "Kinostart von "Unter Bauern" - Interview mit der jüdischen Zeitzeugin Marga Spiegel - Kultur - WDR.de". WDR. 2009-10-10. Retrieved 2023-04-21.
Preceded by President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany
2000–2006 		Succeeded by
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