Galinski, Heinz (1912–1992)

German Jewish community leader. A survivor of the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps, he helped to re-establish a strong Jewish community in post-war Germany, and was chair of the Central Council of German Jews 1988–92. He devoted his life to the preservation of the memory of the Holocaust as a warning against the revival of neo-Nazism.

Galinski was born in Marienburg, Poland. As a young man in Berlin he witnessed Nazism's rise at first hand. When the regime took control, he was sent first to Auschwitz and then to Buchenwald. His parents and his first wife were killed in the Holocaust, but Galinski survived, being moved eventually to Bergen–Belsen. In 1945 he was freed by the British army. Although many fellow survivors left Germany for a new life in other Western European countries or Israel, Galinski remained in Germany to help rebuild the Jewish community, which had been almost annihilated by the Nazis. His exceptional energy and fierce dedication made him the unchallenged leader of the German Jews.

His methods were simple and direct. In West Berlin in 1949 he headed a tiny Jewish community, its morale severely dented by the experience of Nazism. By organizing old people's homes, and training rabbis and cantors to provide spiritual leadership, he revived spirits and restored self-esteem. His success led to a wider following and, eventually, a worldwide reputation. A fearless opponent of any revival of neo-Nazism and fascism, in 1975 he narrowly escaped a bomb attack by the far-left Red Army Faction, which objected to criticisms of extremism of all kinds. His relations with Israel were not always good, some Zionists arguing there was no place for Jews in Germany. In 1992 he saw the establishment of a national memorial at the Wannsee Villa, Berlin, where Nazi leaders had planned the Jews' extermination some 50 years before. He hoped this would ensure that young Germans would always be made aware of the horrors perpetrated by the German nation.