Max Willner

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Max Willner (born July 24, 1906 in Gelsenkirchen ; died January 20, 1994 in Offenbach am Main ) was an important representative of Jewish life in Germany after the Second World War and the Shoah .

Life

New synagogue in Offenbach am Main, Willner's home parish after the Second World War

Max Willner was born on July 24, 1906 in Gelsenkirchen. In the years from 1939 to 1945 he suffered through the Sachsenhausen , Auschwitz , Flossenbürg and Dachau concentration camps . After the end of the war he came to Offenbach am Main in 1945 and founded the city's Jewish community with a former fellow prisoner and became its first chairman. Under his chairmanship, the community opened a new synagogue in September 1956 after two years of construction ; this was the first synagogue in Hesse after the Holocaust and should be the symbol of a new beginning. Willner remained chairman of the community throughout his life.

From 1954 to 1957 he was director of the regional association of Jewish communities in Hesse . From 1983 until his death in 1994 he was its chairman. From 1979 on he was also deputy chairman of the Central Council of Jews in Germany .

Willner was also involved in the re-establishment of the Central Welfare Office for Jews in Germany , of which he was director from 1960 to 1979.

Gravestone of Max Willner in the old cemetery in Offenbach am Main

When he was granted honorary citizenship in Offenbach am Main in 1993, he was recognized as a "man of reconciliation, balance and understanding".

Max Willner died on January 20, 1994 in Offenbach am Main. His tomb is in Offenbach on the old cemetery .

Appreciations

Street sign Max-Willner-Platz
  • Holder of the Hessian Order of Merit (awarded on September 12, 1990)
  • Honorary citizen of the city of Offenbach am Main (awarded in 1993)
  • A square in Offenbach am Main was named after him ( ⊙ )
  • The Central Welfare Office for Jews in Germany named their educational and leisure center in Bad Sobernheim after Willner

literature

  • Max Willner - Appreciation of a Deserved Man. Edited by Moritz Neumann on behalf of the State Association of Jewish Communities in Hesse. Frankfurt am Main / Alsbach, 1991.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Offenbach - Jewish DP community. In: after-the-shoah.org. July 28, 2015, accessed July 16, 2016 .
  2. ↑ a b c Explanations of stations in the Jewish cemetery: Station 10. In: Offenbach.de , accessed on July 16, 2016 (PDF file; 14 kB).
  3. ↑ The Synagogue of the Jewish Community Offenbach aM On: jgof.de , accessed on July 16, 2016.
  4. ^ Paul Arnsberg : The Jewish communities in Hesse. Images - documents. Volume 3, Roether, Darmstadt 1973, DNB 740104624 , p. 174.
  5. ↑ About us. In: lvjgh.de , accessed on July 16, 2016.
  6. ↑ Anger at yourself . In: Der Spiegel . No. 32 , 1992, pp. 81 f . ( online ).
  7. ^ History of the ZWST. In: zwst.org. Retrieved July 16, 2016 .
  8. ↑ Abraham Lehrer: Editorial. In: zwst.info. September 3, 2014, accessed July 16, 2016 .
personal data
SURNAME Willner, Max
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Jewish representative
DATE OF BIRTH July 24, 1906
PLACE OF BIRTH Gelsenkirchen
DATE OF DEATH January 20, 1994
Place of death Offenbach am Main