Leo Baeck (23 May 1873 – 2 November 1956) was a 20th-century German rabbi, scholar, and theologian. He served as leader of

Reform Judaism Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous sear ...

in his native country and internationally, and later represented all German Jews during the Nazi era. After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, he settled in London, in the United Kingdom, where he served as the chairman of the

World Union for Progressive Judaism The World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ) is the international umbrella organization for the various branches of Reform, Liberal and Progressive Judaism, as well as the separate Reconstructionist Judaism. The WUPJ is based in 40 countries ...

. In 1955, the

Leo Baeck Institute The Leo Baeck Institute, established in 1955, is an international research institute with centres in New York City, London, and Jerusalem that are devoted to the study of the history and culture of German-speaking Jewry. Baeck was its first intern ...

for the study of the history and culture of German-speaking Jewry was established, and Baeck was its first international president. The Leo Baeck Medal has been awarded since 1978 to those who have helped preserve the spirit of German-speaking Jewry in culture, academia, politics, and philanthropy.

Early years

Baeck was born in Lissa (Leszno) (then in the German Province of Posen, now in Poland), the son of Rabbi Samuel Baeck and his wife Eva (née Placzek). He began his education at the

Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau The Jewish Theological Seminary of Breslau (official name: ) was an institution in Breslau for the training of rabbis, founded under the will of Jonah Fränckel, and opened in 1854. The seminary, at what is now an empty building plot (used as a ...

in 1894. He also studied philosophy in Berlin with Wilhelm Dilthey. He served as a rabbi in Oppeln (now Opole),

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...

, and Berlin. He also taught at the

Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums, or Higher Institute for Jewish Studies, was a rabbinical seminary established in Berlin in 1872 and closed down by the Nazi government of Germany in 1942. Upon the order of the government, the name ...

(Higher Institute for Jewish Studies). In 1905 Baeck published ''The Essence of Judaism'', in response to Adolf von Harnack's ''What is Christianity?''. This book, which interpreted and valorized Judaism through a prism of

neo-Kantianism In late modern continental philosophy, neo-Kantianism (german: Neukantianismus) was a revival of the 18th-century philosophy of Immanuel Kant. The Neo-Kantians sought to develop and clarify Kant's theories, particularly his concept of the "thin ...

tempered with religious existentialism, made him a famous proponent for the Jewish people and their faith. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Baeck served as a chaplain in the

German Imperial Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (german: Deutsches Heer), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the ...

Nazi persecution and deportation

Stolperstein Fritz-Elsas-Str 15 (Schön) Leo Baeck

In 1933, after the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...

took power, Baeck worked to defend the Jewish community as president of the

Reichsvertretung der Deutschen Juden The Reich Representation of German Jews (german: Reichsvertretung der Deutschen Juden) was a Jewish umbrella organization founded in Germany on 17 September 1933. It was established to coordinate and represent the activities of Jewish political an ...

, an

umbrella organization An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions who work together formally to coordinate activities and/or pool resources. In business, political, and other environments, it provides resources and ofte ...

that united German Jewry from 1933 to 1938. After the Reichsvertretung was disbanded during ''

Kristallnacht () or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation fro ...

'' in 1938, the Nazis reassembled the council's members under the government controlled Reichsvereinigung. Baeck headed this organization as its president until his deportation. On 27 January 1943, he was deported to the

Theresienstadt concentration camp Theresienstadt Ghetto was established by the SS during World War II in the fortress town of Terezín, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia ( German-occupied Czechoslovakia). Theresienstadt served as a waystation to the extermination ca ...

. Baeck became the "honorary head" of the Council of Elders (''

Judenrat A ''Judenrat'' (, "Jewish council") was a World War II administrative agency imposed by Nazi Germany on Jewish communities across occupied Europe, principally within the Nazi ghettos. The Germans required Jews to form a ''Judenrat'' in every c ...

'') in Theresienstadt. As such, he was protected from transports and with his protection list, could also save his relatives from transports, among others his grand-niece Ruth (b. 1925). Moreover, Baeck became "prominent", which meant that he had better accommodation, better food and could receive mail more often. Hannah Arendt in her 1963 book ''

Eichmann in Jerusalem ''Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil'' is a 1963 book by political thinker Hannah Arendt. Arendt, a Jew who fled Germany during Adolf Hitler's rise to power, reported on the trial of Adolf Eichmann, one of the major organizers ...

'' examined Jewish cooperation with the Nazi authorities during the Holocaust, and names Baeck as one of those functionaries who withheld the truth from their communities of the end awaiting them, believing it more "humane" to bear the secret since "living in the expectation of death by gassing would only be the harder". Baeck, according to Arendt, also thought the existence of a Jewish police force within the camps would render the "ordeal easier" whereas in her view they turned out to be more brutal. Auschwitz escapee Siegfried Lederer testified to Baeck about the death camp, but Baeck believed that revealing the truth to the Theresienstadt prisoners could cause "catastrophe". He gave lectures, was active in the interfaith dialogue between traditional Jews and Christians of Jewish origin, worked in the youth care sector, which he directed from November 1944 on, and was friendly with many of the functionaries. After liberation, he headed the Council of Elders; the last Elder of the Jews was the Czech communist Jiří Vogel. Baeck's lectures were credited with helping prisoners survive their confinement. Heinrich F. Liebrecht said Baeck's lectures helped him to discover wellsprings of strength and the conviction that his life had a purpose. "From here came the impulse to really endure, and the belief that we were able to do so.""Not To Hate..."
''The Times-Standard'', Eureka, California (June 23, 2009). Retrieved October 19, 2011 Up until his deportation, numerous American institutions offered to help him escape the war and immigrate to the United States. Baeck refused to abandon his community and declined the offers. Nevertheless, he managed to survive

the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

, though three of his sisters perished in the ghetto.

Post-war life and work

After the war, Baeck relocated to London, where he accepted the Presidency of the

North Western Reform Synagogue North Western Reform Synagogue (usually known as Alyth, although Alyth is strictly speaking the name of the Jewish community that was founded in 1933; the synagogue is ''Alyth Shul'') at Temple Fortune in north west London. The synagogue was bui ...

Temple Fortune Temple Fortune is a place in the London Borough of Barnet to the north of Golders Green. It is principally a shopping district used by residents of the Hampstead Garden Suburb. Between here and Golders Green, at Hoop Lane are two cemeteries – ...

. He taught at Hebrew Union College in the United States, and eventually became Chairman of the

. It was during this time he published his second major work, ''This People Israel'', which he partially penned during his imprisonment by the Nazis. His increased interfaith work also meant that he revised and, to an extent, reclaimed for Judaism, the founding figures of Christianity, Jesus and Paul. He died on 2 November 1956, in London, England.

The International Leo Baeck Institute

In 1955, the

for the study of the history and culture of German-speaking Jewry was established, and Baeck was the first international president of this institute. The Institute now includes branches around the world including the Leo Baeck Institute New York, and the Leo Baeck Institute London. There are institutions named after Leo Baeck, on every inhabited continent, including the Leo Baeck Centre for Progressive Judaism in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia. The asteroid 100047 Leobaeck is named in his honour, as is

Leo Baeck College Leo Baeck College is a privately funded rabbinical seminary and centre for the training of teachers in Jewish education. Based now at the Sternberg Centre, East End Road, Finchley, in the London Borough of Barnet, it was founded by Werner van ...

, the Reform/Progressive rabbinical college in London.

Bibliography

* Baker, Leonard (1982). ''Hirt der Verfolgten: Leo Baeck im Dritten Reich''. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta. . * Baker, Leonard (1978). ''Days of sorrow and pain: Leo Baeck and the Berlin Jews''. New York: Macmillan. . * Neimark, Anne E. (1986). ''One man's valor: Leo Baeck and the Holocaust'' E. P. Dutton, New York, (for juvenile audience); * Friedlander, Albert H. ''Teacher of Theresienstadt'', Overlook Press; Reprint (July 1991), (10), . * Heuberger, Georg and Backhaus, Fritz (2001). ''Leo Baeck 1873–1956: Aus dem Stamme von Rabbinern'', Frankfurt: Jewish Museum. . * Homolka, Walter and Füllenbach, Elias H. (2008). ''Rabbiner Leo Baeck. Ein Lebensbild'', Teetz / Berlin (= Jüdische Miniaturen, vol. 75). . *.

References

External links

Documents about Leo Baeck
in the collection of th
Jewish Museum Prague
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baeck, Leo 1873 births 1956 deaths 20th-century Jewish theologians German emigrants to England German Jewish military personnel of World War I German Jewish theologians German male non-fiction writers German military chaplains German Reform rabbis Jewish concentration camp survivors 20th-century German rabbis Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany People associated with Leo Baeck College People from Leszno People from the Province of Posen Rabbis in the military Theresienstadt Ghetto survivors World War I chaplains 20th-century English rabbis Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums alumni