Josef Schuster (; born 20 March 1954) is a German

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

and since November 2014 President of the

Central Council of Jews in Germany The Central Council of Jews in Germany (German: ''Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland'') is a federation of German Jews. It was founded on 19 July 1950, as a response to the increasing isolation of German Jews by the international Jewish commu ...

(Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland).

Biography

Josef Schuster was born in

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

in 1954. His paternal family had lived in

Franconia Franconia ( ; ; ) is a geographical region of Germany, characterised by its culture and East Franconian dialect (). Franconia is made up of the three (governmental districts) of Lower Franconia, Lower, Middle Franconia, Middle and Upper Franco ...

since at least the middle of the 16th century. His father David Schuster was a merchant who was forced into exile and chose to emigrate to

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

in 1938. Both parents of his mother were murdered at the

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...

. His family returned to Germany in 1956. Schuster went to school in

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...

and studied medicine at the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg. He became a specialist in

internal medicine Internal medicine, also known as general medicine in Commonwealth nations, is a medical specialty for medical doctors focused on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases in adults. Its namesake stems from "treatment of diseases of ...

after training at the Juliusspital. Since 1988, he has maintained a private practice in internal medicine in Würzburg. Schuster is a volunteer, acting as an emergency physician, for the Bavarian section of the

German Red Cross The German Red Cross (GRC) ( ; DRK) is the national Red Cross Society in Germany. During the Nazi era, the German Red Cross was under the control of the Nazi Party and played a role in supporting the regime's policies, including the exclusion ...

. He is a member of the Bavarian Bioethics Commission and the central

institutional review board An institutional review board (IRB), also known as an independent ethics committee (IEC), ethical review board (ERB), or research ethics board (REB), is a committee at an institution that applies research ethics by reviewing the methods proposed ...

of the

German Medical Association The German Medical Association (GMA) (), founded in 1947 and based in Berlin, is the co-ordinating body of physicians' self-regulation in Germany. It co-ordinates the activities of the 17 State Chambers of Physicians which are responsible for regula ...

Functions in Jewish Organizations

In 1998, Schuster became President of the Jewish Community in Würzburg, a position his father had held between 1958 and 1996. Four years later, he was elected to be President of the Organization of Jewish Communities in

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

. In 2010, he became the vice-president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany. When Dieter Graumann stepped down as President of the Central Council, his election on November 30, 2014, as the successor was uncontested.

Other activities

University of Würzburg The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. Founded in 1402, it is one of the ol ...

, Member of the Board of Trustees * German Coordinating-Council for Christian-Jewish Cooperation Organizations, Member of the Board of TrusteesBoard of Trustees
German Coordinating-Council for Christian-Jewish Cooperation Organizations. * Deutsche Nationalstiftung, Member of the Senate

Writings

* ''Zur Sterblichkeit jüdischer und nichtjüdischer Säuglinge''. Dissertation Würzburg, University, 1980.

Literature

* Caroline Mayer: ''"Ich wünsche mir Normalität für die jüdischen Gemeinden in Deutschland"'', ''KVB-Forum'', Nr. 11, 2012, S. 26-27
Online
(2 pages, in German pdf)

External links

Josef Schuster
auf Wuerzburgwiki.de

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schuster, Josef German emergency physicians German Jews Israeli Jews 1954 births Living people Physicians from Haifa University of Würzburg alumni Israeli emigrants to Germany Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Presidents of the Central Council of Jews in Germany Jewish physicians