Mordecai Paldiel (born Markus Wajsfeld, March 10, 1937) is a lecturer at Stern College (

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a Private university, private Modern Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City.

Queens College Queens College (QC) is a public college in the New York City borough of Queens. Part of the City University of New York system, Queens College occupies an campus primarily located in Flushing. Queens College was established in 1937 and offe ...

in New York.

Early life and education

Paldiel was born into a

Hasidic Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most of those aff ...

family of Szlomo Wajsfeld, a diamond trader originally from

Miechów Miechów is a town in Poland, in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, about north of Kraków. It is the capital of Miechów County. Population is 11,852 (2004). Miechów lies on the Miechówka river, along European route E77. The area of the town is , a ...

near Kraków, and Hinde (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Labin) from

Uhnów Uhniv ( ) is a city in Sheptytskyi Raion, Lviv Oblast, western Ukraine. It has a population of 939 as of 2022. Uhniv is the smallest city of Ukraine. It is located from Belz and from Rava-Ruska. It is located next to the Poland–Ukraine ...

(now Ukraine) as one of their five children before World War II. Thanks to a Catholic Priest who was able to smuggle them across the border, the family fled from Nazi occupied Belgium via France to Switzerland in 1940 when he was 3 years old. Later after the war the family emigrated to New York: He received a Bachelor of Arts from

Hebrew University The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. It is the second-ol ...

and a Master of Arts and PhD in Religion and Holocaust Studies from

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

in Philadelphia. Paldiel is the former Director (1984–2007) of the Department of the

Righteous Among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( ) is a title used by Yad Vashem to describe people who, for various reasons, made an effort to assist victims, mostly Jews, who were being persecuted and exterminated by Nazi Germany, Fascist Romania, Fascist Italy, ...

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem (; ) is Israel's official memorial institution to the victims of Holocaust, the Holocaust known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (). It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; echoing the stories of the ...

in Jerusalem. He has written several books devoted to the subject including ''The Path of the Righteous: Gentile Rescuers of Jews During the Holocaust'' published in 1993 by the KTAV Publishing House.

Personal life

Paldiel married Rachel Mizrahi in 1966 in Israel. The couple has 3 children, son Eli and daughters Sigalit "Siggy" and Iris. His eldest daughter

Siggy Flicker Sigalit "Siggy" Flicker ( Paldiel; born June 1, 1967) is an Israeli-American matchmaker, podcaster, television personality, and writer. She starred in the VH1 reality-television series ''Why Am I Still Single?!'' and was a cast member on the sev ...

is a relationship expert and television personality who appeared on the Bravo reality television series ''

The Real Housewives of New Jersey ''The Real Housewives of New Jersey'', abbreviated ''RHONJ'', is an American reality television series that premiered on May 12, 2009, on Bravo. Developed as the fourth installment of ''The Real Housewives'' franchise, it has aired fourteen sea ...

'' from 2016 to 2018.

Publications

* Mordecai Paldiel (1982), ''Secular Dualism: The 'religious' Nature of Hitler's Antisemitism'',

* Mordecai Paldiel (1992), כל המקיים נפש אחת: חסידי אומות העולם וייחודם

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

* Mordecai Paldiel (1993), ''The Path of the Righteous: Gentile Rescuers of Jews ..'', * Mordecai Paldiel (1996), ''Sheltering the Jews: stories of Holocaust rescuers'', * Mordecai Paldiel (2006), ''Churches and the Holocaust: Unholy Teaching ..'', * Mordecai Paldiel (2007), ''Diplomat Heroes of the Holocaust'', * Mordecai Paldiel (2007), ''The righteous among the nations'', * Mordecai Paldiel (2011), ''Saving the Jews: Men and Women who Defied the Final Solution'', * Mordecai Paldiel (2017), ''Saving One's Own: Jewish Rescuers During the Holocaust''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paldiel, Mordecai 1937 births Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni Living people Jewish historians Jewish writers Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States Queens College, City University of New York faculty Temple University alumni Yad Vashem people Yeshiva University faculty