Sami Rohr (April 4, 1926 – August 5, 2012) was a German-born American real estate developer and philanthropist. Over his life, he donated at least $250 million to various Jewish causes, particularly the Chabad movement.

Early life

Sami Rohr was born on April 4, 1926, in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, Germany. He was the only child Oskar and Perla Gelbard Rohr. His father was a real estate investor, once described as one of Berlin's "leading real estate men". Thirteen days after ''

Kristallnacht ( ) or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from the Hitler Youth and German civilia ...

'', the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

pogrom in November 1938 that terrorized Jews across Germany, the Rohr family fled Germany to

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

, Belgium. They then traveled through Lyon, France, to Switzerland. Rohr's parents were sent to a refugee camp in Morgins, and Sami went to a children's home near

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

. Most of the Rohrs' extended family were murdered in the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the Rohr's moved to Paris. Sami's father sent him to an aunt in

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

, Colombia, in 1950, fearing that the outbreak of the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

presaged another world war. In Colombia, Sami began the real estate career that would make him a fortune. He is credited with "almost singlehandedly developing the west side of Bogotá. The Rohrs moved from South America to

Bal Harbour, Florida Bal Harbour is a village in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The village is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The population was 3,093 at the 2020 US Census. History Since the 1920s, the Detroit-based Miami Beach Heights Corpo ...

, in 1982 due to rising crime.

Philanthropy

Over his life, Rohr donated at least $250 million to various Jewish causes. He was a major benefactor of the

Chabad-Lubavitch Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (; ; ), is a dynasty in Hasidic Judaism. Belonging to the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) branch of Orthodox Judaism, it is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, as well as one of ...

movement, especially its work in the

former Soviet Union The post-Soviet states, also referred to as the former Soviet Union or the former Soviet republics, are the independent sovereign states that emerged/re-emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Prior to their independence, they ...

. After meeting with Chabad official Ephraim Wolff in the 1970s, Rohr's support for the organization greatly increased. Rohr donated tens of millions of dollars for Chabad Houses and other Jewish institutions. In addition, Rohr's children supported the Chabad movement. His daughter Lilian provided financial support for

Chabad.org Chabad.org is the flagship website of the Chabad, Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic Judaism, Hasidic movement. It was one of the first Jewish internet sites. History In 1988, Yosef Yitzchak Kazen, a Chabad rabbi, began creating a Chabad-Lubavitch prese ...

. According to the '' Forward'', Rohr viewed his philanthropic giving as an "investment" in the

Jewish people Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

. According to senior Chabad official Moshe Kotlarsky, Rohr invested in Chabad's outreach efforts out of a belief it would be an investment in resurrecting global Jewry. Rohr had a specific interested in restoring synagogues in the former Soviet Union that the government had seized or nationalized, contributing to building campaigns and underwriting the salaries of Chabad emissaries. By 2006, Rohr and his family had funded the salaries of more than 500 Chabad emissaries across the world.

Personal

Rohr met his wife Charlotte Kastner in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

, Chile, in 1952. Kastner was born in

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

, and had lost both of her parents 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 ...

. The couple married in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, Argentina, in 1953 and had three children, including George Rohr. Charlotte died in 2007. Rohr died from heart failure on August 5, 2012, in Miami.

Legacy

On the occasion of Rohr's 80th birthday in 2006, his children created in

Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature The Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature is an annual prize awarded to an outstanding literary work of Jewish interest by an emerging writer. Previously administered by the Jewish Book Council, it is now given in association with the National Li ...

for emerging writers about Jewish topics. At its inception, the $100,000 prize was the largest literary prize in North America.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rohr, Sami 1926 births 2012 deaths 20th-century American Jews 20th-century German Jews American philanthropists American people of German-Jewish descent