Israel Miller, 83; Sought Holocaust Restitution
Rabbi Israel Miller, 83, who worked to obtain compensation from Germany for Holocaust survivors, died Thursday at his home in Jerusalem.
The Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany, which he had led since 1982, gave no cause of death.
“Under Rabbi Miller’s leadership, the Claims Conference negotiated numerous compensation and restitution agreements enabling more than 400,000 Jewish Holocaust survivors in over 60 countries to receive compensation payments of approximately $2 billion,” the organization said.
He also helped with the recovery of unclaimed Jewish property in the former East Germany.
The sale of that property provided about $500 million that the Claims Conference used for humanitarian, research and educational efforts.
Born in Baltimore, Miller earned degrees at Yeshiva College and Columbia University and served as a chaplain in the Army Air Corps during World War II.
He served as rabbi at the Kingsbridge Heights Jewish Center in the Bronx from 1941 to 1968. He also served as an administrator at Yeshiva University.
He was national chairman of the American Jewish Council on Soviet Jewry in the 1970s.
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