Max Friediger (9 April 1884 – 9 April 1947) was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

chief rabbi Chief Rabbi ( he, רב ראשי ''Rav Rashi'') is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a ...

and a survivor of 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; a ...

Biography

After the

occupation of Denmark At the outset of World War II in September 1939, Denmark declared itself neutral. For most of the war, the country was a protectorate and then an occupied territory of Germany. The decision to occupy Denmark was taken in Berlin on 17 December ...

by the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

, Friediger and other high prominent Danish Jews were interned in 1943 in the open state prison at

Horserød camp Horserød Camp (also Horserød State Prison, Danish: ''Horserødlejren'' or ''Horserød Statsfængsel'') is an open state prison at Horserød, Denmark located in North Zealand, approximately seven kilometers from Helsingør. Built in 1917, Hor ...

, and later deported to

Theresienstadt concentration camp Theresienstadt Ghetto was established by the Schutzstaffel, SS during World War II in the fortress town of Terezín, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (German occupation of Czechoslovakia, German-occupied Czechoslovakia). Theresienstad ...

via Swinemünde where on 3 October 1943 he and other Danish Jews were spotted by Danish communists also being deported. Friediger led the church register of approx. 480 Danish Jews in a synagogue located in a storeroom within the camp and later published an account of life in Theresienstadt. After his death in 1947, his successor as chief rabbi was

Marcus Melchior Marcus Melchior (1897 – 1969) was the rabbi of the main synagogue in Copenhagen, Denmark, at the time of the rescue of the Danish Jews in October 1943, during the Second World War. After escaping with his family and other Danish Jews to Sweden, ...

References

* Chief rabbis of Denmark Theresienstadt Ghetto survivors Danish people of World War II Danish Jews 1884 births 1947 deaths {{Europe-rabbi-stub