Walter Hirsh (born 24 March 1936), known as Wally Hirsh, is a New Zealand educator and former

Race Relations Conciliator The Human Rights Commission (Māori: ''Te Kāhui Tika Tangata'') is the national human rights institution (NHRI) for New Zealand. It operates as an independent Crown entity, and is independent from direction by the Cabinet. Legislation and func ...

. Hirsh was born in

Mönchengladbach Mönchengladbach (, li, Jlabbach ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located west of the Rhine, halfway between Düsseldorf and the Dutch border. Geography Municipal subdivisions Since 2009, the territory of Mönchengladbac ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

on 24 March 1936, and his family fled Nazi persecution in 1938 to find a new life in

Milton Milton may refer to: Names * Milton (surname), a surname (and list of people with that surname) ** John Milton (1608–1674), English poet * Milton (given name) ** Milton Friedman (1912–2006), Nobel laureate in Economics, author of '' Free t ...

, New Zealand. He attended Tokomairiro District High School, Macandrew Intermediate School and

Otago Boys' High School , motto_translation = "The ‘right’ learning builds a heart of oak" , type = State secondary, day and boarding , established = ; years ago , streetaddress= 2 Arthur Street , region = Dunedin , state = Otago , zipcod ...

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

. Hirsch studied at Wellington Teachers' College and obtained a Trained Teacher's Certificate in 1958. He then studied at Victoria University, completing two degrees before embarking on a career in education and race relations. From 1959 to 1965, he worked as a teacher in the Wellington Region. From 1965 to 1969, he was a country teacher and school principal. In 1970, he lectured at Wellington Teachers' College. He was principal at Mount Cook School (1971–1974) and Karori West Normal School (1975–1985). He was inspector of schools in 1980. Hirsh was awarded a

Fulbright Scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

in 1975, and travelled among

Navajo The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...

and

Mohawk Mohawk may refer to: Related to Native Americans * Mohawk people, an indigenous people of North America (Canada and New York) *Mohawk language, the language spoken by the Mohawk people * Mohawk hairstyle, from a hairstyle once thought to have been ...

communities in the United States and Canada. In 1985, Hirsh was appointed New Zealand's Race Relations Conciliator and a Human Rights Commissioner, a position he held for five years. Other positions he has held have included a consultancy with New Zealand's Ethnic Affairs Department, Department head at

Auckland University of Technology Auckland University of Technology (AUT) ( mi, Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau) is a university in New Zealand, formed on 1 January 2000 when a former technical college (originally established in 1895) was granted university status. AUT ...

, principal of Auckland's main Jewish education centre, Kadimah College.Wally Hirsh
" LIMMUD NZ 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2021. Hirsh has also authored several books, among them the autobiography, "Out of The Shadows: My life's journey from Monchengladbach to Milton and beyond" (2013). He was the foundation chairman of the New Zealand Jewish Council from 1980 to 1985. Hirsh was awarded an OBE in the 1990 New Year Honours for services to race relations, and was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1993. In 1958, Hirsh married Adele de Woolf; they had two sons and one daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hirsh, Wally 1936 births Living people New Zealand educators New Zealand public servants People from Mönchengladbach People from Milton, New Zealand New Zealand Jews