Walter Zander (8 June 1898,

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...

– 7 April 1993,

South Croydon South Croydon in south London is the area surrounding the valley south of central Croydon and running as far south as the former Red Deer public house on the Brighton Road. It is bounded by Waddon to the West and Selsdon and Sanderstead to the ...

) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

lawyer, scholar and writer. He was Secretary of the British Friends of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem 1944-71, Governor of the University 1972-93, Senior Associate Fellow at

St Antony's College, Oxford St Antony's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1950 as the result of the gift of French merchant Sir Antonin Besse of Aden, St Antony's specialises in international relations, economic ...

1971-88, and author of several books and articles, many of them about Israel and its international relations. The son of a prominent Erfurt lawyer, he studied at the Gymnasium, before being called up for military service in 1916. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, he served as a non-commissioned officer in the German Army and was awarded the

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia est ...

. After the war, he went on to study law, philosophy and economics in

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a popu ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. After a brief period as an assistant to one of the leading lawyers in Berlin, he set up his own practice in the city. In 1929, he took a one-year leave from his practice to study economics at the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

and the

Sorbonne University Sorbonne University (french: Sorbonne Université; la Sorbonne: 'the Sorbonne') is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sorbon ...

. In 1931 he married Margarete (Gretl) Magnus, daughter of famous physiologist/pharmacologist, Professor Rudolf Magnus. They had three sons and a daughter, among them legal scholar

Michael Zander Michael Zander, KC, FBA, (born 16 November 1932 in Berlin) is a British legal scholar. He is Professor Emeritus of Law at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and the author of several books known to generations of lawyers an ...

and conductor

Benjamin Zander Benjamin Zander (born 9 March 1939 in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, England) is an English conductor, who is currently the musical director of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. Biography Benjami ...

. As a Jew, he left Nazi Germany, emigrating with his family to the United Kingdom in 1937, where he set up a printing business in

Slough Slough () is a town and unparished area in the unitary authority of the same name in Berkshire, England, bordering west London. It lies in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4 ...

. Soon after, however, he was interned for ten months as an

enemy alien In customary international law, an enemy alien is any native, citizen, denizen or subject of any foreign nation or government with which a domestic nation or government is in conflict and who is liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured and ...

on the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

during World War II. In the internment camp, he was one of those who started "a kind of university, which offered many different lectures on the most varied subjects ranging from theoretical physics to Greek philosophy and Russian for beginners" with his fellow prisoners.Quote from Benjamin Zander's book, quoted by: His writings in English are accessible at www.walterzander.info. From 1944, for 27 years, he was Secretary of the British Friends of the

Hebrew University in Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

. After retiring he became a Senior Associate Fellow of St Antony's College, Oxford.

Books

*Soviet Jewry, Palestine and the West, 1947 *Is This The Way?, 1948 *Israel and the Holy Places of Christendom, 1971

References

External links

*http://www.walterzander.info/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Zander, Walter Jurists from Thuringia Writers from Erfurt Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914) 1898 births 1993 deaths Alumni of the London School of Economics University of Paris alumni People interned in the Isle of Man during World War II People from the Province of Saxony Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom