Ernest (Ernie) Michel, who after surviving Auschwitz and a forced death march went on to become a prominent American Jewish communal leader, died at his home in Manhattan on May 7. He was 92.
Michel worked as a Jewish communal professional for more than 60 years, joining the staff of the United Jewish Appeal in 1947, according to UJA-Federation of New York. He served as its executive vice president from 1970 to 1989, overseeing the merger that created UJA-Federation of New York.
Michel also served as chairman of the World Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and negotiated with the Mormon Church over its practice of posthumously baptizing Jews who died in the Holocaust.
Michel was born in 1923 in Mannheim, Germany, the son of a cigarette manufacturer. In 1939 he was deported to a forced labor camp and later to Auschwitz. Michel’s parents and grandparents were killed in the Holocaust, but his younger sister, Lotte, fled to France and went into hiding there.
After the war, Michel briefly worked as a correspondent for the German General News Agency, covering the Nuremberg Trials. During the trials, he had the opportunity to meet Nazi leader Hermann Goering, an encounter he described for JTA in 2005:
“When I entered, Goering got up and reached out his hand. I asked myself: ‘What the hell am I doing here? Should I shake his hand?… I must admit I simply could not handle it. I froze. Without uttering a single word, I turned around and asked to be let out. The last thing I remember was Goering standing there with his outstretched hand. Still today, I am glad that I never exchanged a single word with the top Nazi in Nuremberg.” — jta