SPIEGEL, PAUL

SPIEGEL, PAUL (1937–2006), German-Jewish journalist and politician. Born in Warendorf (Westphalia), Spiegel fled with his family to Holland after the outbreak of World War II. He wrote as a journalist for German-Jewish newspapers, and between 1965 and 1972 was editor of the Juedische Pressedienst and assistant to the general secretary of the Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland. Between 1974 and 1986 he directed the office of public affairs at the Rheinische Sparkassen und Giroverband. In 1986 he founded an international Kuenstleragentur. In 1984 Spiegel was elected president of the Duesseldorf Jewish community, in 1989 president of the Zentralwohlfahrtsstelle der Juden in Deutschland. After the death of ignatz bubis , Spiegel was elected president of the Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland in January, 2000. He was an active promoter of German-Jewish understanding, an author on Jewish matters, and a prominent figure in German public life.