GRYN, HUGO

GRYN, HUGO (1930–1996), British rabbi. Born in Berehovo, Czechoslovakia, Gryn was deported to Auschwitz at the age of 14. After the Holocaust he was taken to Britain and studied mathematics and biochemistry at Cambridge. Under the influence of leo baeck , he studied for the Reform rabbinate at Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati. His first congregation was in Bombay. Returning to the U.S., he served as executive director of the World Union of Progressive Judaism and from 1962 to 1964 was a senior executive in the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. From 1964 he was rabbi at the West London synagogue. In 1990 he became president of the Reform Synagogues of Great Britain and from 1980 to 1991 was chairman of the European board of the World Union for Progressive Judaism. He became widely known throughout Britain among Jews and non-Jews for his frequent appearances and especially for his broadcasts. He was a leading figure in interfaith activities.