Klaus Goldschlag

Klaus Goldschlag
Goldschlag, c. 1950
Ambassador of Canada to Germany
In office
1980–1983
Preceded byJohn Gelder Horler Halstead
Succeeded byDonald Sutherland McPhail
Ambassador of Canada to Italy
In office
1973–1976
Succeeded byRoger Anthony Bull
Ambassador of Canada to Turkey
In office
1971–1967
Personal details
Born(1922-03-23)March 23, 1922
Berlin, Germany
DiedJanuary 30, 2012(2012-01-30) (aged 89)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Alma materUniversity of Toronto
AwardsOrder of Canada

Klaus Goldschlag, OC (March 23, 1922 – January 30, 2012)[1] was a Canadian ambassador.

Early life

[edit]

Born in Berlin, Germany, to the lawyer Walter Goldschlag (d. 1930) and his wife Charlotte, née Blumenthal. The family on his fathers side were assimilated Jews and beonged middle class and included lawyers and merchants.

His paternal uncle, Gerhard, was the father of the infamous nazi collaborator Stella Goldschlag and another uncle, George, was a writer.

Goldschlag attended orthodox school and was one of the top students in his class.[2]

During the Nazi regime he became a Jewish semi-orphan[3] living at the Baruch Auerbach home for Jewish children in Berlin Nazi Germany. His father had died in 1930 due to a chronic illness contracted during WWI and his mother not having sufficient money to raise him[4] had to leave him at the orphanage in 1933[5] while she went into hiding. She was only able to visit him occasionally.

In 1934, Alan Coatsworth, a Toronto fire-insurance broker and a Methodist who wanted to finance the escape of a refugee from Nazi Germany and through communication with two rabbis[6] Maurice Eisendrath from Toronto and Leo Baeck in Germany, Coatsworth was made aware of Goldschlags situation, and in 1937 helped him leave Germany and adopted Goldschlag.[3]

Goldschlag attended Vaughan Road Collegiate and it was the wish of Coatsworth that he became a rabbi.[6] In 1939 his mother was able to leave Germany emigrated to the Dominican Republic. She and her son was reunited in the 1940s.

Career

[edit]

After earning his master's degree in Arabic at the University of Toronto, he joined the diplomatic and foreign affairs department.[7]

Public service

[edit]

Goldschlag was ambassador to Turkey (1967–1971), Italy (1973–1976) and the Federal Republic of Germany.[8] Goldschlag also served as Deputy Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs. In 1981 he received the Outstanding Achievement Award for public service of Canada.[9] In 1983, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.[10]

Death

[edit]

Goldschlag died of pancreatic cancer on Jan. 30,1989.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Obituary: Klaus Goldschlag". Ottawa Citizen.
  2. ^ "Collections Search - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum". collections.ushmm.org. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
  3. ^ a b Eulenspiegel-Jahrbuch (in German). Freundeskreis Till Eulenspiegel. 2007.
  4. ^ "LIVES: Klaus Goldschlag *49". Princeton Alumni Weekly. 2016-01-21. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
  5. ^ "Antisemitism in Britain" (PDF). ajr.org.uk. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
  6. ^ a b The Reform Advocate. 1937.
  7. ^ "The Bulletin, May 6/96 Campaign Corner". University of Toronto.
  8. ^ "Heads of Post List". Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.
  9. ^ "Outstanding Achievement Award - Previous Award Recipients". Public Service Human Resources Management Agency of Canada. Archived from the original on 2005-11-22.
  10. ^ Order of Canada citation
[edit]