Leo Baeck (1873-1956), scholar
Leo Baeck (1873-1956) was a German rabbi, scholar and leader of Progressive Judaism. Born in Lissa (now Leszno, Poland), the son of rabbi Samuel Baeck, Leo Baeck studied in Breslau and Berlin. Served as a rabbi in Oppeln, Düsseldorf, and Berlin, and taught at the Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums (Higher Institute for Jewish Studies). During World War I, Baeck was a chaplain in the German Imperial Army. During the Nazi regime, was president of the Reichsvertretung der Deutschen Juden, the organization that until 1938 united all German Jews. Baeck refused to leave Germany and abandon his community and on 27 January 1943, he was deported to the Theresienstadt concentration camp. After the War, moved to England, geing engaged in the Jewish-Christian dialogue and as a leader of Progressive Judaism.