Klaus Goldschlag
{{Short description|Canadian diplomat (1922–2012)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Klaus Goldschlag
|image = Klaus Goldschlag portrait 1950.jpg
|alt =
|caption = Goldschlag, {{circa|1950}}
|birth_date = {{Birth date|1922|03|23}}
|birth_place = Berlin, Germany
|death_date = {{Death date and age|2012|01|30|1922|03|23}}
|death_place = Toronto, Ontario, Canada
|other_names =
|known_for =
|office1 = Ambassador of Canada to Germany
|term_start1 = 1980
|term_end1 = 1983
|predecessor1= John Gelder Horler Halstead
|successor1 = Donald Sutherland McPhail
|office2 = Ambassador of Canada to Italy
|term_start2 = 1973
|term_end2 = 1976
|predecessor2=
|successor2 = Roger Anthony Bull
|office3 = Ambassador of Canada to Turkey
|term_start3 = 1971
|term_end3 = 1967
|predecessor3=
|successor3 =
|occupation =
|nationality =
|awards = Order of Canada
|alma_mater = University of Toronto
}}
Klaus Goldschlag, {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|OC}} (March 23, 1922 – January 30, 2012){{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/ottawacitizen/obituary.aspx?n=klaus-goldschlag&pid=155751615|title=Obituary: Klaus Goldschlag|work=Ottawa Citizen}} was a Canadian ambassador.
Early life
He was born in Berlin, Germany, to the lawyer Walter Goldschlag (d. 1930) and his wife Charlotte, née Blumenthal. The family on his father's side were middle-class assimilated Jews 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.{{Cite web |title=Collections Search - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum |url=https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn506757 |access-date=2024-04-13 |website=collections.ushmm.org}}
During the Nazi regime he became a Jewish semi-orphan{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UIoaAQAAMAAJ&q=%22klaus+goldschlag%22+walter+stella |title=Eulenspiegel-Jahrbuch |date=2007 |publisher=Freundeskreis Till Eulenspiegel. |language=de}} 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{{Cite web |date=2016-01-21 |title=LIVES: Klaus Goldschlag *49 |url=https://paw.princeton.edu/article/lives-klaus-goldschlag-49 |access-date=2024-04-13 |website=Princeton Alumni Weekly |language=en}} had to leave him at the orphanage in 1933{{Cite web |title=Antisemitism in Britain |url=https://ajr.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/1980_november.pdf |access-date=April 13, 2024 |website=ajr.org.uk}} 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{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TYnlAAAAMAAJ&q=%22alan+coatsworth%22+goldschlag |title=The Reform Advocate |date=1937 |language=en}} 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.
Goldschlag attended Vaughan Road Collegiate and it was the wish of Coatsworth that he became a rabbi. In 1939 his mother was able to leave Germany and emigrated to the Dominican Republic. She and her son were reunited in the 1940s.
Career
After earning his master's degree in Arabic at the University of Toronto, he joined the diplomatic and foreign affairs department.{{cite web|url=http://www.news.utoronto.ca/bin/bulletin/may6_96/campaign.htm|title=The Bulletin, May 6/96 Campaign Corner|work=University of Toronto}}
Public service
Goldschlag was ambassador to Turkey (1967–1971), Italy (1973–1976) and the Federal Republic of Germany.{{cite web|url=http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/hist/hplSearch_results-en.asp?frm=person&lan=1&prsnid=521|title=Heads of Post List|work=Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade}} 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.hrma-agrh.gc.ca/hr-rh/ar-pr/outstanding/oaa_par_e.asp|title=Outstanding Achievement Award - Previous Award Recipients|work=Public Service Human Resources Management Agency of Canada|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20051122034834/http://www.hrma-agrh.gc.ca/hr-rh/ar-pr/outstanding/oaa_par_e.asp|archivedate=2005-11-22}} In 1983, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.{{OCC|654}}
Death
Goldschlag died of pancreatic cancer on Jan. 30,1989.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/diplomat-klaus-goldschlag-overcame-tremendous-obstacles/article2432836/singlepage/#articlecontent Diplomat Klaus Goldschlag overcame tremendous obstacles] Globe and Mail obituary by Sandra Martin, 14 May 2012
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldschlag, Klaus}}
Category:Officers of the Order of Canada
Category:Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Canada
Category:Ambassadors of Canada to Turkey