Former Race Relations Conciliator Wally Hirsh. Photo: supplied
Born in Nazi Germany, Wally Hirsh worked hard to repay the country which had given his parents and children hope for a bright future. The Hirshs were from Monchengladbach and in 1938, two years after Wally’s birth, fled their homeland and ended up in the far distant land of New Zealand — and the even more far distant town of Milton, South Otago. A pupil at Tokomairiro District High School, Macandrew Intermediate School and then Otago Boys’ High School, Hirsh began tertiary education at the University of Otago before being awarded a scholarship by the Zionist Council for a year’s study at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Back in New Zealand Hirsh studied at Wellington Teachers’ College and Victoria University, completing two degrees before becoming a teacher and school principal. Hirsh also rose to become a leader in the Jewish community, and helped organise New Zealand’s first major Holocaust commemoration. In 1986 he was named as Race Relations Commissioner, a controversial appointment for some as he was not Māori. Hirsh was commissioner for three years, before taking up various public and private sector roles. The father of three was also the foundation chairman of the New Zealand Jewish Council and the author of several books. He died on New Year’s eve aged 88. — APL/Agencies
