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Journalist who fled Nazis and later became a rabbi dies aged 93

Willy WolffA journalist who switched careers to become a rabbi has died aged 93.

Tributes have been paid to Willy Wolff, who found achieved his dream of becoming a Jewish religious leader after a 30-year career in journalism.

Willy, pictured, fled Nazi Germany with his family as a child and trained as a journalist on the Slough Observer.

He later went on to become a Parliamentary correspondent and reporter for titles including the Daily Mail, Daily Mirror and Reuters.

Willy was ordained in 1984 at the age of 53 and went on to hold posts at synagogues in Newcastle, Brighton, Hove, Wimbledon and Milton Keynes.

An obituary in the Observer states: “The never forgot his German roots and in an historic appointment was made state rabbi of Mechlenburg-Vorpommern in Germany – a post which had previously been vacant for 65 years.

“He served the Jewish communities there until his retirement at the age of 88 – during which time he learnt Russian to be able to cater to the significant number of Jews from the former Soviet Union in these areas. In 2014 he was named an honorary citizen by the City of Schwerin.

“He became known to Germany’s movie-going audiences in 2011, through filmmaker Britta Wauer’s documentary about Berlin’s historic Weissensee Jewish Cemetery.

“He featured heavily in the film and Ms Wauer went on to make a documentary about him, called Rabbi Wolff – A Gentleman Before God.”