Obituary: Former Race Relations Conciliator Wally Hirsh dies

From Radio NZ…

Wally Hirsh – who died on New Year’s Eve, aged 88 – was New Zealand’s fourth race relations conciliator.

Brought to this country by his German Jewish refugee parents in 1938, he grew up at Milton in South Otago, and worked for 30 years as a teacher and teachers college lecturer.

His daughter Leora Hirsh told RNZ at the time of his appointment in 1986 he was a leader in the Jewish community, and had recently organised New Zealand’s first major Holocaust commemoration.

Several Māori groups and leaders expressed unhappiness at the appointment because he was not of Māori heritage. Legally there was no obligation for this, but the second and third people in the role were Māori, and some believed a pattern had been established.

But Hirsh said his membership of a minority gave him special sensitivity to race issues…

Read the full story on RNZ here.