One of Israel’s staunchest friends in France, Father Alexandre Glasberg, a Jewish-born Catholic priest, died here today at the age of 78. Glasberg, a Catholic convert in early childhood, openly affirmed his Jewish identity after the Nazi occupation of France. He refused to enter a monastery or leave the country to avoid arrest and wore the Nazi-imposed yellow Star of David in public.
Glasberg joined the French resistance movement in 1941 and two years later was appointed chief Catholic chaplain by the Free French forces. After the war he established several organizations active on behalf of racial and political refugees and in 1947 was one of the main organizers of illegal Jewish immigration to Palestine.
In recent years Glasberg was criticized by Jewish circles after he privately advocated the creation of a Palestinian state. He was a Knight in the Legion of Honor and also held the Resistance Medal. He served till his death as the vice president of the Organization of Former Resistance Fighters in France.
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