Rabbi who aided Holocaust survivors dies

Abraham Klausner, a leading advocate for Holocaust survivors, has died. He was 92.

Klausner, who had been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, died Thursday at his Santa Fe home, said his wife, Judith.

He was the first Jewish chaplain in the U.S. Army to enter the Dachau concentration camp after it was liberated in 1945, his wife said.

He collected and published lists of Holocaust survivors in volumes called Sharit ha-Platah, or Surviving Remnant. He filled the top floor of a Berlin museum with his work trying to reconnect children of the Holocaust to their families, she said.

"He saved the lives of thousands of Jewish survivors and brought them together as much as he could with any families that would still be alive," Judith Klausner said.

Abraham Klausner authored a book on the survivors of the Holocaust, including those from the camp at Dachau. He also was featured in an Academy Award-winning documentary, "The Long Way Home."

Klausner and his wife retired in Santa Fe and held annual Hanukkah parties until 10 years ago, when the rabbi was diagnosed with Parkinson's.

Klausner received many commendations for his service in the Army as a chaplain. His son, Jeremy, shared a letter from Philip Bernstein, adviser to the theater commander on Jewish affairs.

"You took broken human beings and fragments of Jewish life and built them into a community," Bernstein wrote. "You gave these people dignity and purpose. Perhaps you have made history."

Klausner was born in 1915 and attended the University of Denver and, later, Hebrew Union College.

He was the leader of Temple Emanu-El in Yonkers, N.Y., for about 25 years, until he retired in 1989.

(This version CORRECTS dateline.)