Rabbi Robert Serebrenik, former chief rabbi of Luxembourg, who came to the United States in 1941, died here of a heart attack early today. He was 61.
He had been rabbi of Congregation Ramat Crah fromitts founding in 1941 by a group of fellow refugees from Luxembourg. Born in Vienna, he emigrated to Luxembourg after completing his education.
Rabbi Serebrenik went to Berlin in 1941 to negotiate with Adolf Eichmann on the release of the surviving Luxembourg Jews. After the negotiations, the remaining Luxembourg Jews were shipped to Portugal in sealed trains across Belgium, France and Spain. They had visas. Most of them went to the United States. The total number was a few hundred. In 1961, he went to Israel to testify in the trial of Eichmann, in Jerusalem.
He had been active in the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada, the Manhattan Day School and the World Jewish Congress. Funeral services will be held in the synagogue tomorrow.
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