ROBINSON, NEHEMIAH

ROBINSON, NEHEMIAH (1898–1964), international lawyer. Born in Vištys, Lithuania, he studied law and political science at the University of Jena, Germany, and from 1927 practiced law in Kovno with his brother Jacob *Robinson. Soon after his arrival in New York (December 1940), he joined the Institute of Jewish Affairs and was appointed its director in 1947, in which post he continued until his death. He published a number of books and numerous articles on contemporary Jewish affairs, the United Nations, prosecution of war criminals, and indemnification of the victims of Nazi persecution. Robinson was International Law Adviser to the *World Jewish Congress. In the negotiations of the *Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany with German authorities at The Hague, Robinson acted as chief adviser in formulating the agreement on indemnification, and later contributed to its legislative and judicial implementation. He also represented Jewish bodies in negotiating agreements on indemnification with the Austrian authorities.

Among his works are: Indemnification, Reparations, Jewish Aspects (1944); Problems of European Reconstruction (1945); Ten Years of German Indemnification (1964, includes biography and bibliography of his works on indemnification); United Nations and the World Jewish Congress (1956); Genocide Convention (1960); and Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1958).

bibliography:

World Jewish Congress, Dr. Nehemiah Robinson (Eng. 1964); N. Goldmann in: Ten Years of German Indemnification (1964).

[Maurice L. Perlzweig]