Honoring a Hero

Christoph Meili, whose act of extraordinary moral courage has won acclaim but at the cost of a heavy personal price, will be honored by the Jewish community at a May 8 dinner at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

Former Gov. Mario Cuomo of New York will be the keynote speaker.

Meili’s defining act occurred in January 1997 when, as a security guard at the Union Bank of Switzerland in Zurich, he discovered and rescued ledgers, about to be shredded, relating to the seizure of accounts and assets belonging to Holocaust victims and other European Jews.

He made his finds public and later testified before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, which credited his testimony with playing a major role in bringing about the ultimate $1.25 billion settlement between Swiss banks and Jewish organizations and survivors.

At home in Zurich, however, Meili was fired from his job, received hate letters and death threats, and was damned by parts of the Swiss media as a traitor.

Three years ago, he, his wife Giuseppina, and their two small children were granted political asylum in the United States. He was hailed as a hero by American Jews, an appellation he rejects, but also had to face the reality of supporting his family as an unskilled immigrant with a limited command of English.

The May 8 dinner is intended to express the community’s gratitude, and its organizers hope to present Meili with a six-figure honorarium to help defray his living expenses while attending Chapman College in Orange County. A good start has been made by a $50,000 gift from Ruth Ziegler and a $25,000 corporate sponsorship by Northern Trust Bank of California.

“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to do something for a person who did the right thing at the right time,” said Eric J. Diamond, a Beverly Hills attorney and chairman of the Christoph Meili Humanitarian Tribute Committee. “How often can you meet someone who has made a real difference?”

Rabbi David Wolpe of Sinai Temple noted, “This dinner is to honor a man whose courage and selflessness forced a nation to face some unpleasant truths. Christoph Meili is a model of the simple integrity that, unaided, can change our world. His valor and his struggle merit our admiration and our grateful support.”

After coming to the United States, Meili initially eked out a living as a security guard at a Manhattan high-rise, while going through “a horrible adjustment,” he said in a phone interview. “The media called me a superhero, but I was used by everyone.” Though he received donations from individual Jews, “the big Jewish organizations did not help me,” he said.

His life took a change for the better in March 1998, when he spoke at a conference at the Whittier Law School in Orange County.

Among the listeners were William Elperin, president of The “1939” Club, an organization of mostly Polish Holocaust survivors and their families, and Marilyn Harran, professor of religion at Chapman and founder of the university’s Holocaust education program.

Thanks to their efforts, Chapman came up with a full undergraduate scholarship, while The “1939” Club assumed responsibility for living costs for the Meili family for five years.

The fundraising effort strained the resources of The “1939” Club and its relatively small membership, though it financed the Meili family’s move to the West Coast, furnished their apartment and bought them a car, said Elperin.

A year ago, Meili spoke at Sinai Temple, where Diamond and a thousand other congregants were overwhelmed by his story.

“After the talk, 700 people lined up to speak to Christoph, and $10,000 was donated spontaneously,” recalled Diamond. “But we felt we had to do something more.”

The upshot is the May 8 community dinner, an event which, Elperin said, he and The “1939” Club fully support.

Meili is now finishing the first of an anticipated five-year program at Chapman College, and the going has not been easy for the 32-year-old, foreign-born freshman.

He did not finish high school in Switzerland, although he took some business school courses, which were not recognized in the United States.

He has been taking a general education curriculum with classes in English literature, algebra, and European and U.S. history. His favorite is a sociology course on “Marriage and Family,” he said.

Meili has not decided on a major and wonders whether even a bachelor’s degree will mean much when his finishes.

“I don’t like to study for the rest of my life,” he said. “Maybe I’ll step out and go to work. I’m a man who likes to do something with a purpose. I’m not much for theories.”

The two Meili children, Miriam, 7, and 5-year-old David, are enrolled in public schools and have adjusted easily to their new lives, said their father.

But he and his wife worry about the future. “We’re living on donations from the Jewish community, but we have to face reality,” he said. “One day the donations will stop and we will have to generate our own income.”

Meili’s parents still live in Switzerland, but he has little contact with Swiss officials. The local Swiss consulate sends him “propaganda books” on how much the country is doing for the Jews, he said.

“It’s difficult for the Swiss banks and people to understand what the fuss is all about,” said Meili. “They still don’t get it.”

Knowing all the difficulties and life changes facing him, would he repeat his action in rescuing the bank ledgers more than three years ago? Meili was asked.

“Yes, I would,” he answered unhesitatingly. “We have problems, but we also have many new friends. What I did was the right thing to do.”