Aaron Gutwirth
Aaron Gutwirth (Hebrew: אהרן גוטווירט; born: February 23, 1907 ~ December 5, 1980) was a Belgian - American diamond merchant and businessman who founded the companies "Champion Motors" and "Allied Group".
Biography
Gutwirth was born in Antwerp, Belgium, to a Jewish Haredic religious family who emigrated from Kraków, Poland. the family made its living trading diamonds in the international market. In 1926 Gutwirth joined the family business and moved to Brazil to find diamonds. at the same time his two brothers moved to Congo and South Africa, to find their diamonds as well.[1]
In the 30's the family business expanded to Indonesia and Malaysia, and Gutwirth moved there for the next 20 years.
In 1941 the Japanese occupiers in Indonesia captured him, and he was put in a concentration camp in Java island alongside with Dutch citizens and Europeans from other nationalities.[2] In 1945 World War 2 ended and Gutwirth got liberated and started to volunteer in the Red Cross.[2]
In the 1950s, the colonial era in Indonesia and Malaysia came to an end because they received their independence. Gutwirth, who were a refugee received Dutch and British citizen ships.[3]
On April 17, 1951 Gutwirth got married to Miriam, an American immigrant from Czechoslovakia, a holocaust survivor who survived the death camp Auschwitz. They never had any children, and lived in New York for the rest of their life.[4]
In 1965 Gutwirth founded "Allied Investment" and "Champion Motors" in Israel.[5]
In 1977, Miriam, Gutwirth's wife passed away in New York. Three years later Gutwirth died in his apartment in Tel Aviv. He was buried in Mount of Olives which is located in Jerusalem.[6]
References
- ↑ "Diamond drillers to prospect for ores". eresources.nlb.gov.sg. The Straits Times. 19 May 1953. p. 10.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "הענק הרדום" [The Sleeping Giant]. גלובס (in עברית). January 10, 2007.
- ↑ "הקונסול הבריטי בג'קארטה ביקר א^ל גוטווידט מאת סופרנותושל הבריטי". www.jpress.nli.org.il (in עברית).
- ↑ "Page 2 Advertisements Column 7". eresources.nlb.gov.sg.
- ↑ "about champion motors and allied group". Archived from the original on 2019-12-10. Retrieved 2020-03-14.
- ↑ "גוטווירט". www.jpress.nli.org.il (in עברית).
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