Gideon Taylor

New York, US

In June 2020, Gideon Taylor was elected President of the Board of Directors of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference). For seven decades, the Claims Conference has led the way in successfully negotiating for restitution and compensation to Nazi victims (with over $90 billion distributed to date). The Claims Conference is also leader in funding a broad array of Holocaust education programs, ranging from teacher training to archival preservation to films. Further, the Claims Conference has released a series of Holocaust Knowledge and Awareness Studies globally. These studies have been receiving worldwide media attention due to results showing a general lack of Holocaust knowledge. The studies have led to growing momentum for greater Holocaust education in the United States, Canada and now Austria.

 

Mr. Taylor previously served as Executive Vice President Claims Conference from 2000 to 2009. As Executive Vice President, he led a series of complex negotiations regarding Holocaust-era compensation and restitution with foreign governments such as Germany and Austria as well as the banking and manufacturing sectors. Negotiations included those leading to the establishment of the $5 billion German Foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility, and the Future,” which provided compensation for former slave and forced laborers. He also supervised a program for recovery of unclaimed Jewish property in former East Germany through claims for, and sales of, buildings and land. He expanded a worldwide allocations program for social assistance and Holocaust education programs to 700 agencies worldwide. He oversaw the distribution of individual compensation totaling $6 billion to hundreds of thousands of Nazi victims in 70 countries worldwide.

 

In 2013, in a volunteer lay capacity, Mr. Taylor became Chair of Operations of the World Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO). WJRO is the representative of world Jewry in pursuing claims for the recovery of Jewish properties seized during the Holocaust in Eastern Europe. He oversaw the restructuring of WJRO and a major expansion of activity in 12 countries including Poland, Hungary, Romania and the Baltics. WJRO has secured the passage of legislation regarding heirless Jewish property in Serbia, former Jewish communal property in Romania and Latvia, and social welfare payments for Holocaust survivors from Poland. On International Holocaust Remembrance Day in January 2021, WJRO also helped secure a historic agreement with the Government of Luxembourg on Holocaust asset issues. Foundations established by WJRO together with the local Jewish communities in Romania, Poland, and Lithuania allocate funds for welfare and Jewish communal activity. WJRO has increased advocacy efforts in a range of countries and now has operations in Washington and Brussels.

Mr. Taylor also currently serves as the Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York (JCRC-NY). 

In addition, he serves in a voluntary lay capacity as Co-Chair of the Board of the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland, and as a Member of the Board of Directors of a number of organizations including Friends of Jewish Heritage in Poland.

Previously, Mr. Taylor served as Associate Executive Vice President at the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), the overseas humanitarian arm of the American Jewish community. He directed rescue operations in Syria and Yemen and coordinated activities in Ethiopia. He also oversaw JDC’s International Development Program, which implemented major disaster relief and development programs in Africa, the Middle East and Europe. He subsequently managed the global program and the $250 million budget of the organization.

Originally from Dublin, Ireland, Mr. Taylor is a law graduate of Trinity College in Dublin and received his master’s degree in law from Oxford University. He is admitted as an attorney in the State of New York, Ireland and the United Kingdom.