Harry Sessler

Harry Sessler was born in 1929 in Sofia

Sessler was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, to Jacques (Yaakov) and Rivka Sessler, a well-off family. During World War II his family was moved to the Yuchbunar ghetto and in May 1943 was exiled to the town of Montana. There he joined the Betar movement.

After the war, the Communist regime barred him from studying medicine, and he worked at the Bulgarian National Bank. In 1949 he immigrated to Israel alone, and his parents followed 2 years later. He served as a combat medic in the Givati Brigade.

In 1958 he joined the Dagon company, where he became chief financial officer and co-CEO. He was close to Dr. Reuben Hecht and later chaired the Hecht Foundation. The foundation funded the Hecht Auditorium at the University of Haifa, Hecht Park and the Herzl Institute for Zionist research.

He chaired the association of Bulgarian Jews in northern Israel and was vice president of B'nai B'rith International. He married Erika Luna in 1954, and they had 2 children. He died in Haifa in 2024 and was buried in Sde Yehoshua cemetery.