Michael Wolffsohn

Michael Wolffsohn was born in 1947 in Tel Aviv

Michael Wolffsohn was born in Tel Aviv on 17 May 1947, during the British Mandate. His parents were German Jews who had fled Germany in 1939. In 1954 the family moved to West Berlin.

He began studying at the Free University of Berlin in 1966. He went on to study at Tel Aviv University and Columbia University. He earned a PhD in history in 1975.

From 1967 to 1970 he served in the Israel Defense Forces.

He taught at Saarland University from 1975 to 1980. Since 1981 he has been a professor of contemporary history at the Bundeswehr University Munich. In 1991 he founded a research center for German Jewish contemporary history.

His books include Eternal Guilt? from 1993, which argued against the idea that Germans must carry guilt for the Holocaust for all time. He has written in support of Israel and of German patriotism. In 2015 he wrote in support of Angela Merkel's refugee policy.