Ernst Carl Stiefel (/ˈstiːfəl/ STEE-fəl; 27 November 1907 – 3 September 1997) was a German American jurist. Of Jewish background, he left Nazi Germany in 1933.[1]
Ernst C. Stiefel | |
|---|---|
| Born | 27 November 1907 |
| Died | 3 September 1997 (aged 89) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Jurist |
Born in Mannheim, he earned a doctorate in law from Heidelberg University in 1929 and started practicing in his hometown in 1933.[2] When his licensure was struck off due to the Gesetz über die Zulassung zur Rechtsanwaltschaft only two weeks later, he emigrated to Strasbourg, France, working for an insurance company.[1][2]
On the brink of World War II, he emigrated to the United States in 1939 working as a plongeur. He was drafted into the United States Army as an enemy alien in 1943, and served in the Office of Strategic Services. In 1944, he became a US citizen. He returned to Germany after World War II had ended, and helped lay the legal groundwork for a system of restitution and reparation to Holocaust survivors living abroad.[1]
Returning to the US in 1947, he passed the bar exam in New York and starting working at the newly founded Cleary Gottlieb Friendly & Hamilton. In 1971, he became a senior counsel for Coudert Brothers, and from 1975 on we was a professor of Comparative Law at New York Law School.[1]
While living in US, Stiefel visited Germany annually, and died in 1997 during a stay in Baden-Baden. He was married briefly and left no issue.
References
edit- ^ a b c d Robert McG. Thomas Jr. (7 September 1997). "Ernst C. Stiefel Dies at 89; Lawyer Fled Hitler". The New York Times. p. 152. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
- ^ a b Stiefel, Ernst C.; Mecklenburg, Frank (1991). "Ernst C. Stiefel". Deutsche Juristen im amerikanischen Exil (1933–1950) (in German). Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck. pp. 131–135. ISBN 3-16-145688-2.