Sigi Ziering | |
---|---|
Born |
Siegfried Ziering March 20, 1928 Kassel, Germany |
Died | November 12, 2000 Los Angeles, California |
Cause of death | brain cancer |
Education |
Brooklyn College Syracuse University |
Occupation | Business executive, playwright, philanthropist |
Spouse(s) | Marilyn Ziering |
Children | Michael Ziering Ira Ziering Rosanne Ziering Amy Ziering |
Parent(s) | Isaac Ziering Cilly Ziering |
Relatives | Herman Ziering (brother) Gil Kofman (son-in-law) |
Sigi Ziering (March 20, 1928 - November 12, 2000) was a German-born American business executive, playwright and philanthropist. A Holocaust survivor, he immigrated to the United States with his family and worked as a nuclear scientist. He was the Founder and President of the Diagnostic Products Corporation, later acquired by Siemens as their subsidiary, Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics. He became a significant Jewish philanthropist in Los Angeles, California.
Siegfried Ziering was born on March 20, 1928 in Kassel, Germany. His father, Isaac Ziering, was Polish. His mother was named Cilly. He had a brother, Herman. His family was Jewish.
During World War II, his father escaped to England, but his mother and her two sons stayed in Germany. In 1941, the Nazis forced them to move to the Riga Ghetto in modern-day Riga, Latvia, alongside 1,000 Jews. Only twenty survived, including Sigi, his mother and his brother. By the end of the war, they were moved to a prison in Fuhlsbüttel. The Nazis took 10 Jews a day to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. They were later moved to the concentration camp in Kiel and forced into slave labor. In 1945, they were rescued by the Swedish Red Cross. Indeed, Count Bernadotte of Sweden had negotiated with Himmler to rescue a few thousand Jews for a few millions of dollars. They were first moved to Sweden and eventually to London, where they met their father.
Sigi immigrated to New York City with his family in 1949. He received a Bachelor of Science in Physics from Brooklyn College and a master's degree and PhD from Syracuse University.