Lord George Weidenfeld
Lord George WeidenfeldReuters

Jewish publisher and philanthropist Lord George Weidenfeld passed away in his sleep on Wednesday at age 96.

Born in Vienna in 1919, the University of Vienna alumnus fled to London in 1938 following Nazi Germany’s annexation of Austria.

After working for the BBC, Weidenfeld along with Nigel Nicolson founded the Weidenfeld & Nicolson publishing company in 1949 and remained its chairman up to his death.

Weidenfeld was active in many charities across England, Israel and other parts of the world, and did not limit his kindness and generosity to Jewish causes alone. His compassion impacted people of different faiths, ethnic backgrounds and ideologies.

Weidenfeld received knighthood in 1969 and was made a life peer in 1976 in the House of Lords.

The Holocaust survivor credited Christians with helping him escape the Nazis, and in one last act of kindness he launched Operation Safe Havens in honor to prepay the British family who had taken him in as a teenager.

The operation, launched last year, rescued 20,000 Christian families from Islamic State in Syria and Iraq and resettled them elsewhere.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu expressed his sadness upon learning of Weidenfeld’s passing, and sent condolences to Lord Weidenfeld’s family.

“Lord Weidenfeld led a long and amazing life, traveling a unique path from refugee to Peer. His countless personal achievements were always accompanied by his remarkable work for the benefit of the Jewish people, the State of Israel and humanity as a whole.”

“He will be remembered as an innovative publisher of important works and for his dedication to higher education in Israel, the United Kingdom and across Europe,” said Netanyahu. “I cherished our meetings over many years in which I profited from the breadth of his wisdom."