George G. Kranzler
George G. Kranzler was a prominent figure in the Jewish community, born on January 27, 1916, in Stuttgart, Germany. He fled Nazi persecution in 1936 and settled in New York City, where he became an active member of the Jewish community, particularly in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Kranzler had a distinguished academic career, earning multiple degrees, including a Ph.D. in sociology from Columbia University, with a focus on the Williamsburg community. His work as an educational administrator spanned two decades, during which he contributed to several Jewish schools and helped establish new educational institutions.
Kranzler was also an accomplished writer, known for his scholarly articles and children's stories that highlighted Jewish heritage and culture. His notable works include "The Face of Faith: An American Hasidic Community," which received the Seltzer-Brodsky Prize for its in-depth examination of Jewish life. Throughout his life, he was respected for his intellectual contributions and dedication to preserving the cultural identity of Orthodox Jews. Kranzler continued to engage in academia until his retirement in 1986 and remained a significant voice in discussions about Jewish education and community life until his passing on March 2, 2000.
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George G. Kranzler
Writer
- Born: January 27, 1916
- Birthplace: Stuttgart, Germany
- Died: March 2, 2000
- Place of death: Baltimore, Maryland
Biography
George Gershon Kranzler was born on January 27, 1916, at Stuttgart, Germany, to Polish natives Meyer Leib Kranzler and Hanna Adler Kranzler. He had six siblings and enjoyed creating stories to entertain them. The elder Kranzler wrote for Jewish periodicals. Wanting to escape Nazi persecution, he traveled to New York in 1936, earning money to transport his family to the U.S. Kranzler’s mother and brothers emigrated the next year.
Kranzler enrolled in Maximilian University at Würzburg and also attended the Hildesheimer Seminary at Berlin, finishing courses for a philosophy doctorate in 1938, before anti-Semitism stopped his educational pursuits. Leaving Germany just prior to Kristallnacht, Kranzler departed Rotterdam, Holland, on the Statendam, arriving at New York City on October 9, 1938. Kranzler reunited with his family, living in the Jewish community Williamsburg within Brooklyn, where he helped efforts to rescue Jews fleeing Europe and the Holocaust and assisted their adjustment in the U.S. He enrolled in graduate school at Columbia University, completing a master’s of art degree in 1943.
Kranzler married Trude Neuman on December 4, 1944. They had two sons and two daughters. Beginning in 1945, Kranzler served two decades as an educational administrator. He was Torah Vodaath’s assistantprincipal at Brooklyn, then was principal of the Bronx school Zichron Moshe and the Lower East Side’s Bais Yaakov High School. Kranzler helped establish the Esther Schonfeld High School, also on the Lower East Side. During that period, he studied in doctoral programs, earning a Ph.D. in philosophy and education from the University of Würzburg in Germany in 1948 and a second doctorate in sociology, studying the Williamsburg community, at Columbia University in 1954.
By 1955, he moved to Baltimore, Maryland, to direct the Talmudical Academy and often accompanied student trips to Jewish universities and sites in New York City. He wrote cantatas for students to play. In 1966, Kranzler accepted a position as a sociology professor at Towson State University. He also taught night sociology classes at Johns Hopkins University, starting in 1967. After he retired in 1986, Kranzler continued living in Baltimore, where he died on March 2, 2000.
Kranzler’s most significant writing originated when he resided in Williamsburg. He devoted a decade to researching that community, studying such factors as family, education, politics, gender, and media, and wrote several volumes depicting how that Orthodox Jewish population endured and retained its culture despite socioeconomic pressures and changes in surrounding neighborhoods. A respected intellectual among religious and academic peers, Kranzler wrote scholarly articles and contributed to Jewish periodicals, including Jewish Life and Hebrew School Education. To help Jewish children understand their heritage, Kranzler created children’s stories with Jewish themes, often featuring traditional games, history, and music. As Jacob Isaacs, he wrote the multivolume Our People.
Scholars consider Kranzler’s sociological studies of Williamsburg among the best works examining Jewish communities. His book, The Face of Faith: An American Hasidic Community, received the 1967 Seltzer-Brodsky Prize from the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. Publishers have issued his books in English, Hebrew, and Russian.