Wally Hirsh — who died on New Year’s Eve, aged 88 — was New Zealand’s fourth race relations conciliator.
Brought to this country by his German Jewish refugee parents in 1938, he grew up at Milton in South Otago, and worked for 30 years as a teacher and teachers college lecturer.
His daughter Leora Hirsh told RNZ at the time of his appointment in 1986 he was a leader in the Jewish community, and had recently organised New Zealand’s first major Holocaust commemoration.
Several Māori groups and leaders expressed unhappiness at the appointment because he was not of Māori heritage. Legally there was no obligation for this, but the second and third people in the role were Māori, and some believed a pattern had been established.
But Hirsh said his membership of a minority gave him special sensitivity to race issues, and as principal of two Wellington primary schools he put a lot of emphasis on Māori language and culture.
By the time he left the role in 1989, he had overcome the Māori criticism, but was perceived by some as having leaned too far toward specifically Māori concerns.
He denounced what he called a white backlash against the Māori renaissance, and critics said he often dismissed racism by minorities.
The greatest row of Hirsh’s time in office erupted in 1988 after Māori activist Hana Te Hemara — a tūpuna of current Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke — urged Māori prisoners contemplating suicide to “kill a white” instead and become a hero.
Responding to a torrent of complaints, Hirsh ruled that he had no jurisdiction in the matter because the speech was made in a private place, the Auckland University marae.
But he criticised a newspaper for the way it reported the issue, demanding that it apologise — which the newspaper refused to do at the time.
In 2020, however, Stuff issued a public apology for the way its newspapers and website had portrayed Māori since colonial times.
Leora Hirsh said after her father stepped down as conciliator, he was dean at AUT then returned to primary education, becoming principal at Kadimah School in Auckland.
In his retirement, he pursued an interest in pottery, becoming president of Auckland Studio Potters, and published articles and books on a range of topics, she said.
“What Dad was able to achieve in one lifetime far outstrips what so many of us have achieved… his dedication and commitment to community and family was inspiring.
“He is going to leave a huge hole in our family, particularly as the last of the pre-war generation who escaped Nazi Germany.”
Wally Hirsh was survived by his wife Adele, three children, seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
rnz.co.nz
