Baruch Korff

Baruch Korff (July 4, 1914 – July 26, 1995) was a longtime Jewish community activist. He was politically close to Richard Nixon, and was known as "Nixon's rabbi."

Early years

Korff was born in Ukraine and emigrated to the United States in 1926. He was active in the anti-Nazi movement prior to and during World War II, and was an active supporter of the development of a Jewish state in Palestine.

In 1947 in the aftermath of the Exodus (ship) incident, he led a Stern Gang plot to pamphlet-bomb London in protest [http://www.tbrnews.org/Archives/a1973.htm] [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,911439-1,00.html] [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article1134564.ece] [http://www.iht.com/articles/1997/09/09/edold.t_20.php] . He was arrested by the French, but released after a 17-day hunger strike.

He worked for many years as a rabbi in Taunton, Massachusetts.

Relationship with Nixon

After his retirement, Korff became an active supporter of Richard Nixon. He defended Nixon during Nixon's growing unpopularity over Watergate.

Korff met with Nixon on May 13, 1974, after which he wrote the book "The Personal Nixon: Staying on the Summit".

On his deathbed, Korff falsely claimed that Diane Sawyer was Deep Throat, the source who provided Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein clandestine information for their reports in the "Washington Post" that propelled the Watergate scandal.

External links

* [http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/21185/edition_id/25/format/html/displaystory.html Obituary from Jewish News Weekly]
* [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,911439,00.html 'Source of Strength' from Time magazine]
* [http://www.paulgassfamily.com/section3/iii3/iii3_001.htm A summary of his life written by a family member]