Wally Hirsh

Walter Hirsh (24 March 1936 – 31 December 2024) was a New Zealand educator. He served as Race Relations Conciliator between 1986 and 1989.

Early life, education and family Hirsh was born in Mönchengladbach, Germany, on 24 March 1936, the son of Margot (née Jammer) and Ernst Hirsh. He was educated at Tokomairiro District High School, Macandrew Intermediate School and Otago Boys' High School in Dunedin.

Hirsh began studying for a commerce degree at the University of Otago, and in late 1954 he was awarded a scholarship by the Zionist Council for a year's study at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He subsequently studied at Wellington Teachers' College and obtained a Trained Teacher's Certificate in 1958. Other positions he held included a consultancy with New Zealand's Ethnic Affairs Department, department head at Auckland University of Technology, and principal of Auckland's main Jewish education centre, Kadimah College. Hirsh has also authored several books, among them the autobiography, Out of The Shadows: My life's journey from Monchengladbach to Milton and beyond (2013). He was the foundation chairman of the New Zealand Jewish Council, from 1980 to 1985. He was appointed a justice of the peace in 1993.