Storch , Gilel (Hillel) , fl 1940-1982 , Latvian businessman

Hillel (Gilel) Storch, was a Latvian Jew and Swedish resident, who helped save the lives of thousands of European Jews during the Nazi era. Born in Dvinsk, Latvia, he went to Riga where he was engaged in his father's world-wide business activities. He arrived in Stockholm in 1940 in transit to the USA. He decided to stay in Sweden primarily to keep in closer touch with his relatives who remained in Latvia. Before he arrived in Sweden he was already an active Zionist, having represented the Jewish Agency in Dvinsk and participated in the promotion of the emigration of 3000 Latvian Jews to Palestine. In Sweden he continued to work as a representative of the Jewish Agency (the forerunner to the Jewish government in Palestine). At the same time he represented the World Jewish Congress in Sweden. He was actively involved with promoting Zionist causes including providing assistance for Israel's war of independence. His most significant achievements were the rescue of some 20,000 Jewish and non-Jewish concentration camp inmates and the provision of humanitarian aid to concentration camp inmates.