Germany's main Jewish organization on Wednesday elected its first female leader, a Holocaust survivor from Munich.
Charlotte Knobloch, 73, replaces Paul Spiegel, who died April 30 of cancer after leading the Central Council of Jews since 2000.
Knobloch, who served as council vice president since 1996, is widely considered a transitional candidate for the organization.
Born in 1932, Knobloch was hidden by her family's Catholic housekeeper during World War II. Her grandmother was killed in Auschwitz, and her father survived the war as a slave laborer.
