Rudolf Hertz, former bank official, dies

Rudolf H. Hertz left Nazi Germany for the United States when his father, a prominent physics professor, lost his job after Jewish civil servants were banned from government work.

He would eventually return to his native country, liberating his hometown and the infamous Buchenwald concentration camp.

Hertz, a Floral Park resident who had lived for nearly 45 years in Roslyn Heights, died Thursday after a heart attack. He was 94.

Hertz worked 60 years at Merchants Bank in Manhattan, starting with an entry-level job at 19 after leaving Germany. He rose to become bank president, a post he held from 1979 to 1985. He then served as vice chairman until 2000, when Merchants merged with Valley National Bank of New Jersey, where he remained as a consultant.

Merchants had seven branches in Manhattan dealing heavily with small businesses, including many Diamond District jewelers.

"He was very open and friendly and had a good sense of humor and dealt well with people," said his son, Michael, a deputy assistant attorney general with the U.S. Justice Department.

Born in 1917 in Goettingen, Germany, Hertz remained there to finish high school after his father was dismissed. He immigrated to New York in 1936 and began at the bank.

Hertz, drafted by the Army in May 1941, was assigned to the 56th Signal Battalion. He landed on Normandy Beach on D-Day, for which he received the Bronze Star, and he rose to the rank of master sergeant. He took part in the liberation of Paris, his hometown of Goettingen and Buchenwald. His son recalled when the family much later visited the concentration camp, his father became so emotional he "could not leave the car."

After the war, Hertz returned to the bank and met his future wife, Margaret, who shared his love of opera. They remained wed for 55 years, until she died in 2002. The couple moved from Flushing to Roslyn Heights in 1955.

Michael Hertz, of Rockville, Md., said his father had an avid interest in rare books, becoming a collector. He also tracked his family's connections. Rudolf Hertz's father, for one, was a frequent correspondent with Albert Einstein.

Other survivors include his daughter, Shelley Hertz Kempner of Millersville, Md., and four grandchildren. A cremation is planned and private services will be held at Arlington National Cemetery.