Ralph Giordano, prominent German writer and Holocaust survivor, dies at 91

BERLIN – Ralph Giordano, a German writer and Holocaust survivor who spoke out against anti-Semitism and the far right, and later became a prominent critic of Germany’s failure to integrate Muslim immigrants, has died. He was 91.

Publisher Kiepenheuer & Witsch said Giordano, known for his autobiographical 1982 novel “The Bertinis” and 22 other books, died Wednesday in Cologne.

Born March 20, 1923 in Hamburg, Giordano had a father of Sicilian descent and a German Jewish mother. The family survived by hiding in a cellar in the final months of World War II.

In recent years, Giordano opposed the building of a large new mosque in Cologne, declaring the integration of Muslim immigrants a failure, claiming they were living in parallel societies.