Doctor becomes new head of Germany's leading Jewish organization

BERLIN – A Bavarian doctor has been confirmed as the new head of Germany's leading Jewish organization.

Josef Schuster was elected Sunday after standing unopposed for the presidency of Germany's Central Council of Jews.

The 60-year-old was born in Haifa, Israel, and has led the Jewish community in the southern German city of Wuerzburg since 1998.

He succeeds Dieter Graumann, who in 2010 became the first person born after the Holocaust to take the job.

The Central Council of Jews represents some 100 Jewish congregations with more than 100,000 members in Germany.