Eugen Gluck, an American Holocaust survivor who in 1956 founded the E. Gluck Corporation in Little Neck, New York, and was, together with his recently deceased wife Jean (Gita), among the earliest Jewish-American philanthropists who supported the settlement enterprise in Judea, Samaria, and eastern Jerusalem, passed away Monday night at 92.
Gluck formed a bond with former MK Yaakov “Ketzaleh” Katz of Bet El, in Samaria, and supported the establishment of the Bet El Yeshiva Center for college-age men, Yeshiva High School for boys, and the Jeanie Gluck High School Academy for Girls. In 2002, Eugen and Jean established the Gluck Israel Defense Forces Preparatory Academy, also in Bet El.
Ketzaleh said on the occasion of Jean Gluck’s passing in May, 2018, at age 91, that “the fact that there are today over 300,000 Jews in the eastern neighborhoods of Jerusalem and some 450,000 in Judea and Samaria is due in great part to Mrs. Jean Gluck […] and her husband Eugen.”
Gluck’s generous philanthropy aside, what most people remember about him is that he was such a genuinely caring, warm and nice person to everyone he interacted with.
The E. Gluck Corporation manufactures watches under two brand names, Armitron and Anne Klein. As of 1999, Armitron had the fifth largest share of all watch purchases, by brand, in the United States. As of 2005, Armitron ranks as one of the top ten fine and fashion watch brands in the US, along with Timex, Fossil, Seiko, Citizen, Casio, Guess, Bulova, Movado, and Pulsar.