N.Y. - Former Liberal Party Leader Holocaust Survivor Ray Harding Dies At 77

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Ray Harding, the once-powerful state Liberal Party leader who was involved in a pay-to-play pension scandal, died this morning at age 77.

Harding, who was instrumental in the political rise of former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, avoided prison time last year after pleading guilty to being a middleman in a case that sent former State Comptroller Alan Hevesi to prison.

At his peak, Harding was considered to be one of the most powerful political leaders in the city and the state, giving Democratic or Republican politicians the coveted endorsement of his Liberal Party.

With Giuliani’s victory in 1993, Harding served no official role in City Hall but was one of the mayor’s most listened-to advisors.

Harding’s party lost much of its clout in 2002, after it failed to get enough statewide votes to maintain its ballot line.

When he was a child during World War II, Harding and his family were part of a group of 982 refugees brought to U.S. to escape the Nazis.

He was born Branko Hochwald in Yugoslavia. His family, in fleeing the Nazis, first ended up spending more than a year in an Italian concentration camp before getting to America, where he changed his name in a hat tip to his favorite radio show, "David Harding, Counter Spy."

NY1 / Daily News

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