Baruch Jacob Placzek (1 October 1834 – 17 September 1922), also known by the pen name Benno Planek,[1] was a Moravian rabbi, author, poet, orator, and naturalist.

[3] He then attended the Universities of Vienna and Leipzig, where he completed a PhD under the supervision of Wilhelm Wachsmuth in November 1856,[4] with a dissertation on the cultural history of the indigenous peoples of Mexico.

[7] He promoted the foundation of the Israelitisch-Theologische Lehranstalt [de; he] seminary in Vienna, for which he served as curator, and was a founder of a number of philanthropic societies.

[8] In part under the pseudonym Benno Planek, he besides published the collections of poetry Im Eruw (1867) and Stimmungsbilder (1872), the novel Der Takif (1895), and other works, several of which were translated into English, French, and Hebrew.

[5][13] He was survived by his children Sarah, Linda, Ida, Emma, Alfred, and Irma,[5] at least two of whom died in the Theresienstadt Ghetto during the Holocaust.