Platzek was born on August 27, 1854, in
Lumberton, North Carolina, the son of German immigrants Isaac Platzek and Sarah Wilson. Platzek attended the district school in
Fayetteville and the high school in
Richmond, Virginia, and later received a private tuition from Professor Withero of South Carolina. Before his twenty-first birthday, he became Clerk of the Common Council of the Common Council Court of Marion Court House in
Marion, South Carolina. When he attained his majority, he was immediately appointed County Assessor and Treasurer. At one point, he worked in the South Carolina firm Warley & McKerall. Wanting to study law, he moved to
New York City, New York, and entered
New York University School of Law. He graduated from there as class orator with a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1876. He spent a year working in the offices of Judge Joseph P. Joachimson. He was admitted to the New York bar in 1876, after which he made a specialty of commercial and insolvency laws as well as the trial of jury cases. Shortly after graduating, he was appointed a member of the New York University School of Law's Examining Committee, and he served in that committee for ten years. He was also admitted to the South Carolina bar in 1875, and in 1899 he received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from
Rutherford College in North Carolina. and the
1904 Democratic National Convention. In 1901, he was a member of a committee Tammany Hall appointed to investigate social vice in New York. In 1902, he was a member of the Citizens' Committee for the persecution of the
Beef Trust. He served as trustee of the
College of the City of New York from 1904 to 1907. He was elected Justice of the
New York Supreme Court in 1907. He was re-elected Justice in 1920. He retired from the Court upon reaching the age limit, after which he became official referee. Platzek became president of both Kesher Shel Barzel and the
Young Men's Hebrew Association in 1883. He was also president of the Progress Club for two years, a founder of the
Educational Alliance, a governor of the Democratic Club of New York, an executive committee member of the
New York State Bar Association, and a director of the
Montefiore Home. He was a member of the
Hebrew Orphan Asylum,
Mount Sinai Hospital,
St. John's Guild, the
Home for Aged and Infirm Hebrews, the
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, the Hebrew Free Schools, the
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Hebrew Sheltering and Guardian Society, the
Jewish Publication Society, the
American Jewish Historical Society, the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the
Jewish Theological Seminary. Rabbi Morris Goldstein of
Congregation B'nai Jeshurun officiated his funeral service at a funeral parlor at
52nd Street and
Lexington Avenue. The funeral was attended by his former political associates, including former United States Senator
James A. O'Gorman, former Municipal Court Justice David L. Weil, the Jewish Federation of Philanthropic Organizations head
Sol M. Stroock, and New York Supreme Court Justice
Alfred Frankenthaler. He was buried in
Oakdale Cemetery in
Wilmington, North Carolina, with Rabbi Frederick I. Pypins officiated a funeral service conducted there. == References ==