“This is a meticulous and finely written account of Dina Gold’s struggle to seek belated justice for her mother, with all the twists and turns one would expect from a fictional detective story — but it is all true.”
When Dina Gold was a little girl, her grandmother told her stories about the glamorous life she had led in pre-war Berlin and how she dreamed of one day reclaiming the grand building that had housed the family business.
Dina’s grandmother died in 1977, leaving behind no documents, not even an address, to help locate the property or prove its ownership. But when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, Dina had not forgotten her grandmother’s tales and set out to find the truth.
In 1990, Dina marched into a German government ministry at Krausenstrasse 17/18, just two blocks from Checkpoint Charlie, and declared:
“I’ve come to claim my family’s building.”
And so began her legal struggle — to reclaim the building that had belonged to her family.
The six-story office block had been the headquarters of the H. Wolff fur company, one of the most successful Jewish fashion firms in Germany. Built by Dina’s great-grandfather in 1910, it was foreclosed on by the Victoria Insurance Company in 1937. Ownership was transferred to the Deutsche Reichsbahn, Hitler’s railways, that later transported millions of Jews to death camps.
Today the Victoria is part of ERGO, a leading German insurance company. Few are aware that the Victoria was once chaired by a lawyer with connections to the top of the Nazi party. The Victoria was also part of a consortium that insured SS-owned workshops using slave labor at Auschwitz and other concentration camps.
Dina has delved deep into archives across the world and made shocking discoveries. What she found has repercussions even in today’s Germany.
In a major victory, Dina persuaded the German government to put up a plaque in July 2016 acknowledging in both German and English the history of “The Wolff Building.”
The Jewish Book Council today published a review by Philip K. Jason, professor emeritus of English at the United States Naval Academy.
I am grateful for the evident thought and care put into it. Professor Jason makes an interesting point about the changing nature of research in the computer age. He writes:
Ever-expanding electronic databases allow skilled investigators access to materials that would never otherwise be discovered or accessed.
The chain of discoveries seems endless; absolute closure seems an illusion. Nonetheless, this book is a grand example of dogged investigative journalism. Gold is never satisfied, and she never backs off.
Wonderful review by Jeremy Jones for AIJAC – Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council.
Dina Gold is an extremely skilled writer, a talent she puts to full use to help readers of her memoir not only come to see that her grandmother was right, but also to feel that you are actually part of her efforts to achieve justice.
He was so enamored of the story told in “Stolen Legacy” that, when he visited Berlin, he went to Krausenstrasse 17/18 – the building he had read all about. And he even sent me a photograph of himself standing outside the building’s archway. The very same one featured on the front cover of the paperback edition.
Alan Freedman, presenter of “Nothing Left” broadcasting from Melbourne, Australia interviewed me for his show. You can hear it starting at 50 minutes into the program.
Michael Burd, Alan’s co-presenter, sums up the piece by commenting:
One thing you didn’t ask her was about the movie… it’s a wonder Spielberg doesn’t get onto it… it would make a great movie.
The discussion focused on how Jews had dominated German fashion before World War II. As historian Uwe Westphal told the audience: creative and innovative fashion by Jewish-German designers created the Roaring Twenties. The story of the Wolff family’s fur business and what happened was part of the event.
Between 1930 and 1939 the Nazis closed all Jewish fashion companies. Sadly, as Westphal explained, today’s German fashion students are ignorant of this sordid history.
Jill Swenson starts her blog post with the words: It’s no secret, I like history. It offers us lessons about the future. You won’t be surprised then to hear this past year I’ve read a lot of books about the years in Europe leading up to WWII.
“Stolen Legacy” is amongst the new nonfiction books Ms Swenson reviews and recommends.
She is shocked at what she reads of the role of German insurance companies during the Third Reich. Not only did they play a key role in the Aryanization of the German economy long before stormtroopers forced the removal of Jews from their homes and businesses, but they had insurance policies on the concentration camps and profited nicely from the Nazi policies.
She concludes: This book is a testament to dogged determination to find the facts and determine the truth.
The Jewish Book Council today published a review by Philip K. Jason, professor emeritus of English at the United States Naval Academy.
