December 02, 2005
Leading German retail company KarstadtQuelle AG has announced that it will drop three lawsuits against the Wertheim family in a dispute over properties in Berlin seized during the Nazi era and now worth more than US$ 117 million. The decision to drop the cases at a hearing next week comes after Germany's highest administrative court in October upheld a separate ownership claim by the family on a fourth property. "These are four comparable cases, so we are withdrawing our suits, but not in other cases," a KarstadtQuelle spokesman was quoted as saying by AP. The Jewish Claims Conference, which is representing the heirs of the Wertheim family in the case, called the decision a "long-delayed victory for justice and a victory for history." Gideon Taylor, executive vice president of the Claims, told AP: "Karstadt needs to now accept responsibility for the remaining cases. It is time for these issues to be finalized so that this sad chapter can be closed." Three Wertheim brothers had majority ownership in a chain of department stores before the Nazis came to power in 1933. As Jews, they lost the property during the Nazi era, and Hitler used some of the land for his chancellory and downtown bunker complex. After the Second World War ended, the company was sold and eventually became one of Germany's most successful retailers. It was acquired by Karstadt in 1993. The properties were awarded to the Jewish Claims Conference by the German government restitution authority after reunification in 1990, but Karstadt sued, saying they were the rightful owners.