Anschel & Co., Jerusalemer Str, Berlin Mitte, Germany
THE ANSCHEL & COMPANY HOLOCAUST CLAIM
The Anschel & Company Holocaust Claim is the collective effort by the true legal heirs of Anschel & Co.'s original shareholders; Mrs. Gertrud Anschel and Mr. Ernest Falkenburg, to obtain reparations for the forced sale of our family's company during the Third Reich.
The legal heirs to Mrs. Anschel and Mr. Falkenburg are;
Rita Forster Anschel -- Daughter of Gertrud Anschel (Deceased)
Gaby M. Forster-Kohn -- Grandaughter of Gertrud Anschel
Harry Falkenburg -- Son of Ernest Falkenburg
Patricia C. Foster-Hacker -- Grandaughter of Gertrud Anschel
Ralph Falkenburg -- Son of Ernest Falkenburg
According to §2 Abs 1 Sentence 1 3 VermG. in regard to claims according to the VermG., because no "known claims of Jewish victims or of their legal successor were made". SO, according to § 1 Abs 6 the Claims Conference "Nachfolgeorganisationen des Ruckerstattungsgesetzes" ( the successor organizations of the Ruckerstattungsgesetz ) was deemed to be the legal successor, and if they (the successor organizations of the Ruckerstattungsgesetz ) made no claim, the JCC was deemed to be the legal successor.
Germany politely pointed out that the the 5 applications sent by my father and received by the German Giovernment were irrelevant. To quote the BADV: " The applications of Mr. Ernst Falkenburg for claims to compensation in regard to proceedings based on the Bundesruckerstattungsgsgesetz (BruG) (Federal Restitution law). BRUG at the Wiedergutmachungsämtern of Berlin and the Bundesentschädigungsgesetz (BEG) bei der Entsschädigungsbehorde in Berlin in the 50/60s are not relevant in regard to the VermG since these were different proceedings with a different legal basis."
So, with a Bescheid (official administrative agency decree) dated April 26, 2007, the Bundesamt fur Zentrale Dienste und offene Vermogensfragen (BADV) decided that the JCC was legally entitled to compensation for the ANSCHEL claim. The Settlement File Reference number is: (Fa. Anschel & Co., Berlin) C3.06-1-10540/03, 5663/03, 8759/03, 11080/03
We have engaged the Enderlein Law Firm (Rechtsanwaltskanzlei Enderlein) in Potsdam-Babelsberg, Germany, to filea claim and represent our interests in obtaining full restitution from the relevant parties.
History of ANSCHEL & CO
In the year 1932 businessman Ernst Falkenburg and Gertrude Anschel founded the company Anschel & Co Gmbh, which produced children’s clothing and blouses, in Berlin SW 19, Leipziger Str. 73/74 . The business was later relocated to Jerusalemer Str. 15 . The managers of the Gmbh were the Ernst Falkenburg and Mr. Moritz Anschel, the husband of business partner Gertrud Anschel.
The partners made an agreement on December 19th 1936, transforming the GmbH to an OHg (Offene Handelsgesellschaft) (corporate partnership), effective as of the 14th of January 1937. In October 1938 the Gesellschafter ( (business partners) Ernst Falkenburg and Gertrud Anschel were forced to sell the business ( the OHg ). The purchaser, Dr. Hans Lang, paid a purchase price of RM 100,000, and continued to run the business with the same employees under the company name; “Hans Lang Modellige Kleider“.
Anschel & Co. was declared legally dissolved on October 24th 1939 through a petition from the Industrie und Handelskammer (Chamber of Commerce and Industry), after the partner Gertrud Anschel emigrated on 28th of July 1939
-Based on information from the files and from the Handelsregister (Registry of Companies); 92 HGB Handelsgesetzbuch (German Commercial Code) 47 348 and 90 HRA Handelsregisternummer (Commercial Registry Number) 84 116.
History of our Claims
Ernest Falkenburg began filing claims for restitution back in 1948. He filed further claims during the following years, all the time believing that the German Government was processing more urgent claims and leaving these restitutions for the end of the process. Unfortunately, my parents were not aware of the passing deadlines. Our parents, Ernest and Cloti Falkenburg passed away in March 2000 and September 2001 respectively, leaving my brother Harry Falkenburg and me; Ralph Falkenburg, as heirs. Mrs. Gertrud Anschel passed away in 1957, leaving a daughter; Rita Anschel, who also passed away in 2002, leaving two granddaughters, Gaby M. Forster-Kohn, and Patricia C. Forster-Hacker, as heirs.
We are the rightful heirs to the claim against the German Government for the losses incurred by Ernest Falkenburg and Gertrud Anschel as a result of the forced sale of Anschel & Co.
The Claims Conference
The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) was selected by the German government as an intermediary organization for the distribution of assets. Within the accomplishments listed on the Claims Conference mission statement is: “Negotiated for the return of and restitution for Jewish-owned properties and assets confiscated or destroyed by the Nazis. “, (our emphasis on return and restitution).
Miscommunication
It appears that the Claims Conference was wholly unaware of my father’s repeated claims, which began in 1948, all of which were submitted to the German Government during the years, well before the Claims Conference received their special distribution partnership with the German Government.
The Settlement Payment
Back in January 2007, the German Government settled the Anschel & Co claim and made payment to the Claims Conference. The File Reference number is: (Fa. Anschel & Co., Berlin) C3.06-1-10540/03, 5663/03, 8759/03, 11080/03. The German government paid the Claims Conference specifically for the loss for the Aryanized forced sale of ANSCHEL & CO.
Our position
We are the rightful heirs to the ongoing claim against the German Government for the losses incurred by Ernest Falkenburg and Gertrud Anschel as a result of the forced sale of Anschel & Co.
We represent an unbroken continuous effort initiated by Ernest Falkenburg back in 1948. Apparently the German Government and the Claims Conference did not choose to share relevant information about my father’s claims or check each other’s files before or after the January 2007 payment was made and received. Also, neither the German Government nor the Claims Conference contacted my father (or our family) when it received payment back in January 2007.
We view the Claims Conference as an intermediary and assisting entity in the restitution process, whith an ongoing legal and moral obligation to make restitution. The Claims Conference, recipient of the payment from the German Government, is now responsible for making payment so we can close this chapter in our lives.
Regarding any deadlines that may have passed, there are numerous survivors that were so damaged by the Holocaust and its aftermath; they were unable to bring themselves to even contemplate claiming restitution for years and years, if not decades. Holocaust survivors also never filed claims and were not contacted by either the German Government or the Claims Conference despite clear evidence that they were entitled to restitution.
When the German Government began to impose deadlines on the claims process, the Claims Conference made an enormous effort to recover any unclaimed assets they could identify to prevent them from reverting to the state or postwar non-Jewish owners. In the case of the Anschel & Co claim, the claim results from the German government forced Aryanization sale of ANSCHEL & CO., so there was no risk of reversion to the state or to post-war non-Jewish owners. It is a straightforward case of reparation through restitution to the heirs of the shareholders of a company for their Third Reich loss.
Further, just because a claim was not filed by a deadline does not mean that the recovered funds can now go into a Claims Conference general distribution fund. While we applaud the Claims Conference's redistribution efforts in the cases where recoveries were made and where there are no remaining living heirs, when the rightful heirs to a claim are identified, AS IS OUR CASE, the German Government and Claims Conference have a responsibility to make restitution. The German Government and the Claims Conference share a responsibility to pay this claim.
We look forward to working with the Claims Conference and the German Government to process the settlement of this claim and end this dark chapter in the lives of the Anschel and Falkenburg families.
We expect JUSTICE from the Claims Conference.
We expect the Claims Conference to complete the reparations process.
Images
Selected Documents & Correspondence
Contacts
Gaby M. Forster-Kohn, Harry Falkenburg, Patricia C. Forster-Hacker, Ralph Falkenburg
c/o Ralph Falkenburg
14841 SW 42nd Lane, Miami, Florida 33185-4313 USA
Tel:
email
Andrea Enderlein
Diplomatus-Oekonomiae
Rudolf-Breitscheid-Strasse 208, 14482 Potsdam-Babelsberg, Germany
Tel.:
email
Fritz Enderlein
Prof. Dr. jur. Dr. sc. oec.
Rechtsanwaltskanzlei Enderlein
Rosa-Luxemburg-Strasse 37a, 14482 Potsdam-Babelsberg, Germany
Tel:
email
For more information, please contact us by email at:
info@anschelandcompany.com
THE ANSCHEL & COMPANY HOLOCAUST CLAIMS
14841 SW 42 Lane, Miami, Florida 33126 USA
Tel:
GMT-5