Norbert Wollheim
This article includes a improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (May 2011) ) |
Norbert Wollheim | |
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Born | German | April 26, 1913
Occupation | Accountant |
Known for | Winning compensation from I.G. Farben |
Norbert Wollheim (April 26, 1913 – November 1, 1998) was a chartered accountant, tax advisor, previously a board member of the Central Council of Jews in Germany and a functionary of other Jewish organisations.
Wollheim grew up in Berlin. He studied jurisprudence and political economy, but had to cease his studies in 1933 because of his Jewish origin. He then worked as a welder for a metal export firm until the outbreak of war in 1939. During that same period he played a key role in running the Kindertransport which transported 10,000 Jewish children out of the Nazi's reach and into safety.
Wollheim engaged himself strongly in the Jewish life and became a managing director of the federation of
From September 1941 Wollheim worked at a transportation equipment factory in Lichtenberg, Berlin.
Auschwitz
On March 8, 1943, Wollheim with his sister Ruth Wollheim (born in 1910), his wife Rosa (née Mandelbrod, born in 1912) and their son Peter Uriel (born in 1939) were arrested by the
Wollheim was brought to Auschwitz camp III,
After the war
He settled in
I.G. Farben claim
In 1950 Norbert Wollheim sued I.G. Farbenindustrie AG in liquidation for his salary as a forced labourer and compensation for damages. His lawsuit was the first test case of a former forced labourer against a company in Germany. In 1953, Frankfurt's
Wollheim emigrated to the U.S. in September 1951 and settled in New York City, where he studied to become an accountant. He exercised his profession until the mid-1980s. Wollheim provided his services on a pro bono basis to organisations like the US Holocaust Council and the World Federation of Bergen-Belsen Survivors.
References
- (in English) Wollheim, Norbert: "Belsen’s Place in the Process of „Death-and-Rebirth“ of the Jewish People", in: Irgun She'erit Hapleita Me'ha'ezor Habriti, Belsen: London: The Narod Press, 1957, pp. 52–66.
- (in English) Norbert Wollheim Memorial: [1]
- (in English) Rudberg, Pontus, The Swedish Jews and the Holocaust, Abingdon & New York, 2017, pp. 136–137
- (in German) Wollheim, Norbert, "Wir haben Stellung bezogen", in: Richard Chaim Schneider, Wir sind da! Die Geschichte der Juden in Deutschland von 1945 bis heute, Berlin: Ullstein, 2000, pp. 108–120
- (in German) Wollheim, Norbert, "Jüdische Selbstverwaltung in der britischen Zone", in: Michael Brenner, Nach dem Holocaust: Juden in Deutschland 1945-1950, Munich: Beck, 1995, pp. 141–147
- (in German) Benz, Wolfgang, Wiedergutmachung in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Munich: R. Oldenbourg, 1989, (=Schriftenreihe der Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte Sondernummer), pp. 303–326
External links
- (in English) Norbert Wollheim papers and Benjamin B. Ferencz collection on the trial against I.G. Farbenindustrie AG i.L.
- (in German) Henry Ormond papers on the trial against I.G. Farbenindustrie AG i.L.
- (in English) Norbert Wollheim Memorial Website
- Link to information about the Academy Award-winning documentary in which Norbert Wollheim is featured, "Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport" (2000)
- Link to free downloadable companion study guide for "Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport" (2000)