Silver stolen by Nazis to be displayed in London, Ont. museum as act of restitution

It was a reunion 85 years in the making and though no one from the Ackermann family is alive to witness the act of restitution, silver stolen from the family by Nazis in 1939 will be on public display in London, Ont.

On Friday, the Jewish Community Centre was packed as it hosted German curator Dr. Matthias Weniger who brought two pieces of silver confirmed to have been confiscated from Adolf and Mina Ackermann by the Nazis.

Adolf and Mina and their daughter were all murdered in the Holocaust, as well as much of their extended family. Their surviving son, Theodor, went to South Africa and later to London, Ont., where he was a chemistry professor at Western University. He and his wife, Ellen, had no children and died in 1993 and 2004, respectively.

Ellen listed the London Jewish Community Foundation as one of the main beneficiaries in her will, which prompted Weniger to reach out to it. The foundation then ceded the items to Museum London “so that they will be on view permanently and (in) memory of the family,” said Weniger.

There was heavy applause when Weniger took the stage to address those gathered on Friday, and there was a sense of joy among the crowd of about 100 at the items’ return.

Afterwards, attendees lined up to view them and learn more from Weniger.

One of the items was a small silver cup from the end of the 17^th century that would have “played a role” in the religious life of the families, particularly on Shabbat and during Passover, Weniger said. That item came from the Bavarian National Museum where Weniger serves as curator. The other item, a sort of lamp or wax melter used to give off light at night and seen as a status symbol, comes from the City Museum of Munich.

Eric Robinson, program director with Jewish London, said the foundation was not in a position to properly look after the items, which is why they turned to Museum London.

“We don’t have the resources to maintain the silver or do the upkeep. They have an education department, they have the curatorial department, they have the preservation department. And it’s wonderful that we’re able to have a partner of that calibre here in the city.”

Julie Bevan, executive director of Museum London, was unable to provide an exact date for when the items will be on display there, but said the “plan is to integrate these artifacts into an exhibition called London: A History.”

The restitution project out of Germany has been a long time in the making. Weniger has been involved for five years, but said his predecessor was the one who established a list of families tied to 111 silver pieces at the Bavarian National Museum that were confiscated from their rightful owners back in 1939 by the Nazis.

When Weniger took over, it was time to try to contact the families.

“Since two thirds of the last owners did not survive the Holocaust… I was very doubtful that we would ever get as far as we did. We actually contacted all families now with maybe two exceptions and I returned more than half of the objects by now.”

Often the most difficult part is not locating the rightful descendants, but getting them to respond, he explained, as many people initially think it’s a scam.

Initially, Weniger did not plan to travel to return the items, but he felt it was unfair of the families to ask them to spend money to travel to Germany, and he felt shipping the items was complicated and “undignified.”

“In 1939, the families were forced to deliver their silver in person. So, I thought we should also return them in a more dignified way. And so I found a way to use some of the funds we had for research, for travel.”

Robinson acknowledged Weniger’s thoughtfulness in his push to deliver the items in person.

“For someone to travel 2,000 miles across an ocean in order to meet the community where the objects rightfully belong is really a tribute to his dedication, his perseverance, the righteousness of the cause and the institutions that are supporting him: the Bavarian National Museum, the German government and the Munich City Museum.”

The work at the Bavarian National Museum has moved beyond its own collection to the Munich City Museum, which had been unsuccessful in tracking down the last owners of the silver it had in its collection, including the wax melter that belonged to the Ackermanns.

“Now they are able to return their pieces as well,” said Weniger.

— With files from Global News’ Benjamin Harrietha.

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