German Court Orders Return of Property Seized During Nazi Era

A Brandenburg family must relinquish their home to the Jewish Claims Conference after a ruling on restitution for Nazi-era forced sales.

The Bundesverwaltungsgericht in Leipzig ruled that a Brandenburg family must return a property purchased during the Nazi era to the Jewish Claims Conference (JCC).
The property was originally owned by two Jewish women who were forced to sell it under duress in 1939 before being killed in concentration camps.
The JCC, representing victims of Nazi persecution, sought restitution under a post-reunification German law addressing unresolved property claims.
The court rejected the family’s appeal, stating that the 1993 gifting of the property within the family did not preclude restitution.
The JCC has offered the family’s 84-year-old matriarch a lifetime right to reside in the house despite the court’s decision.