“This is a meticulous and finely written account of Dina Gold’s struggle to seek belated justice for her mother, with all the twists and turns one would expect from a fictional detective story — but it is all true.”
When Dina Gold was a little girl, her grandmother told her stories about the glamorous life she had led in pre-war Berlin and how she dreamed of one day reclaiming the grand building that had housed the family business.
Dina’s grandmother died in 1977, leaving behind no documents, not even an address, to help locate the property or prove its ownership. But when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, Dina had not forgotten her grandmother’s tales and set out to find the truth.
In 1990, Dina marched into a German government ministry at Krausenstrasse 17/18, just two blocks from Checkpoint Charlie, and declared:
“I’ve come to claim my family’s building.”
And so began her legal struggle — to reclaim the building that had belonged to her family.
The six-story office block had been the headquarters of the H. Wolff fur company, one of the most successful Jewish fashion firms in Germany. Built by Dina’s great-grandfather in 1910, it was foreclosed on by the Victoria Insurance Company in 1937. Ownership was transferred to the Deutsche Reichsbahn, Hitler’s railways, that later transported millions of Jews to death camps.
Today the Victoria is part of ERGO, a leading German insurance company. Few are aware that the Victoria was once chaired by a lawyer with connections to the top of the Nazi party. The Victoria was also part of a consortium that insured SS-owned workshops using slave labor at Auschwitz and other concentration camps.
Dina has delved deep into archives across the world and made shocking discoveries. What she found has repercussions even in today’s Germany.
In a major victory, Dina persuaded the German government to put up a plaque in July 2016 acknowledging in both German and English the history of “The Wolff Building.”
In anticipation of the event, the Australian Jewish News has written a very nice article about what’s in store.
Festival director Michael Misrachi says he is excited about this year’s festival, which follows the success of the 2015 event which attracted more than 650 people.
“We have a great program lined up for this year’s festival, which will build on the success of our sold-out events that we have held this year with Etgar Keret, Simon Sebag Montefiore and Eva Clarke,” explains Misrachi.
“We are continuing with our theme, ‘books are just the beginning’, because the festival covers so many interesting ideas and discussions that go beyond the written word.
“Books are the springboard for a variety of ideas and issues, and the authors taking part in the festival cover a whole range of genres such as fiction, non-fiction and memoirs.”
Dina Gold’s story is in the spirit of the Helen Mirren movie Woman In Gold – it’s a saga about redeeming property that was looted by the Nazis, and which resonates strongly.
Gold’s endearing mix of humility and tenacity dominates her quest for justice, which is carefully laid out in her book’s suspenseful and multilayered narrative.
Gold’s investigative skills serve her well in unraveling some family mysteries, but Stolen Legacy doesn’t read like a dry newspaper account or objective report. Instead, it’s a deeply personal story, one shot through with love and devotion to her mother and grandmother.
Dave Heller, of NPR affiliate station WHYY-FM, interviewed me ahead of my appearance at the Yom HaShoah program at Main Line Reform Temple, Wynnewood, Pennsylvania.
She so correctly encapsulates the urgency of the situation:
A desperate race against time is now, here in the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and across the Jewish community. A race to save firsthand experiences, shards of the Shoah, in voice and memory.
The last generation of Holocaust survivors are in their 80s and 90s, near the end. And what their eyes have seen when they were young is too important to lose to time. The Museum seeks to preserve their eyewitness remembrances and artifacts (such as uniforms, passports, letters) for its international archives.
And she goes on to quote me: … a tape recorder can set the tone for a serious conversational focus on the past. Expect to hear things tumble out you’ve never heard before. It’s amazing what memories — and perhaps documents — you can find, Gold says. In the process of melting ice, you will hear “glorious snippets,” Gold declares. “Families should do that (interview.) They will regret it bitterly if they don’t. Then you’ve missed your chance.”
This program addressed the ongoing challenges of restitution and the resources available for people, like me, who want to research the fate of family members and construct legal cases.
I will be appearing at the Sydney Jewish Writers’ Festival on August 28.
A very nice review by Liz Spikol in the 
Dave Heller, of NPR affiliate station WHYY-FM, interviewed me ahead of my appearance at the Yom HaShoah program at Main Line Reform Temple, Wynnewood, Pennsylvania.
Journalist Jamie Stiehm has written an interesting column entitled 
The USHMM invited me to speak at an event on March 15 entitled 
