Descendants of German Jews in High Court row over assets seized by Nazis

Three relatives of former business owners in Germany become involved in battle over compensation for assets seized over 70 years ago

Three descendants of German-Jewish business owners became involved in a High Court row in London after researching the possibility of claiming compensation for assets seized by Hitler’s Nazi regime more than 70 years ago.

Anthony Martin sued distant cousins Michael and Nicholas Posener, claiming he was owed money under a contract they had entered into.

The two brothers disputed his claims.

A judge has made rulings in favour of Mr Martin, a lawyer based in Boston, Massachusetts, after analysing evidence at a trial in July.

Judge Jonathan Simpkiss said under the contract, Mr Martin had agreed to pay for a specialist researcher and the Posener brothers had agreed to reimburse him.

He said Mr Martin was entitled to a reimbursement of around £45,000 to cover fees paid to Lee Chudson who had been involved in researching Holocaust archives since the 1950s.

Judge Simpkiss said the Poseners’ grandfather, Heinrich Posener, had been involved in the running of department stores in Germany and a consortium called Wollwarenhaus Saxonia Falk & Posener had been based in Dresden.

The judge said compensation claims relating to Nazi seizures were administered by a federal agency in Germany.

He did not give the Posener brothers’ address in his ruling.