Article on Leitz's wartime role

[mark_gay]

This week, on February 9, the Anti-Defamation League, a non-profit group devoted

to battling anti-Semitism, will present Ernst II's granddaughter, Cornelia

Kuhn-Leitz, with the Courage to Care Award, in recognition of Leitz's role in

helping at least 41 Jews to flee Germany during the Nazi persecution of the 1930s.

 

The following is an excerpt from an article in the Financial Times newspaper.

 

"Was it really credible, wondered Smith, that at the same time as Leitz was

supplying parts to the Nazis, he was rescuing Wetzlar's Jews? And if so, how did

he and his executives keep their activities hidden from the Gestapo?

 

Then there was the question of motive. Although Leitz had been a prominent

member of the German Democratic Party before the war, in 1942 he joined the

Nazis. Was Leitz, like Schindler, whose Krakow enamelware factory depended on

Jewish slave labour and who many historians of the Holocaust argue was initially

motivated by self-interest, a bit of an opportunist? Or was his Nazi-party

membership a tactic, a way of allaying the Gestapo's suspicions so that he could

continue protecting his employees?

 

Smith makes an unlikely sleuth. A softly spoken Californian with receding,

light-brown hair and Woody Allen-esque glasses, he has lived in London since the

late 1980s and has a bookish innocence. He first began taking photographs as a

schoolboy growing up in San Diego, and at 15 blew all his bar mitzvah money on

his first Leica. His love affair hasn't abated since. As a semi-professional

photographer - he's had more than 150 photographs published in The Economist -

he favours the Leica MP and M6 rangefinder cameras and the latest Leica

aspherical lenses."

 

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/ee05b91e-b0f6-11db-b901-0000779e2340.html

[elmarfudd]

Great. Thank you for the link.

[stephen_w.]

41 saved? How about 100,000

 

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/wallenberg.html

[elmarfudd]

Yeah, but Raoul didn't have the Leica glow.

[stephen_w.]

Did you actually read the article in the three minutes you took to reply, and make a poor joke about it?

 

Schindler, 1130 saved. Where is the film about Raoul?

[elmarfudd]

A film about Raoul Wallenberg was made way before Spielberg made Schindler's list. I've seen both. The movie about Wallenberg is excellent, and I recommend it. The comment wasn't intended to be disrespectful, lighten up.

[jack_lo_..._t_o]

Almost on topic: I just watched a documentary about a lock of Beethoven's hair and how it got thru the ensuing years & what has been learned from it. There was a scene with a lot of top Nazis chanting and ranting while an orchestra played the Ode to Joy. If some one out there has seen it & knows, please tell me that it wasn't Wilhem Furtwangler at the podium?

[asher]

Thanks for pointing out the story Mark.<p>

 

My grandparents and mother survived the war in Slovakia- many harrowing stories. My

grandfather bought two Leica III cameras to transform his fleeting cash into something that

he could escape with to Canada, reducing the risk of having his entire net worth confiscated.

It worked. So does the camera, shown below. My cousin has the other one.<div></div>

[dirk-san1]

<i>41 saved? How about 100,000</i><p>

 

Simple minds like bigger numbers. They are easier to understand.

[jtk]

Asher, that's the start of a great story, especially if you've got some old negatives. You may conclude that you owe it to humanity to write as much as possible about that story, and to digitally save as many relevant images as you can find. Maybe you've already done that. Sorry to meddle. Thanks for sharing that.

[stephen_w.]

One with no mind cannot understand bravery.

[asher]

Thanks John. My grandfather never used the cameras; they were purely for barter, if needed.

I'm amazed he never sold them once he made it to Canada. The only negatives I might be

able to dig up are the ones I shot when I was 10 (30 years ago) and my dad decided I was old

enough to start using the camera. Thankfully I knew enough to treat it properly... I have no

clue where those negs are.

[jill_enfield]

The amount of people saved is not the point. The point is being brave enough to save even

one person from a horrible fate. The Leitz family stepped in to help people in what ever

way they could - visas - support - food - letters of recommendation - jobs once they were

sent abroad to safety. They deserve thanks and appreciation for stepping up when they

could have lost everything and sent to the gas chambers themselves. (If you read the story

in full, you will see that 2 members wree sent to jail).

Jill Enfield (family helped by Leitz).

[dirk-san1]

Thanks Jill, that was what I was trying to get at. By the way, you have some very good photos on your site and it is inspiring to see that you carry on the photographic legacy.

[miles_s.]

"Schindler, 1130 saved. Where is the film about Raoul?" Wallenberg was made an honourary citizen of the United States, Canada and Israel. Higher honours than what the ADL can give.

 

Asher, incredible story. IMHO it was very strewd thinking to convert the cash to a camera which was: a personal item, in no way war booty, and highly valuable in North America.

[jill_enfield]

There is a very good short (3 minutes)video about this subject which will make you proud to

own a Leica!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6j0ynkR8Ic