100 Jews from Bremen fled to Argentina, Chile and Uruguay after 1933. The first to flee to Chile were well-known lawyers, including Dr. Richard Hamburger and Dr. Hermann Lehmann, who were disbarred in April 1933. By 1940, cattle dealers, cotton classifiers, saleswomen and many others had also decided to flee. The reading uses a number of biographies as examples to show how the State Office for Restitution dealt with them after the war. While the claims of lawyers were usually granted in full, women, e.g. sales clerks, found it much more difficult to receive even a small amount of compensation. The expenditure on compensation was repeatedly criticized by the public and by politicians such as Federal Finance Minister Fritz Schäffer (CSU).
In contrast, Gerhard van Heukelum, Senator for Labor in Bremen from 1948 to 1959, repeatedly campaigned for compensation to be granted to victims of National Socialism.
Cast
The 21st staged reading in the series "From the files to the stage". Set-up text/scene: Peter Lüchinger.
With: Simon Elias, Peter Lüchinger, Petra-Janina Schultz, Markus Seuß.
