Search for the legacy of the Holocaust victim in De Hefgenaam goes awry: ‘Huge downer’

Heir researcher Klaas Zondervan helps Ruben again in this case. From the oldest Jewish library in the world, Ruben learns that there is a legacy. An heir, the value of the inheritance, a possible marriage partner, children… There is nothing that Ruben and Klaas know about Alfred and his inheritance. The value of the inheritance may not be disclosed until the rightful heir asks for it.

Historian Aline tells Ruben that Alfred is a Jewish man who invested in Israel before the war. “That can be about savings, but also about pieces of land.” After the Second World War, the money that Alfred invested was placed with the Jewish National Fund. “Because a lot of Jews did not survive the Holocaust,” said the historian.

Ruben finds a card from Alfred in the National Archives in The Hague, which states that Alfred arrived in Westerbork transit camp on 18 October 1943 and that he was deported to Auschwitz a day later. “Given his age, he was almost 63 at the time, you can assume that he was sent to the gas chamber almost immediately after arrival.” Alfred’s personal file, which can also be found in The Hague, shows that Alfred was a judge in Rotterdam and that he died around 22 October 1943 as a result of gas asphyxiation in Auschwitz.

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Ruben makes another discovery about Alfred in the city archives of Rotterdam: a marriage certificate. Alfred married Josepha Valentine Henschell in 1911. Ruben also learns that, in addition to being a judge, Alfred was also a bank manager, just like his deceased father Benjamin. Aline has since discovered that Josepha’s mother was murdered at the age of 86 in Auschwitz, after she had gone into hiding in Zeist, near Utrecht. It is strongly believed that Josepha suffered the same fate.

Ruben gains valuable information from a couple who have written a book about people in hiding in Zeist. Namely that Josepha and Alfred had five children together: three daughters and two sons. Josepha went into hiding together with her youngest son Ernst in Zeist. The other children have found shelter in other places in the Netherlands.

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The couple who wrote the book about people in hiding bring Ruben into contact with a certain Wouter, who – when Ruben visits – is coincidentally meeting with Pauline and Christine, both granddaughters of Alfred Marx. Pauline turns out to be the daughter of Ernst Marx, who is no longer alive. Christine is a daughter of Alfred’s daughter Toni Eva, who is also no longer alive.

Christine and Pauline tell Ruben that they know about the investments their grandfather made before the Second World War, but that they never went through to collect that inheritance. With the family’s approval, Ruben is allowed to find out what Alfred’s estate consists of. When Klaas’s heir research requests the data, it turns out that there are a lot of snags, so it can take another year before that information is made known. “A huge downer”, concludes Ruben.

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The Heir can be seen every Wednesday evening at 20:30 on RTL 4.

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