Censored Cover from Gerardus Toen in Amsterdam to Dr. Arthur Wiederkehr, Mediator for Visas in Switzerland

Authors

Object ID

2019.2.289

Object Name

Envelope

Date

9-2-1943

Files

Description

Envelope with two green postage stamps marked “NEDERLAND” in upper right corner, addressed to “Herrn Rechtsanwalt Dr. ARTHUR WIEDERKEHR” printed in center, “Zürich” underlined.

Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Wiederkehr was a somewhat controversial figure, an attorney who was in a position to help Jews in distressed circumstances in Europe arrange for emigration to Switzerland. To some in the American legation in Switzerland, however, he was more than just a well-connected, virtuous benefactor helping Jews escape the clutches of the Nazis; rather, he was considered a mercenary, an opportunistic middleman between the Nazis and Jews, ensuring his cut of a sizeable ransom paid for his services irrespective of the ultimate fate of the Jews he claimed to assist. Wiederkehr and his colleague Anna Hochberg, both Swiss nationals, were thought of as trolling for ransom money and essentially trading with the enemy. [Conquest and Redemption: A History of Jewish Assets from the Holocaust by Gregg Rickman]

Dimensions

5 x 6"

Keywords

Netherlands, Arthur Wiederkehr

Subcollection

Netherlands

Recommended Citation

"Censored Cover from Gerardus Toen in Amsterdam to Dr. Arthur Wiederkehr, Mediator for Visas in Switzerland" (1943). Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection. 2019.2.289.
https://digital.kenyon.edu/bulmash/1615