Silver stolen by Nazis to be displayed in London, Ont. museum as act of restitution
Global News
The two silver items were confiscated from the Ackermann family by the Nazis in 1939 and returned to the London Jewish Community Foundation on April 12, 2024.
It was a reunion 85 years in the making and though no one from the Ackermann family is alive to witness the act of restitution, silver stolen from the family by Nazis in 1939 will be on public display in London, Ont.
On Friday, the Jewish Community Centre was packed as it hosted German curator Dr. Matthias Weniger who brought two pieces of silver confirmed to have been confiscated from Adolf and Mina Ackermann by the Nazis.
Adolf and Mina and their daughter were all murdered in the Holocaust, as well as much of their extended family. Their surviving son, Theodor, went to South Africa and later to London, Ont., where he was a chemistry professor at Western University. He and his wife, Ellen, had no children and died in 1993 and 2004, respectively.
Ellen listed the London Jewish Community Foundation as one of the main beneficiaries in her will, which prompted Weniger to reach out to it. The foundation then ceded the items to Museum London “so that they will be on view permanently and (in) memory of the family,” said Weniger.
There was heavy applause when Weniger took the stage to address those gathered on Friday, and there was a sense of joy among the crowd of about 100 at the items’ return.
Afterwards, attendees lined up to view them and learn more from Weniger.
One of the items was a small silver cup from the end of the 17th century that would have “played a role” in the religious life of the families, particularly on Shabbat and during Passover, Weniger said. That item came from the Bavarian National Museum where Weniger serves as curator. The other item, a sort of lamp or wax melter used to give off light at night and seen as a status symbol, comes from the City Museum of Munich.
Eric Robinson, program director with Jewish London, said the foundation was not in a position to properly look after the items, which is why they turned to Museum London.
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