German Food Chain Pays Holocaust Survivor

Barbara Principe

German court backs Jewish claim for $200 million

A German court has ruled that shopping chain Karstadt-Quelle must pay compensation to a Jewish family, the Wertheims, who were forced to sell shops during the Nazi era. Barbara Principe is the oldest surviving heir

The case of the Wertheim family is one of the largest Jewish claims still outstanding in Germany.

It Was Bought After The War?

The ruling applies to a small part of the disputed Wertheim fortune acquired by Karstadt-Quelle after the war. Barbara Principe grew up in poverty on a chicken farm after the Wertheims fled to America to escape Nazi persecution.

The BBC's Ray Furlong, in Berlin, says Wertheim was a household name in pre-war Germany, a huge chain of department stores owned by the Jewish family of the same name.

They were forced to sell up and moved to America.

Karstadt's President


	The Jewish Family Swindled They were swindled out of what was left of the business in 1951 - a parcel of land in the heart of the German capital, Berlin - which was acquired by a chain called Hertie. Hertie was subsequently swallowed up by Karstadt-Quelle - now one of Europe's biggest department store chains.