Baron Elie Robert de Rothschild dies

Advertisement

Baron Elie Robert de Rothschild, who rebuilt his family’s renowned winemaking and banking businesses after the Holocaust, died at the age of 90.

Rothschild suffered a fatal heart attack at his Austrian hunting lodge, The Associated Press reported, citing a statement by police in the province of Tyrol. In June, family patriarch Baron Guy de Rothschild died in Paris.

During World War II, Elie de Rothschild was captured by German soldiers near the border with Belgium and wound up at Luebeck, one of the Nazis’ most infamous POW camps. He was reunited with a brother, Alain, and although they were Jews, they were treated as captured officers and avoided execution.

After the war, Rothschild led the effort to rebuild the family businesses. The family’s prestigious Chateau Lafite-Rothschild winery said Rothschild supervised the effort to restore the domain’s vineyards and buildings, and overhauled the way the holdings were administered. Rothschild held a 25 percent stake in the Rothschild banking empire.

Recommended from JTA

Advertisement