A civil court here has ordered the temporary confiscation of a print of the anti-Jewish film, “Jud Suess,” produced by Veit Harlan in 1940 with the blessings of the Nazi Propaganda Ministry. The print had been held as part security by the tax authorities while the owner sought a buyer for it to raise funds to meet a tax claim.
The court acted after intervention by the Central Council of Jews and after a request by the Freiburg state’s attorney to have the print sequestrated. The Federal authorities also stepped into the picture and were reportedly considering charges against the film’s owner for possession of “treasonous literature.” Involved also were claims of copyright violation.
The owner of the print, August Bender, a Baden Baden merchant, bought the film as an investment in 1952 and had, apparently, been renting it to motion-picture houses in Egypt and Lebanon. In seeking to raise cash to meet his tax claims, Bender offered the print to a Jewish merchant with a glowing description of its money-making possibilities in the Arab world. The prospective purchaser reported the case to the Jewish organization and the court action followed.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
