The entire German press carries laudatory obituaries on Franz von Mendelssohn, famous banker and member of a distinguished German-Jewish family, who died yesterday in Paris at the age of 70. He was a descendant of the famous composer.
In the obituaries no mention is made of the fact that von Mendelssohn was a “non-Aryan.”
Franz von Mendelssohn was a member of the general council of the Reichsbank. He was also a member of the League of Nations Consultative Committee on Economic Organization. He contributed greatly to the strengthening of the German financial position and was the first German president of the International Chamber of Commerce.
A senior member in the banking house of Mendelssohn and Company, Herr von Mendelssohn was also known as a patron of art and spent large sums of money for charity.
Carrying many honorary titles bestowed upon him by the German government, Von Mendelssohn gave up all his honorary posts when the Nazi regime came into power. It was then that he also withdrew from the directorate of the Reichsbank. He has since been living in retirement at his home in Berlin. He is survived by his wife, Marie Westthal.
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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.
