Baron Alexis von Goldschmidt-Rothschild, a collateral descendant of the famed Frankfurt Rothschild banking dynasty, testified in a Swiss court at Basle last week that three years ago he had been on the point of taking over the management of the “Jewish Bank” in Frankfurt, and to become one of its principal shareholders. Just when negotiations had been concluded, he indicated, the State of Hesse closed the bank amid a profusion of inflammatory publicity.
A transcript of his testimony was read in the Frankfurt court where the trial of five defendants formerly connected with the “Jewish Bank” has been in progress since last fall and where the Bank has often been described in very disparaging terms. Baron von Goldschmidt-Rothschild, who is a banker in Basle, had refused to come to Germany. Representatives of the Frankfurt court, prosecution and defense therefore journeyed to Basle earlier last week to listen to his deposition and to cross-examine him.
Germany’s best-known Jewish attorney, Joseph Klibansky, who as the Bank’s former legal adviser is one of the defendants in the case, took part in the proceedings in the Swiss courtroom. His role in the 1950 negotiations was warmly praised by Baron von Goldschmidt-Rothschild.
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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.
