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Stern Fortune is Fable, Investigation Reveals

April 8, 1926
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(Jewish Telegraphic Agency)

The tale of a huge fortune left in a country overseas by a Jewish immigrant from Poland has gripped the imagination of many members of the family of Stern in various parts of Europe.

Chief Rabbi Landau of Johannesburg has received hundreds of letters from people by the name of Stern, in Poland, Germany, Austria, Hungary and England in connection with the rumors circulating throughout Europe concerning a Jew, Moses Stern, who is reported to have died in Johannesburg in 1909, leaving the amount of £200,000,000 unclaimed by his heirs.

An investigation of the records in South Africa shows that no such estate existed, although it is possible that a man by the name of Moses Stern came to South Africa from Poland. No trace of any millions left by him can be found.

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