Oskar Wassermann was born in #amberg, Germany, and as a #oung man entered the service of #he banking business maintained ###y his family, A. E. Wassermann ### Company. In 1912 he was appointed head of the Deutsche Bank #nd later, when that bank was amalgamated with the Disconto Gesellschaft, he became head of the new firm.
One of the outstanding figures in German finance, Herr Wassermann was appointed to the general council of the Reichsbank, and exercised a great influence on German finance until the advent of the Nazi regime.
Late last year he retired from the board of the Deutsche Bank, of which he was the last Jewish member. Prominent in financial circles and called upon to cope with Germany’s financial difficulties in 1931, he attracted international attention by the manner in which he dealt with his country’s financial crisis.
After the Nazis assumed power, Herr Wassermann entered into virtual retirement. He suffered from a heart ailment for a number of years and this was the official reason given for his withdrawal from the board of the Deutsche Bank.
Herr Wassermann was very active in German Jewish life. He was a member of the board of the Academy of Jewish Knowledge, the School of Jewish Knowledge, the German Keren Hayesod, the Jewish Agency for Palestine and the Joint Palestine Survey Commission.
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.
