Ica Withholds Last Will of Baron De Hirsch from Jewish Public

(Jewish Telegraphic Agency)

The last will of Baron Maurice de Hirsch, great Jewish philanthropist and founder of the Jewish Colonization Association (Ica), the largest philanthropic organization in the world, in which the Baron bequeathed his estate of $50,000,000 to Jewish causes, is a document which is not to be made available to the Jewish public.

This is the opinion of the present Board of Trustees of the Jewish Colonization Association in Paris.

When the Jewish Telegraphic Agency here asked for a copy of Baron de Hirsch’s will, the following reply was received: “We have the honor of acknowledging receipt of your letter of January 28, concerning the forwarding to you of a copy of the last will and testament of Baron de Hirsch. We are unable, to our regret, to comply with your request.”

Baron de Hirsch died at Ogyalla, near Komorn, in Hungary, on April 21, 1896. The Jewish Colonization Association was founded as an English society, with a capital of £ 2,000,000 and in 1892 Baron de Hirsch presented to it a further sum of £ 7,000,000. On the death of his wife in 1899 the capital was increased to £ 11,000,000 of which £ 1,250,000 went to the Treasury in death duties. The shares in the Association are divided between the Anglo-Jewish Association of London and the Alliance Israelite Universal of Paris. The Association is prohibited from working for profit.