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last mo.

German High Court To Rule On Ownership Of Kusserow Family Archive

The decision will decide whether a state-held collection of more than 1,000 documents that record Nazi persecution stays in a federal museum or must be handed to the Jehovah's Witnesses.

Eingangsschild am Hauptsitz der Zeugen Jehovas Deutschland (Archiv)
Am BGH wird das Urteil über ein Familienarchiv der Zeugen Jehovas erwartet. Es dokumentiert die Verfolgung einer Familie im Nationalsozialismus. Derzeit ist es im Militärhistorischen Museum in Dresden ausgestellt, die Zeugen Jehovas wollen es zurück.
Der Rechtsstreit um ein Familienarchiv von im Nationalsozialismus verfolgten Zeugen Jehovas geht in die nächste Runde.

Overview

  • The Bundesgerichtshof is set to issue a ruling that will resolve a dispute over a family archive compiled by Annemarie Kusserow that documents her family's persecution under Nazism.
  • The archive contains more than 1,000 items including photos, letters and death sentences that the Jehovah's Witnesses say Kusserow bequeathed to their community.
  • Kusserow’s brother sold the collection to the German state in 2009 and the materials are currently displayed at the Militärhistorisches Museum der Bundeswehr in Dresden, which the religious community objects to because of its military association.
  • In March the BGH urged the parties to reach a negotiated settlement but mediation failed and the court has since sent aspects of the case back to the Cologne appellate court for further fact-finding about ownership and the lawfulness of the state purchase.
  • The outcome will affect who controls access to first-hand testimony of Nazi-era repression, could shape museum provenance and restitution practices, and follows renewed public attention after a new Berlin memorial for persecuted Jehovah's Witnesses was opened this week.