- Solms-Baruth claims Nazis forced family to give up its estate
- The estate was confiscated by the Nazis after his grandfather helped plot to kill Hitler
- German officials say Solms-Baruth transferred the estate willingly and under communist rule in 1945
The grandson of a conspirator in the 1944 'Valkyrie' plot to assassin Adolf Hilter has escalated his claim for land restitution.
His grandfather, Prince Friedrich zu Solms-Baruth, escaped Nazi execution but was arrested on 21 July 1944, imprisoned and tortured for nine months for his part in the assassination attempt. He signed a 'Power of Disposal' document in March 1945 during his imprisonment, thus passing his 17,300 hectares of land directly to German Nazi politician Himmler.
Four years after the Solms-Baruths started their litigation, they reached a partial settlement that excluded properties on the estate owned by local governments. Funds from that deal helped to pay legal and research costs incurred by Solms-Baruth V, who took over handling the case after his father’s 2006 death. German courts upheld the validity of the 'power of disposal' document used by Himmler in a failed 2014 appeal to return the land.
Previous court cases have ruled that Prince Friedrich III willingly signed over his estate in 1945. Lawyers of Solms-Baruth believe newly discovered documents hold essential evidence to resolving the case.
The current claimant Frederick Solms-Baruth stated: "Righting this grievous wrong was my grandfather and my father's dying wish. In the face of indifference and obfuscation, it is my mission and I will not rest until I see justice served. It is my dream to see this land returned and bring prosperity back to the Baruth region through investment, thought and care, to honour grandfather's memory."
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Why would the post war government honor a nazi era contract. The nazi government was delegitimized.
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