Einstein's heirs fight for his little piece of Germany

From CNN correspondent Bill Delaney

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(CNN) -- Ghosts of Germany's past are swirling around the summer house Albert Einstein called "my paradise" -- a quiet rural retreat and potential tourist draw outside of Berlin.

The little town of Caputh, located 20 kilometers from Berlin, claims legal rights to Einstein's house, under a 1935 Nazi law which turned over property of Jews to the state. Morally, it's another issue, according to Gary Smith, an American scholar who is working on behalf of Einstein's heirs.

"It's scandalous that they're still desperately trying to keep the house," said Smith. "This is a case of pure opportunism. Of a community wanting to take advantage touristically of something they shouldn't have."

Host to Nobel Prize winners

By the time the Nazis seized Einstein's home, the famed physicist had fled Germany and accepted a position at the newly created Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. He left behind the sanctuary he'd sunk his life savings into -- and where he had entertained at least 11 Nobel Prize winners.

The house became an annex to a Jewish orphanage until 1938, when the Nazis ransacked it and drove away the children. Some of the orphans later died at the Auschwitz concentration camp.

Who profits from the past?

The mayor of Caputh says the dark side of the town's history shouldn't forever hang over its people, many of whom he says befriended Einstein before the Nazi terror.

"We have no direct moral responsibility," said Mayor Friedrich-Karl Gruette. "If anything, we've turned it all around. We're very proud Einstein lived here. Einstein is an honored citizen of this community."

The house is now dilapidated. Caputh says it's not legally allowed to renovate until the legal claims are settled.

One of many claims

The issue of whether Einstein's heirs will preserve the house -- or the town of Caputh profit from it -- is only one of the most famous of about 130,000 claims Jewish families have filed for property in the former East Germany. The former West Germany settled claims with Jews decades ago.

Now the problem for many Jewish descendants is simply providing proof of ownership so many years later.

"A Nazi party member who bought a house in 1936 for a token sum has all the documentation," says Smith, "so these claims sometimes get precedence."

Related story:

• Hitler may have had Swiss bank account - September 6, 1996

Related sites:

• Albert Einstein Online
• Nazi Germany's Laws Against the Jews

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