Genealogical Research and Provenance Investigation
The field of genealogy – the study of ancestry and family history – has occupied me for many years. Uncovering family relationships and reconstructing family histories has been, and remains, of great interest to me.
Beginning in 1996, I was employed in the law office of my father, Prof. Dr. Fritz Enderlein, who specialized in particular in restitution and compensation matters for Jewish victims of Nazi persecution and worked closely with American legal colleagues.
It was here that I developed my specialization in the family and asset histories of Jewish victims of Nazi persecution and other victims of National Socialism, as well as their descendants and legal successors, most of whom live abroad today. Through persecution, flight, deportation, and murder, families were torn apart and assets were left behind, stolen, or sold under the pressure of persecution.
Many survivors rarely spoke about their experiences in later years, with the result that information about their families’ former real estate, business interests, financial assets and art collections was often not passed down to subsequent generations. The focus of my work is the research, collection, analysis and documentation of historical, genealogical and provenance-related information, and its direct provision to my clients.
Through my own research and international contacts, I receive leads on unresolved ownership and asset situations. Likewise, descendants and legal successors of Nazi persecution victims contact me directly in order to have their family and asset history clarified.
My research includes the analysis of land registers and historical company records, as well as investigations in state and church archives, art libraries, museum and art trade archives, and art historical research institutions both in Germany and abroad. I analyze historical exhibition and auction catalogues, inventory lists, and correspondence, and submit information requests to authorities and international institutions. In this work, I am supported by a long-standing international network of art historians, archivists, genealogists, and lawyers.
I compile the information and supporting documents obtained through my research and document my findings in research reports and provenance dossiers, which I provide directly to my clients.
On the basis of the information I have researched, documented, and provided directly, numerous families and legal successors in Europe, Israel, the USA, and South America have already been able to clarify previously unknown asset connections and assert possible claims for restitution, compensation, or indemnification – either themselves or through lawyers they have commissioned.
I treat references and acknowledgments from former clients with the greatest discretion. Insights into completed research projects are possible only with their consent.
Please write an e-mail and I will come back to you.
For many years, I have been a member of the German-Israeli Lawyers’ Association (Deutsch-Israelische Juristenvereinigung) and regularly attend its events. This enables me to deepen my expertise and maintain my international contacts.