“Behind the Scenes of the Greatest Property Theft in History”
How eighty years of efforts to restore Jewish property looted during the Holocaust failed
In a compelling, boundary-crossing, and interdisciplinary lecture, Dr. Aharon Mor—today the world’s leading multidisciplinary expert on the restitution of Jewish property from the Holocaust—reveals the untold story: the greatest economic plunder in human history and the ongoing moral failure to redress it.
The Holocaust is widely known as the most systematic and brutal genocide in history: six million Jews were murdered during World War II. Yet alongside the physical annihilation, another crime unfolded, largely hidden from view—the unprecedented looting of property worth approximately USD 930 billion, stolen from the victims and their heirs through a wide array of methods, mechanisms, and schemes.
To date, less than 20% of this stolen property has been returned to its lawful owners.
Dr. Mor has devoted his life to restoring the remaining 80%.
Over more than 25 years of global research, Dr. Mor has examined the restitution of Jewish property looted during the Holocaust through a unique lens that integrates history, economics, political science, politics, public administration, and the third sector (NGO’s).
In the lecture you will learn, among other things:
- How European insurance companies sold policies to people they knew were being sent to their deaths—and then refused to pay survivors and heirs.
- How Swiss banks concealed the assets of murdered Jews and their families.
- Why governments in more than twenty countries evaded restitution—and in some cases transferred the property to others.
- How a handful of individuals nevertheless succeeded, against all odds, in recovering family property.
- Why NGOs and the third sector failed to recover property looted by the private and public sector.
- How political interests, bureaucracy, and greed converged to create the greatest economic and moral injustice in history.
- What can be done today and, in the future, to prevent property plunder in the aftermath of wars, international conflicts, and genocide.
- Why Holocaust Restitution Is More Relevant Today and for the Future Than Ever Before.
The lecture is intended, among others, for:
- Researchers, government officials, and public leaders
- Managers and staff in NGOs and the third sector
- Economists, historians, and scholars of political science and public administration
- Teachers and educators
- Business leaders and company owners managing large organizations
- Anyone interested in the Holocaust and World War II
- Jews, Israelis, and all those interested in Judaism and/or Israel
After his father’s entire family in Poland was murdered in the Holocaust—and the family farm, including its windmill, was confiscated by the authorities and never returned—Dr. Aharon Mor made a personal and moral decision.
A former senior economist at Israel’s Ministry of Finance, historian, international fundraiser and a high-tech entrepreneur, he chose to dedicate his life to uncovering the truth, raising awareness of the greatest plunder in history, and restoring Jewish property to its rightful owners.