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Original typed letter dated March 13, 1941,addressed to the Custodian ofEnemy Property,P.O.B. 1033, Jerusalem, Palestine,from KoninklijkeLederfabriek "Oisterwijk" N.V.Hand-signed in ink by Dr. H.I.L. Adler,Managing Director.
The letter documents a specific wartime legal manoeuvre.The Oisterwijkleather factory in North Brabant had been owned since 1920 by the leatherconcern of the Adler and Oppenheimer families, and was at its height thelargest tannery in Europe.A few days before the German invasion of theNetherlands on 10 May 1940, the company's head office was moved toWillemstad, Curacao, in the Netherlands West Indies.With the Netherlands under occupation, sums owed to the company inPalestine were frozen by the British Custodian of Enemy Property.Thisletter is the company proving otherwise. It quotes the Custodian's owntelegram of February 24th demanding that the British Consulate certifythe transfer, reports that the Consul in Willemstad cabled the PalestineGovernment on March 1st confirming the seat transfer had been publishedin the official Curacao gazette, and reproduces the company's replytelegram requesting remittance of US$11,650.01 to the Royal NetherlandsLegation in Washington D.C.
That sum was very large for 1941 — on the order of a quarter of a milliondollars in present-day terms.
A primary document of the wartime administration of Mandatory Palestineand of how a Dutch company under threat of enemy classification workedthrough British consular and colonial channels to recover its assets.Documents of the Custodian of Enemy Property in Jerusalem rarely surfacein private hands.
CONDITION:Single leaf, typed one side. Horizontal and vertical mailing folds withcreasing along them. Two file punch-holes at the left margin, each with abrown reinforcement ring, and a tear to the lower left corner. Lighttoning and scattered foxing. Text complete and fully legible throughout,including the signature.The punch-holes, rings and filing creases are consistent with a documentthat was received and filed in an office at the time, and are part of itshistory rather than later damage.SHIPPINGShipped from Israel via tracked Israel POST — free.Handling time 1 business days.Sent flat between rigid boards in an acid-free sleeve.Combined shipping available on multiple purchases;request an invoicebefore paying.30-day returns accepted, buyer pays return shipping.
