Jewish leader resigns from HR board over Nazi-era land dispute

Daniel Neumann, chairman of the State Association of Jewish Communities in Hesse, has resigned from his position on the supervisory board of hr werbung GmbH, a subsidiary of the public broadcaster Hessischer Rundfunk (HR).

Neumann’s resignation is a protest against HR’s handling of compensation claims regarding land expropriated during the Nazi era. The dispute centers on a property in Frankfurt am Main on Eschersheimer Landstraße, formerly owned by the Jewish lodge B’nai B’rith. While the land was seized by National Socialists in the 1930s, it passed to HR after World War II. In 1952, HR agreed to a compensation payment of approximately 162,000 Deutsche Marks. However, investigations suggest this amount was based on an incomplete calculation, as nearly 2,000 square meters of the 4,730-square-meter total area were excluded from the valuation. HR subsequently sold the real estate for a sum in the millions.

Neumann accused the broadcaster of attempting to evade historical and moral responsibility through “legalistic explanations” and “evasive maneuvers.” HR has rejected the allegations, stating that documents do not prove a deliberate attempt to lower the 1952 compensation. The broadcaster noted that as a public institution, it cannot make payments from license fees without a legal basis and has commissioned a scientific study to investigate its founding history.