There is something deeply personal about an inheritance. No matter what it is - art, a piece of furniture, pottery or books - it provides us with a tangible link to generations past. It is something we can share with family members no longer with us, and the object takes on more importance because of that.
An object once loved by ancestors is now entrusted to you. And it touches you. Knowing that object's history is so enticing because there is a desire to know who else has loved it, and what has happened to it over the years.
The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal tells the story of how the author inherited a collection of netsuke, small Japanese ivory and wooden sculptures. Intrigued to research his inheritance, he traces its path. The collection was acquired by Charles Ephrussi. The Ephrussis were a grand banking family, as rich and respected as the Rothschilds, who "burned like a comet" in 19th-century Paris and Vienna society. Charles had shunned the place set aside for him in the family business to make a study of art and of beautiful living. In 1899, Charles sent the netsuke to his first cousin, Viktor, in Vienna, as a wedding present. His children were allowed to play with one netsuke each while they watched their mother, the Baroness Emmy, dress for ball after ball. Next came the Anschluss, the occupation and annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938. The family lost almost all of their amassed empire to the Nazis. Who wouldn't want to discover how the netsuke survived, through countries and generations, to arrive in the hands of a British potter? Edmund de Waal has skillfully blended history, biography and art in this haunting tale.
Lost Lives, Lost Art: Jewish Collectors, Nazi Art Theft and the Quest for Justice by Melissa Müller and Monika Tatzkow takes a look at the stories of 15 collectors and their collections. The legendary names include Rothschild, Mendelssohn, Bloch-Bauer - distinguished bankers, industrialists, diplomats and art collectors. Their collections ranged from manuscripts and musical instruments to paintings by Old Masters and the avant-garde. But because they were Jews in Nazi Germany and occupied Europe, they were sentenced to exile or death in Hitler's concentration camps. Their tragic, compelling stories are told here, as are those of their families' struggles to reclaim their rightful inheritance. This book is filled with historical photographs and intriguing stories that will captivate you.
Restitution: A Family's Fight for their Heritage Lost in the Holocaust by Kathy Kacer is a true story that spans 50 years. It tells the turbulent story of the Reesers, a Jewish family that emigrated to Canada from Czechoslovakia. Fleeing the Nazis, they had to leave behind four valuable oil paintings with a Christian colleague. The family made their escape and arrived in Canada just days before the Second World War began. Despite living a successful new life in Toronto, the Reesers never forgot what was left behind. When peace returned to Europe, Mari Reeser fought for the return of the paintings, only to be thwarted by the Communist regime. Hope sparked again in 1989 when Mari's son, Karl Reeser, received a letter saying the paintings were his if he could retrieve them. What follows is the incredible story of how these paintings were returned to the Reesers in Canada with the help of some unlikely saviours.
It's natural to want to know the history of an object, and when that object has been in the family for generations, the desire to know its history is even stronger. The histories chronicled in these books are emotional rollercoasters. They'll take you from delight to outrage, despair to hope. These are stories of inheritance and loss.
Discover them at your local library.
A Good Read is a column by Tri-City librarians that is published every Wednesday. Katie Oke works at Coquitlam Public Library.
