Community Magazine May 2003

Are You an Heir? Thousands of Jews Bought Property in Mandate Israel Joseph Cohen, a historical researcher, real estate agent, and legal authority all rolled in one is helping Jews reclaim property which their forebears bought many decades before. Cohen was born in Israel and moved to Brooklyn after his mar- riage 20 years ago. He fell into the property reclaiming business ten years ago when a friend of his, recognizing his resourcefulness and industriousness, asked for help in reclaiming a neighbor’s property. The friend sent Cohen the information about the proper- ty, and Cohen went to work. He quickly found out that reclaiming old properties was a special research field that requires extensive knowledge of genealogy, history, library resources, government and law. “I soon realized that if you settle somewhere, particularly in the U.S., you will always leave a trail by which you can be located. A bank account, registered mail, phone book entries... the trail will remain there for hundreds of years,” said Cohen. “You just have to know how to find it.” The property in Israel that he was researching opened Cohen’s eyes to the fact that people had bought thousands of properties in Israel during the 1920’s-30’s. Motivated altruistically to do some- thing for the Jewish nation, Jews from Egypt, Iraq, Romania, Poland and especially the U.S. bought properties in the fledgling British Mandate without any thought of profit. After WWII and its aftermath, many of the purchasers from Europe were killed, while Jews from North Africa and other Arab lands fled. Their descendants often had no idea that their forebears owned property in Israel. Cohen began to study Jewish migrations during those years. He learned of the many tools available to a person with which they can locate ancestors. When Eastern Europe opened up, a whole new database of information became available, although, he emphasizes, that one must know how to work with these sources. Cohen emphasizes that despite the many conduits of informa- tion available, research is still difficult and lengthy. “You have to know who to talk with. The local Jewish community will be help- ful, but they don’t know much. The Internet is also insufficient as a tool. Every case involves tremendous research and effort.” The Port Said Jew’s Property In one of Cohen’s most riveting cases, he had found out about a piece of expensive property in Israel that was bought by a Tsefat Jew. The Jew had moved to Port Said when the Suez Canal was being built. He had opened a print shop, became wealthy, and one of his many acts of charity was to buy a plot of land in Israel in 1932. B Y M . B E N C H A I M The phone rang in Abraham’s* Florida home one day in 1999. “Is this Abraham?” asked a strange voice. Abraham replied in wonder, “Who is this?” “I’m phoning to inform you that you are one of the heirs to an expensive piece of property located in Israel. Would you like to reclaim this property?”