LOreal Took My Home by Monica Waitzfelder
L'Oreal Took My Home, by Monica Waitzfelder, translated by Peter Bush
An ugly story of anti-Semitism, profiteering and denial behind a beauty giant
This is a shocking book. The cosmetics group L'Oréal ("Because you're worth it") sells beauty but, behind its massive campaign to arrest women's ageing process, there are accusations of an ugly story of theft, denial and profiteering.
Monica Waitzfelder tells how her German-Jewish grandfather was pressured to sign away his large building in Karlsruhe three years after Hitler became Chancellor. His property was transferred to the BGV Insurance Company and, in l954, resold to a L'Oréal subsidiary. In 1961, L'Oréal became the direct owner. Since then, it has refused to admit responsibility for events prior to its ownership, or to compensate Waitzfelder's mother.
This book alleges that there has been a deliberate policy of denial of the earlier theft against this family. Things become more toxic when L'Oréal's anti-Semitic past is revealed. Eugène Schueller, who created L'Oréal, was the ideologue and financier behind La Cagoule, an extreme right-wing organisation that, during Pétain's regime, assassinated a former minister and torched six Paris synagogues.
L'Oréal's Vichy history is steeped in collaboration. Schueller supported Hitler in l942 but, after the Liberation, "got a miraculous whitewash" thanks to André Bettencourt, who became his son-in-law. He sheltered Schueller and several collaborators from the Resistance. In 1991, L'Oréal's Vichy past became public knowledge; three years later, Bettencourt resigned, leaving his wife as the power behind L'Oréal.
Throughout this compelling work, Waitzfelder suggests that France's Vichy past still plays out in France today, and has a direct bearing on her claim. L'Oréal has enormous economic power, especially as advertising from the brand, and its subsidiaries, contributes vast sums to the French media.
When this book was published in France, journalists rushed to interview Waitzfelder, a respected opera director, but only Le Monde, Le Parisien and Actualité Juive dared to publish. In 2001, she took the case to the Supreme Court. Two years later, the public prosecutor ruled that there could be no trial. She writes that the judicial system "simply preferred not to open Pandora's box". L'Oréal is one of France's shop windows, and "people prefer their shop windows clean".
But Waitzfelder's fight isn't over: she is taking the claim to the European Court of Human Rights. In the meantime, I have thrown all of my L'Oréal products into the dustbin.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-en...sh-432358.html
I am compelled to respond to this thread (can you guess why?) Anyway, first, I am surprised to see anything to do with "L'Oreal" on this forum. Secondly, despite L'Oreal's founder's association with that regime, they didn't steal this property per se, it was purchased from an insurance company in 1961.
What exactly is this woman's claim against L'Oreal?
Nothing special...a lot of people and organizations ended up connected to the Nazis somehow
That said, we dont use LOreal either
Do jews drive Ford?
The correct question would be - does Monica Waitzfelder drive Ford? And answering your question, yes, Jews do drive Fords, just like they drive all the German made cars.Originally Posted by toki
Whilst L'Oréal might be evil and everything, it seems this her claim over her family doesn't make any sense to me. It was purchased by the company after the war from another owner (legitimate or not). What does she exactly expect from L'Oréal - to loose money over property they legally purchased?
yeah... was thinking of this one...
You cannot legally purchase stolen goods. Thing is you normally just ignore that the watch/parfume etc. 'fell off the truck'.
Last edited by toki; 09-14-2012 at 06:25 AM.
That's a complicated topic. Similar like the Wertheim department stores. L'Oreal might have been nazis at the time but from a legal point of view they are not to blame as the german authorities back then made it a legal purchase with the entry of the new owner in the cadastral registry.
Maybe they can reach an agreement like in the other case. If my families heritage was snatched away in a time of turmoil I'd also try to get it back, not caring about it going through several hands afterwards (as those buying it back then also didn't care).
I took it even a step further - I leave in a neighborhood called German Colony, seriously.
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