The Consul and the Chase after the Persian Carpets: Wilhelm Melchers, German Consul in Haifa, 1937-1939

Abstract

The article examines the little-known figure of Wilhelm Melchers, Germany’s last consul in Haifa before World War II, focusing on his work in the consulate and his obsessive quest to reclaim the property he left behind when he left Palestine in September 1939, particularly the expensive Persian carpets he brought with him from his previous posting in Iran. As part of the description of this pursuit and the effort to clear his name, the article makes use of numerous files from the German Foreign Ministry archives to shed light on this turbulent historical period, on the special ties Melchers formed with German Jewish immigrants in Haifa, and on the broader process of reparations between Israel and Germany. The main advantage of describing Melchers’ pursuit of his property is the ability to shed light on historical processes through a personal and seemingly marginal prism. After his departure, Melchers joined Germany’s newly reformed Foreign Ministry, underwent denazification, and later served as ambassador to India and Greece. Ironically, in his struggle to clear his name he exploited the connections he had made with Jewish immigrants from Germany in the 1930s. He received assistance from Jewish lawyers in Hamburg, Haifa, and Jerusalem. Though largely an unremarkable figure, the documents he deposited in the research archives provide a realistic, original and interesting view of broad historical events and trends during a tumultuous period both in the Land of Israel and elsewhere.