A German jurist born in Stuttgart, Otto Küster witnessed and took part in the definition and implementation of reparation measures for Holocaust survivors throughout most of his professional life. His interest in matters pertaining to law and justice predated Hitler’s rise to power – but it was strengthened by what he witnessed happening in his home country in the 1930s and 1940s. In 1933, Küster was expelled from his job as auxiliary judge because of his critical views of the Nazi regime.

He survived the years of the Third Reich and, in the aftermath of the Second World War, dedicated most of his professional life to working on reparations for survivors – in the courtroom, at the Ministry of Justice, and at the negotiating table. He was in his late forties when, in 1952, he joined the German delegation at the first ever negotiations to deal with reparations in the aftermath of genocide and crimes against humanity. After that, he made history in the courtroom, for example with his passionate final speech when representing Norbert Wollheim, who was the first person to (successfully) sue the German company that had profited from his slave labour (IG Farben).

For information on Otto Küster’s life and work see:

Wollheim Memorial Website

(in German) Landesarchiv Baden-Württemberg