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About the Author

Born in London shortly after WWII and educated at the French Lyce in London, then at Munich University, Simon Goodman entered the music business in the late 1960s, specializing in breaking new British artists abroad. Goodman is married to the actress and teacher May Quigley and has one son and show more three daughters. He lives in Los Angeles where his search for his family's treasures continues. show less

Works by Simon Goodman

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Given to Lange Gasse book depot, 26 February 2024.
 
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Niafer | 6 other reviews | Feb 26, 2024 |
The Orpheus Clock is a story that hits very close to my heart. It involves the descendant of a wealthy German-Jewish family (super-wealthy, actually) who lost it all in the Holocaust. Simon Goodman grew up in London knowing his heritage, while his father sadly (and without much success) pursued leads to reclaim a vast family collection of important artwork stolen by the Nazis.

Simon's great-grandfather had been the founder of Frankfurt's Dresdner Bank in the late 19th century, and had accumulated a vast fortune. Much of that wealth had been used by Simon's great-grandfather, and his grandfather, to amass one of the great private art collections of the day. But the Nazis (specifically Hitler and Goering themselves) were jealous of the Gutmann family collection, and were determined to get their hands on every last piece. When Eugen Gutmann (the great-grandfather) died in 1925, his son Fritz took over guardianship of the family collection, and it ended up costing he and his wife Louise their lives in concentration camps. Fortunately, their two children were out of Germany before the war, and survived the Holocaust.

But post-war, the family was left with nothing. Simon's father, Bernard, spent his 49 remaining years in trying to trace and reclaim the lost pieces of art. But, with European governments and the art community (including the two great international auction houses) throwing obstacles in front of Jewish survivors at every turn, restitution seemed nearly impossible. The German, Dutch and French governments (which allowed the Nazis to steal the Gutmann's family's assets, and then to murder Fritz and Louise) actually charged Bernard fees to reclaim his family's rightful property.

It was only after Bernard's 1994 death that Simon inherited details of the family's vast art collections. The advent of the internet helped Simon to realize how it might be possible to trace the current ownership and location of over 50 pieces, valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Suffice to say that the intransigence of the governments, museums, art community, and even some current owners had changed dramatically since the 1950s, and Simon was able to recover, or at least receive partial settlement for, many pieces of the collection. Circumstances (not the least of which is the number of heirs to the collection) made it impossible to keep most of the recovered pieces, but Simon is to be congratulated for his determination in getting it done. He was a dog with a bone, and he refused to ever let go.

This is a riches to rags to riches story that one rarely hears about relative to the Holocaust. Bravo Simon!

My own German-Jewish family (although nowhere near as wealthy as the Gutmanns) lost everything to the Nazis. But no formal list of our assets survived the war, and so nothing is recoverable. Apparently someone in Germany had the nerve to call my spinster aunt in the UK in the 50s or 60s, and offer to SELL her back our family's Bösendorfer concert grand piano, which had been stolen by the Nazis. Needless to say, as a poor civil servant with no inheritance, she refused.
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MHStevens | 6 other reviews | Jan 7, 2020 |
This book fascinated me from beginning to end. It was so well researched; no surprise, considering that the subject was the author's own family history. I appreciated the lengths that all the Gutmanns/Goodmans went to in order to reclaim stolen family heirlooms. I felt anger on behalf of all the victims of the Nazi Party. I will continue to watch for stories of rediscovered art and hope that more people are able to make connections with treasures their ancestors were forced to part with.
 
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LMJenkins | 6 other reviews | Nov 28, 2018 |
"I know, rationally, that even under the Nazis there surely were sunny days; I just can't see it. Whenever I think of my grandparents during the Nazi nightmare, I envision them only in the monochromatic shades of World War II newsreels, under clouds of SS black and skies of Wehrmacht gray."

The systematic looting and destruction of Jewish art during WWII has long enthralled me in both fascination and horror. While I've read a variety of literature on this particularly ugly period of world history, this is my first experience with a personalized account. The Orpheus Clock is something of a fifty year long detective story, begun widely in secret by Goodman's father, and which spans generations and continents. I enjoyed a rather scathing inside look at the art markets of 20th century Europe and now, cameos by the indomitable Rose Valland, and an enlightening (not in a good way) exposé on the rather dastardly actions of the Dutch government following WWII.

"That a sturdy bronze, fifteenth-century mortar and pestle, with German coat of arms, had survived was not so surprising, but close by were two ancient cushions still in remarkable condition. Embroidered on both was their year of creation--1689. They seemed to epitomize to what lengths the Nazis had gone to preserve everything of value--except human life."

The Orpheus Clock is a story, ultimately, of restitution. While Goodman is not a natural writer, emphasized by periodic awkward phrasing and repetitive word choice, his family's story is haunting and resounding. An unfortunately all too common example of entire families who not only lost their lives but were stripped of their legacies and cultural heritage as well. Goodman's research is impeccable as he outlines the Gutmann banking dynasty rise to social and political prominence and their subsequent evisceration by the Nazis.

The bulk of The Orpheus Clock, and the most compelling aspect, is detailing of the intensive and far-reaching investigation Goodman and his brother launched in order to reclaim their family legacy. They tirelessly track many of the thousands of missing pieces from the Gutmann collection through history in order to fight for their return. This account does not mince words as the Goodman family files lawsuits, struggles through endless bureaucratic red tape, conducts investigations, and fights resistant collectors and museums for their rightful inheritance. The actions of the Goodman family paved the way for auction house reform and the development of Holocaust-era restitution policies, while encouraging countless other families to pursue their own sense of justice. A passionate, monumentally important text.
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GennaC | 6 other reviews | May 9, 2017 |

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