Isbert Adam and Martin Bendheim. Collection

Isbert Adam was born in Zempelberg (West Prussia, now Sepolno Krajenskie in Poland) in 1880. He was a Cuban national and he became honorary consul for Cuba in Danzig at the end of the 1930s. Isbert Adam also owned the shipping company "Havana importer S.A.". He presumably travelled to Antwerp in 1937 to create a Belgian branch of his business. His associates were Martin Bendheim (born in Frankfurt am Main in 1880) and Henri Van Immerzeel. Together with Adam Isbert, they imported and exported tobacco and art (including a painting or a sketch by Pieter-Paul Rubens). Based upon the collection content, it is presumed that Martin Bendheim, a Jewish tobacco dealer, was forced to close the "Havana importer S.A." branch in Brussels and/or Antwerp in 1941, possibly due to anti-Jewish measures, after which his collaboration with Adam and Van Immerzeel ended. No further information regarding Isbert Adam or Henri Van Immerzeel is available. Martin Bendheim was not deported from the Dossin barracks and presumably survived the war. Contact Kazerne Dossin Documentation Centre: archives@kazernedossin.eu This collection contains a notarial deed from Danzig, regarding a power of attorney attributed to the Aronsohn and Barnass families ; financial deeds regarding shipping company "Havana importer S.A." and the debt suffered by associate Martin Bendheim ; a list summing up the content of a business or a house, probably the abolished office of "Havana Importer S.A." branch led by Martin Bendheim ; a Dutch death certificate of Martha Sara Barschall, mother of Isbert Adam ; correspondence and forms regarding the shipping of several valuable paintings among which a canvas by Pieter-Paul Rubens ; the registration form of the "Havana Importer S.A." trading business ; two insurance policies regarding goods imported by "Havana Importer S.A." and stored by moving company Arthur Pierre in Antwerp ; a delegation of power given by Isbert Adam to his business associates Martin Bendheim and Henri Van Immerzeel.