Willy Flanter

In 2012, a book from the Willy Flanter lending library was able to be restituted.

Wilhelm "Willy" Flanter, born on October 22, 1884, in Posen (Poznań), lived with his family at Suarezstraße 5 in Berlin-Charlottenburg. He was a bookseller and the owner of several bookshops and lending libraries.

On November 14, 1941, Willy Flanter and his wife Erna Flanter, née Waldo (born on February 10, 1896, in Koschmin/Posen), were deported to Minsk. Neither returned, and their exact dates of death remain unknown. Their daughter, Susanne Miriam Flanter, was able to emigrate to Great Britain in 1939 via a Kindertransport, thereby surviving the Holocaust.

How the book entered the holdings of the Berlin City Library (Berliner Stadtbibliothek) is unknown. It likely originates from the acquisition of approximately 40,000 books taken from deported Berlin Jews. The volume was incorporated into the library's collection shortly after the end of the war in 1945. The supplier listed in the accession register, “Kulturamt” (Department of Cultural Affairs), was likely connected to the Berlin City Council (Magistrat); however, this designation was also used, among other purposes, for looted property that was already physically on the premises.