Julio Metal was a banker and investor, who lived in Berlin and Vienna. His property was “aryanized” after 1933. He fled to the USA in 1938 and died in 1941.

His property consisted of more than 110 real estate plots in Berlin, and other towns in Germany, and Vienna as well. Some plots and buildings were owned by people residing and companies located in Spain, mostly in Barcelona. Other plots were owned by limited liability companies (GmbH).

The real estate property was mortgaged by a Swiss bank, the Eidgenössische Bank. The dead pledges were sold by the Bank to Count Lazy Henckel von Donnersmarck. This transaction was disputed in court.

In 1941, the City of Berlin appointed the real estate company Fundamentum AG and Wilhelm Reibeholz as trustees to “aryanize” the real estate plots owned by Julio Metal and his companies.

In 1942, the court dispute was settled. It was agreed that some properties had to be sold by the Fundamentum, others went to Henckel von Donnersmarck.

Facts & Files was commissioned by the granddaughter of Julio Metal, Camilla Metal Brinkman, to conduct research at Berlin and Viennese archives on the “aryanization” of the properties. Based on these findings she produced the podcast “Recovering Julio” about the history of her family and Julio Metal.

The podcast “Recovering Julio” was released in February 2021 by Loss and Found Productions LLC .