The House at Number 48: The Final Ticket

Summary

The History Podcast – The House at Number 48: The Final Ticket

Host: Charlie Northcote (BBC Radio 4)
Guest: Anthony Easton
Date: October 17, 2025
Duration: ~15 minutes (excluding ads/outros)

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Episode Overview

This episode, “The Final Ticket,” delves into Anthony Easton's decade-long journey to unravel his Jewish family's fate during the Nazi era. Upon his father’s passing, Anthony uncovers a trove of cryptic family documents revealing not just a double identity but also the harrowing story of escape, betrayal, and vast wealth plundered by the Nazis. The episode tracks the Eisner family's desperate flight from Berlin, the loss of their industrial empire, and the complex dealings with those trusted to protect their fortune—individuals who may later have profited from their misfortune.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Final Days in Berlin and Flight from Germany

[00:42–03:53]

• The Eisners, among Berlin's wealthiest Jewish families, realize their only chance of survival is to flee.
• They take only what they can carry, leaving hopes their assets might await their return.
• Anthony reflects emotionally on this moment, painting a vivid scene:

  "Her Glazer the chauffeur had turned up in the Mercedes ... all the worldly goods they can carry. And that was it. Here we go." (Anthony Easton, [02:44])

• The journey to Berlin Central—past the Reichstag and under the Nazi banners—is fraught and symbolic.

2. The “Flight Tax” and Fleeing Families

[03:34–04:09]

• Families like the Eisners are forced to empty bank accounts, paying the Nazis a massive “flight tax” to escape.
• Train journeys are perilous, watched by Gestapo ensuring payments are made:

  "...Gestapo were on the trains, wouldn't let people cross the border without making sure they'd paid their 92% flight tax." (Anthony Easton, [03:34])

3. Shadowy Deals and Lost Assets

[04:09–09:06]

• As the family crosses into Czechoslovakia, a mysterious factory manager hands Rudolf a suitcase of money—possible evidence of hidden funds.
• The Eisners settle in Prague, tracked by documents inside the discovered suitcase. Anthony uses these artifacts to reconstruct their lives.
• The family's business, Hansche Werke, is seized at a “fire sale” price by the Nazi-favored conglomerate Mannesmann:

  "It's almost impossible to quantify the wealth that was stolen and how much those assets are worth today." (David de Jong, [07:18])

• The assets, later folded into modern corporate giants, could be valued in the billions.

4. Betrayal of a Trusted Protector

[08:17–11:10]

• To protect what remained, the Eisners grant Martin Hartig, an Aryan acquaintance, power of attorney over all assets. He sells properties to himself, safeguarding them from Nazi seizure—but then never returns them.
• Anthony wrestles with the impossibility and risk of such a transaction:

  "When my grandparents signed the power of attorney, they might as well have just written him a check, because that's what happened." (Anthony Easton, [10:38])

• The family loses every property—"60, 70 million euros worth"—and is left powerless and impoverished.

5. The Second Escape: Prague to Copenhagen

[11:10–13:14]

• As the Nazis occupy Prague, the Eisners realize they must flee once more.

  "The Eisners could not afford to stay still. They had to flee again, this time traveling east." (Charlie Northcote, [12:25])

• Their journey takes them via Warsaw to Copenhagen. A single “baggage tag” kept by Anthony's father likely represents their “final ticket” to safety.

6. Survival—but at What Cost?

[13:14–14:04]

• After Copenhagen, the Eisners board one of the last ships to England, escaping mere weeks before the outbreak of World War II.
• Anthony poignantly reflects on their transformation:

  "And also they were uprooted. They are full on refugees." (Anthony Easton, [13:08])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the cost of escape:

  "They lost every single house they had and they lost control of their lives entirely. I don't know, 60, 70 million euros worth of property in Berlin." (Anthony Easton, [10:38])

• On betrayal:

  "After taking all of their properties to save them from the Nazis, Martin Hartig never gave them back." (Charlie Northcote, [10:11])

• On the emotional legacy:

  "To grow up and really not knowing any of this is just extraordinary. It's too scary to think about, really." (Anthony Easton, [02:33])

• On the final ticket:

  "There's not an exaggeration to say ... this is the ticket that probably saved their lives. Yeah, because without it they would have been stuck there, no?" (Charlie Northcote, [12:58])

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Timeline of Important Segments

| Timestamp | Segment Description | |-----------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:42 | Context: Eisners’ last days in Berlin and decision to flee | | 02:33 | Anthony’s personal emotional reckoning | | 03:34 | The “flight tax” and border dangers | | 04:09 | Mysterious suitcase of money – possible hidden fund | | 06:50 | Historian David de Jong: the scale of what was stolen | | 08:43 | The Hartig deal: transferring assets and its consequences | | 11:21 | Nazi occupation of Prague escalates their peril | | 12:25 | Second escape: via Warsaw, the “final ticket” to Copenhagen | | 13:14 | Departure to England ahead of WWII | | 13:50 | Teaser for next episode: further revelations of loss and betrayal |

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Tone and Language

The episode mixes meticulous historical detail with moving, often raw personal reflection. Anthony Easton's voice, both literal and narrative, grounds the complex financial and political mechanisms in a deeply personal family tragedy. Host Charlie Northcote provides clarity and historical framing throughout, while guest historian David de Jong contextualizes the economic scale of loss.

The language is empathetic yet unsparing, with analogies and vivid recollections (“full on refugees,” “writing him a check”) making the stakes clear and personal.

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Conclusion

“The Final Ticket” captures both the devastation inflicted on European Jews by the Nazi regime and the lingering legacy of dispossession and betrayal. Through the lens of one family, the podcast explores the broader historical machinery of theft, the impossible moral calculations faced by the persecuted, and the long shadows cast by unresolved injustices. The episode sets up further investigation into those who benefited from such theft—and a quest for truth and possibly restitution.

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Transcript

[BBC Announcer]

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[Charlie Northcote]

In February 1938, Rudolf and Hildegard Eisner told their children they were going to have to leave their home in Berlin. They were among the last Jewish families to try to get out of Germany. The Nazis had surrounded them on all sides. Finally they realized they had to run.

[Anthony Easton]

How much did they take with them? I have no idea. Just a few suitcases, just essentials and valuables, I suppose. As many valuables as you can take and lock everything up and hope that maybe when you come back it will still be there. They had a good life and he was going to have to leave all of that behind.

[Charlie Northcote]

From Radio 4 and the History podcast, this is the house at number 48. I'm Charlie Northcote. Episode 5 the Final Ticket the Eisner's were one of the richest Jewish families in Berlin. The patriarch Rudolf Eisner had done everything he possibly could to steer them safely through the rise of the Nazis.

[Anthony Easton]

I think it must be desperate for him because he'd been diligent and tried everything and it had all gone wrong.

[Charlie Northcote]

Anthony Easton is Rudolf's grandson. For the last 10 years he's been piecing together the untold story of what happened to his relatives. In a suitcase he found under his dad's bed are train tickets, handwritten notes and photographs, a paper trail of a family running for their lives.

[Anthony Easton]

To grow up. And really not knowing any of this is just extraordinary. It's too scary to think about, really.

I mean, can you imagine? I would have thought it was incredibly emotional. Her glazer the chauffeur had turned up in the Mercedes and they would have got everything into the car with all their worldly goods, all the worldly goods they can carry. And that was it. Here we go.

[Charlie Northcote]

It was just 10 minutes drive to Berlin Central train station. They would have driven past the Reichstag, the heart of Nazi power. Swastika flags rippling in the wind. The station would have been frantically busy with families on the platform. Tens of thousands of Jews were fleeing the country, knowing that in doing so they would have to surrender almost everything they owned.

[Anthony Easton]

Those trains in those days, they must have been extraordinary crossing the borders, because, you know, I don't think it was just Jews trying to leave. I mean, there were probably all sorts of people trying to get out the country. And, you know, the Gestapo were on the trains, wouldn't let people cross the border without making sure they'd paid their 92% flight tax.

[Charlie Northcote]

We know that in order to leave Germany, the Eisners would have had to empty their bank accounts to pay the Nazi flight tax. And at some point in their journey, someone seems to have entered the train to try and help them.

[Anthony Easton]

After the last Gestapo had got off the train because it was crossing the border into Czechoslovakia, a factory manager came onto the train and he handed my grandfather a suitcase full of money. And my grandfather looked at it and said, oh, I can't possibly take that. I wouldn't want to upset the books of the company.

[Charlie Northcote]

Who was the man with the money? In the last episode we heard about Martin Hartigan, a tax advisor who began working for the Eisner family in the 1930s, who may have helped them shield their assets from the Nazi regime.

[Anthony Easton]

I don't think it would be a wild guess to say that that might have been Hardig. It may well have been.

[Charlie Northcote]

That's really interesting.

[Anthony Easton]

But it could have been him. I don't know. I would have thought Rudolph would have identified Martin Harding as a person who could help him.

[Charlie Northcote]

We know thanks to records in Anthony's dad's suitcase that their train out of Germany arrived in Prague. The Eisenhowers moved into an apartment opposite the opera house in the heart of that beautiful city. The original building they lived in is still standing today. How did you know this is where your dad and grandfather were living?

[Anthony Easton]

Well, it was all inside the suitcase, really. You know, I had a few documents, had a few things, had these envelopes of my dad's. It is basically a map of where he went in the city. Sitting on those buses and trams. He's probably scared witless.

[Charlie Northcote]

While Anthony's dad tried to get settled in Prague, his grandfather must have been lying awake through the night.

[Anthony Easton]

I would imagine the business of Hangjewerke was preoccupying him. And I would imagine that any spare moment he had would be spent trying to get permits, trying to get exit visas, trying to get residence visas in different countries and seeing where they could go.

[Charlie Northcote]

While desperately trying to save his business and find a permanent new home for his family. The tentacles of the Nazi government encircled the Eisner steel empire back in Germany. And in March 1938, they finally came for them. Author David de Jong is an authority on what happened to Jewish businesses under the Nazis.

[David de Jong]

Hans Schieverke was sold at a fire sale price and removed from ownership of the Eisner families and was absorbed by Manusmann. This huge industrial conglomerate led by his CEO. Wilhelm Sangen was an ardent Nazi and he was able to build out Manusmann into one of the largest industrial conglomerates of the Third Reich. It's almost impossible to quantify the wealth that was stolen and how much those assets are worth today. Mannesmann was actually taken over by Vodafone for, at the time, the largest takeover in the world. In 2000.

[Charlie Northcote]

Mannesmann was bought for more than 100 billion pounds. It's not clear what percentage of those assets once derived from the Eisner steel empire. Hanscha Werke. But it seems likely that their family's assets would be worth billions today.

[Anthony Easton]

It must have been so bitter for him because this was his family, his father's company. And so I would think he was looking back in a, you know, through a tunnel of history and thinking. I mean, it's just everything's gone.

[Charlie Northcote]

Back in Germany, the Gestapo were seizing the homes of Jewish families who had left the country. If Rudolf and Hildegard Eisner didn't act fast, their properties worth millions would be next. The villa in Berlin, the country house, the house at number 48. And the man who came to help them was Martin Hartig.

[Anthony Easton]

So the two of them would have had all the property assets and all of the business assets, either on bits of papers or in their head. And Martin Hartig showed up in Prague and they gave him power of attorney over all of it. I mean, who would do a thing like that if they didn't have to?

[Charlie Northcote]

Rudolf Eisner wasn't a fool. There was a rationale behind this deal with Martin Hartig. Hartig wasn't Jewish. He was Aryan. After the Eisner family gave him power of attorney over their properties, Martin Hartig sold them all to himself. And once under his ownership, they could no longer be forcibly seized by the Nazi authorities. Technically, they were safe. Hartig himself, read here by an actor, described this deal and the role he played in helping the Eisner's. In notes in the Berlin archives.

[David de Jong]

I rendered exceptional services to the Eisner family. My efforts ensured that nearly the entire substantial wealth of the couple was protected from Nazi confiscation through timely and discreet actions. Their relocation was executed by me completely according to plan.

[Charlie Northcote]

This was a deal based on friendship and trust. Years of Martin visiting the Eisners in their country house just outside of Berlin. But there is a problem with the deal. After taking all of their properties to save them from the Nazis, Martin Hartig never gave them back.

[Anthony Easton]

Maybe it's a question for people to think about what they would do in that situation. That someone turns up in their house and says, okay, here, sign these bits of papers and everything you've owned before, I'll take care of them for you. Don't you worry about it. They lost every single house they had and they lost control of their lives entirely. I don't know, 60, 70 million euros worth of property in Berlin. When my grandparents signed the power of attorney, they might as well have just written him a check, because that's what happened.

[Charlie Northcote]

With their wealth gone, the Eisner's were now entirely reliant on Martin Hartig for their survival. And the situation in Prague was about to get worse.

[Anthony Easton]

Through the snow, the legions of occupation march into Czechoslovakia.

[Charlie Northcote]

Within days of signing their power of attorney deal, Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia. His convoy, welcomed by thousands of roaring German speaking Czechs, would have passed directly in front of the Eisner apartment. A plaque on a wall today says the Gestapo moved into the building next door.

[Anthony Easton]

After that point, the whole place had gone mad. So your neighbour was your enemy. Suddenly there's a short play by a Czech writer and a guy comes in and this woman's dancing and he doesn't like the way she's dancing. And he says to her, don't dance like that. Don't move your arms like that. Don't move your legs like that. Don't move your head like that. Don't turn around like that. And in the end, this woman's standing there like a statue and he says, well go on then, dance. So where would you go?

[Charlie Northcote]

The Eisners could not afford to stay still. They had to flee again, this time traveling east.

[Anthony Easton]

So my grandfather is obviously desperate to get out. He's trying to find a way out. They took a train to Warsaw, where they were for two weeks in July 1939. And then somehow, as we can see from this really amazing baggage tag that my dad kept, they got to Copenhagen.

[Charlie Northcote]

There's not an exaggeration to say I don't think that this is the ticket that probably saved their lives. Yeah, because without it they would have been stuck there, no?

[Anthony Easton]

And also they were uprooted. They are full on refugees.

[Charlie Northcote]

After catching that flight and reaching Copenhagen, the Eisner family caught one of the last ships to leave Europe for England. On the 6th of July 1930. Nine weeks later, Hitler invaded Poland and the world was plunged into war.

[David de Jong]

I have to tell you now that no such undertaking has been received and that consequently, this country is at war with Germany.

[Charlie Northcote]

Next time on the house at number 48, Anthony uncovers the total downfall of his family. Murder, betrayal and the looting of everything they owned.

[Anthony Easton]

I knew that the Nazi era spelt the end for the Eisners.

[Charlie Northcote]

Thanks for listening to this episode. You can listen to the whole series right now. First on BBC Sounds.

[Anthony Easton]

Look, we found this. Mickey's never seen this before. Oh, wow. It's just him. In homes across Britain, children and grandchildren are discovering stories about their families in the Second World War. I've never noticed it before. It's a battered old suitcase. Do you want to open it? I'd love to open it. Not the war. You're thinking of the fight against the Nazis. The other story of World War II War II, the one on the Asian front against Japan.

[Charlie Northcote]

The battle was gun battle really. And kept on pounding them, pounding them, pounding them.

[Anthony Easton]

I'm Kavita Puri from BBC Radio 4, the World Service and the history podcast. This is the second map. 80 years after the end of that war, why don't we remember it as well as we should? Listen to the second map first on BBC Sounds.

[BBC Announcer]

At the BBC, we go further so you see clearer. With a subscription to BBC.com you get unlimited articles and videos, hundreds of ad free podcasts and the BBC News Channel streaming live 24. 7 from less than a dollar a week for your first year. Read, watch and listen to trusted independent journalism and storytelling. It all starts with a subscription to BBC.com. find out [e-mail] unlimited.