Editing Paul Wittgenstein (section)

== Nazi persecution and emigration ==
The Wittgenstein family converted to Christianity three generations before Paul's birth on the paternal side and two generations before on the maternal side, but they were of mainly Jewish descent, and under the Nuremberg laws they were classed as Jews.<ref name="lostart.de">{{Cite web|title=Lost Art Internet Database - Jüdische Sammler und Kunsthändler (Opfer nationalsozialistischer Verfolgung und Enteignung) - Wittgenstein, Paul|url=https://www.lostart.de/Content/051_ProvenienzRaubkunst/DE/Sammler/W/Wittgenstein,%20Paul.html|access-date=2021-11-09|website=www.lostart.de}}</ref> After the rise of the [[Nazi Party]] and the [[Anschluss|annexation of Austria]], Paul tried to persuade his sisters Hermine and Helene (aged 69 and 64 at the time) to leave Vienna, but they demurred: they were attached to their homes there, and could not believe such a distinguished family as theirs was in real danger. Ludwig had already been living in England for some years, and [[Margaret Stonborough-Wittgenstein|Margaret (Gretl)]] was married to an American. Paul, who was no longer permitted to perform in public under the Nazis, moved to the U.S. in 1938. From there, he and Gretl, with some assistance from Ludwig (who acquired British nationality in 1939), managed to use family finances (mostly held abroad) and legal connections to attain non-Jewish status for their sisters.

The family's financial portfolio consisted of properties and other assets in Germany and occupied lands with a total value of about $6 billion, possibly the largest private fortune in Europe. Essentially all family assets were surrendered to the Nazis in return for protection afforded the two sisters under exceptional interpretations of racial laws, allowing them to continue to live in their family palace in Vienna.