PZ 7629/1934 ‘Messrs Wonckhaus’s claim in respect of Abu Musa oxide’ [‎20r] (38/57)

STATEMENT
The Writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. of this Statement, Mr.Gustav ZINNOW, a
partner in the firm of Robert WONCKHAUS & Co., 54 Neuerwall,
Hamburg, Germany, is a nephew of the late Mr.Alfred Beit
anu. the late Sir Otto Beit, Bart, of London, his late mother
having been a sister of the two d eceased gentlemen.
The Case Mr.Zinnow is referring to in this State is
the so-called "Abu Musa" Case, which from 1907 to 1914 was a
matter of Diplomatic Correspondence and exchange of Memoranda
between the British and the German Foreign Office.
Shortly before the outbreak of the war His Majesty^
Government in a Memorandum addressed to the Berlin Foreign
Office and given in copy herewith had declared its
willingness to facilitate the attainment of a settlement in
the form of compensation for the damage done to Messrs.Robert
Wonckhaus & Co. on account of the interruption of their
business, and had asked for a Statement of the firm 1 s claim:-
Owing to the outbreak of the World War the negotiations
already entered into, naturally came to a standstill and
never
have/been taken up after that time.
The various Memoranda exchanged between the two
Governments as the Writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. is informed, are lying with the
India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. , London. During the year 1913 upon the request
of Baron von Grunau of the German Foreign Office, the firm
had worked out a complete Account of their losses sustained
in that affair, of which a copy in German and in English is
given herewith, showing the total of the compensation the
firm thought itself entitled to at
Mark 446,000. -
to which sum the interest from 1907 to the day of payment was
to be added* This figure, as the Writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. is informed, has
before the war already been mentioned to the British Foreign
Office/
J