The film  Woman In Gold,  and the poignant narrative it recounts, will be at the heart and soul of our Annual Gala Dinner this year. Woman In Gold tells the story of LAMOTH President Randy Schoenberg's legal battle on behalf of Maria Altmann to recover a painting of Maria's aunt, Adele Bloch-Bauer, that was looted by the Nazis. Maria Bloch-Bauer was born in 1916 in Vienna to a wealthy Jewish family. In December 1937 she married opera singer Fritz Altmann. Only months later, Nazi Germany annexed Austria and seized possessions of wealthy Jews. They took Adele's diamond earrings and necklace that Maria had received as wedding gifts and the Bloch-Bauers' art collection, including the iconic portrait of Adele. 

 

The Nazis imprisoned Fritz at Dachau concentration camp for two months to pressure his brother, the owner of a cashmere business, to relinquish his overseas assets. After his release, he and Maria were held under house arrest in Vienna for three months. Their first three escape attempts failed, but in October 1938, he and Maria escaped by telling their guard that Fritz needed to see a dentist. They made their way to Cologne, through barbed wire across the border to Holland, and ultimately to the United States. Maria and Fritz settled in Los Angeles, where Fritz worked at a Lockheed plant and Maria went into the clothing business, selling cashmere sweaters sent by her brother-in-law. The Altmans raised four children in Los Angeles.