Nahum Goldman

By Charlotte Halle

The cash-strapped Nahum Goldmann Museum received a rare gift this week which once belonged to its founder: a custom made
Bentley 'T' Series Saloon automobile created for Nahum Goldmann by the Rolls Royce company.

The luxury vintage car, which was custom-made for the statesman and leader Nahum Goldmann in 1969, was recently purchased by businessman Jack Wishna, who offered to loan or donate it to the museum as a permanent exhibit.

Renowned for his jet-setting and lavish lifestyle, as well as his achievements in negotiation of German reparations for Holocaust survivors, Lithuanian-born Goldmann founded the museum in 1978.

Once highly celebrated for its exhibits and use of cutting-edge technology, in recent years the museum's fortunes have plummeted. Sharp funding cuts, coupled with a drastic drop in the number of visitors, have prevented the museum from much-needed modernization. In the 1980s, an average of 450,000 people came to the museum each year; in 2002 numbers fell to just 73,000. In 2001 a recovery program to address the museum's estimated annual deficit of NIS 8 million was devised, which included major lay-offs and a reduction of the museum opening hours to four days a week. But in July of this year, bailiffs turned up with an order to repossess one of the museum's cars because of the institution's NIS 250,000 debt to the income tax authorities. In October, the museum was given emergency aid in the form of $2 million dollars: $1 million from the Israeli government and another $1 million from the Claims Conference, which works to secure restitution for Holocaust survivors and their heirs. But the deficit at the end of 2003 is still NIS 8 million, according to Finzi.

Wishna, a vintage car enthusiast, proposed in October that the donation would help the cash strapped museum continue operations.
At present he drives the mint-condition car around Nevada at least once a week. There are two schools of thought when it comes to vintage car ownership, he told Anglo File this week in a telephone conversation from Las Vegas:

You can treat it as a museum piece and put it on a pedestal and admire it, or you can utilize it for its beauty and mechanics and
operate it for what is was designed to be - a motor car." Custom made by Bentley-Rolls Royce, the two tone car was delivered to
its owner in Paris in 1969. The most unique feature is the color of the roof, hood and trunk, which are 'Astrakhan', a dark brown shade created by the company especially for Goldmann, while the rest of the car is sand colored. Other features of the automobile, which was
manufactured by hand, include deep pile Wilton carpets to match the beige interior leather and the distinct Bentley grill. Prior to
Wishna, the car was owned by legendary Las Vegas entertainer Wayne Newton, who has a huge vintage car collection and bought
the automobile directly from Goldmann shortly before the Zionist leader's death in 1982. Wishna said that he had been intrigued by
the car and its history since Newton - his friend and business colleague - first purchased it from Goldmann. Diaspora Museum
director-general Finzi said that the museum was now trying to investigate whether the historical automobile could be exhibited at the
World Jewish Congress building in New York.

One of Wayne Newton's prized automobiles, recently sold at auction, won't be traveling far to its new owner.

Las Vegas dealmaker Jack Wishna, who put together Newton's megadeal with the Stardust and is representing Donald Trump in a local project, has purchased Newton's 1969 Bentley-T Type automobile through Kruse International auction house.

Owned by Newton more than 20 years, the car was custom built by Rolls Royce-Bentley for Nahum Goldmann, the Israeli leader and statesman who played a key role in Israel's formation.

Wishna is negotiating with the Nachum Goldmann Museum at Beth Hatefutsoth to ship the restored vehicle to Israel as part of a national tour and exhibition, before returning it to his private collection in Las Vegas.