The Carl Heidenreich Foundation recently acquired three Carl Heidenreich oil paintings from Lothar Brandt of Berlin. The oil paintings, Portrait of Lia (c.1930), Street Encounter (1932), and Self-Portrait (1926) are rare examples of Heidenreich's pre-war painting, of which very few remain.

The history of Lothar's family and, particularly, his father Günther Brandt is closely tied to Carl Heidenreich. Günther, a German lawyer, was Heidenreich's first art patron in Weimar Berlin. Befriending the young family, he provided support and shelter to Lia and Monica (Carl's wife, shown above, and his daughter) after the advent of the Nazi regime in 1933.

Brandt was part of a network of Germans, many of whom were Communists, who helped thousands of German Jewish refugees or 'U-boats' to evade arrest and deportation, throughout the Holocaust.

After Monica was sent to live with Carl's family in Bad Berneck, Lia went underground in Berlin. "[She] was able to survive by changing friendly hideouts frequently," Gabriele Saure writes. The Brandts were one of the families that provided their apartment for shelter.

Although Lia did not follow Carl to the United States, Monica immigrated to the United States and now lives in Washington State.