WW.II. AND THE LOOTED ART PROBLEM

The past six years numerous reports about the recovery of art looted by the Nazis during WW.II were sent to the subscribers of the Museum Security Mailinglist. This page is intended to create some order in the abundance of information. Additions, links and feedback are most welcome.

Museum Security Network
WW.II related mailinglist reports

Lost Art Internet Database
The Lost Art Internet Database is a project of the Koordinierungsstelle für Kulturgutverluste, which is Germany central office for the documentation of lost cultural property. Lostart is the official German database to register cultural assets which as a result of Nazi–persecution were relocated, moved or seized especially from Jewish owners or which were relocated or stolen in the cause of World War II.

Google Index WW.II related sites, and Provenance Research

Central Registry of Information on Looted Cultural Property 1933-1945: This site provides a range of resources to advance knowledge of the cultural spoliation of Europe by the Nazi regime and the fate of the families, objects, and institutions which were its target. The Central Registry is designed to be of use to anyone interested in this subject and will be continually expanded.
Origins Unknown: Thousands of art objects were sold, robbed or confiscated and ended up in Germany during World War II. After the war, the Stichting Nederlandsch Kunstbezit (SNK) returned many of the recuperated works of art to their rightful owners on behalf of the Dutch State. Nevertheless, there are still a large number of works of art in the state's custody. These constitute the Nederlands Kunstbezit-collectie (NK collection). In October 1997, the Secretary of State for Education, Culture and Science assigned the Ekkart Committee to carry out a pilot study into the origins of a selection of artworks from this NK collection. The project office Herkomst Gezocht was founded on 1 September 1998, after the conclusion of this pilot study at the behest of the same committee and under the organisational responsibility of the Inspectorate of Cultural Heritage which has one principal task: tracing the original owners of the art objects in as far as this is possible well over 50 years after the end of World War II. The results so far can be found on this website and have been laid down in interim reports. This website allows you to search the database for art objects or family names yourself.
ICOM: Spoliation of Jewish Cultural Property
To help museums implement the resolution adopted by the ICOM General Assembly in Barcelona on 6th July 2001, the UNESCO-ICOM Information Centre has put together a file of resources on the issue of spoliation of Jewish cultural property during the Second World War.
The information on this site includes references for national and international directives for museums concerning the identification and return of looted or stolen Jewish property. Databases of objects which were looted or have disappeared are also listed, along with several examples of individual initiatives by museums to facilitate the task of establishing the provenance of certain items in their collections.
A vast body of information is available on this topic and this ICOM page does not purport to be exhaustive.
The Centre would be happy to receive any additional information or resources, particularly relating to the policies of museums on this issue.
Website ORIGINS UNKNOWN
Thousands of art objects were sold, robbed or confiscated and ended up in Germany during World War II. After the war, the Stichting Nederlandsch Kunstbezit (SNK) returned many of the recuperated works of art to their rightful owners on behalf of the Dutch State. Nevertheless, there are still a large number of works of art in the state's custody. These constitute the Nederlands Kunstbezit-collectie (NK collection).
In October 1997, the Secretary of State for Education, Culture and Science assigned the Ekkart Committee to
carry out a pilot study into the origins of a selection of artworks from this NK collection. The project office Herkomst Gezocht was founded on 1 September 1998, after the conclusion of this pilot study at the behest of the same committee and under the organisational responsibility of the Inspectorate of Cultural Heritage which has one principal task: tracing the original owners of the art objects in as far as this is possible well over 50 years after the end of World War II. The results so far can be found on this website and have been laid down in interim reports. This website allows you to search the database for art objects or family names yourself.
European Paintings Provenance Research: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Museum Provenance List
a compilation of museums that have listed works of art in their collections which contain questions and gaps in their provenance between 1933 - 1945. Several museums around the world have worked very hard to compile these lists in order to help Holocaust victims or their families claim artworks that may have been looted from them during World War II. This website attempts to list the artworks in one place in so that claimants do not have to search through several different websites to try to recover lost art. In addition to the database, there are links to museums' provenance lists that have not yet been entered into the database. There are also links to databases that other countries have created that list Holocaust-era works of art that were looted or stolen. If a claimant finds a work of art from the database that once belonged to them or their family, there is a list of restitution organisations designed to help them. Links to websites that contain wartime documents and current research have also been provided. Instead of offering an overwhelming amount of links and information, only the organisations which seem most useful are listed.
Reclaiming a Jewish past
A treasure trove of stolen documents from Thessaloniki's Jewish community are coming home
Twenty-four days after the Nazi war-machine conquered Thessaloniki in April 1941, a group of researchers called the Rosenberg Sonderkommando arrived. Dispatched by the Third Reich to probe local Jewish communities and report on "organized enemy activities," the Sonderkommando confiscated all relevant documentation. The annihilation of Greece's largest and most important Jewish community had begun. (Read more)
Database of Works of Art from the Property of Victims of the Holocaust
http://www.restitution-art.cz, displays works of art from public collections in the Czech Republic that come, or may come, from the property of the victims of the holocaust; their original owners mostly perished under the Nazi terror. The Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic in cooperation with the Moravian Museum has prepared this utility. The work, carried out by the Ministry of Culture, is a part of the research, initiated by the Joint Working Group of the Government of the Czech Republic, pertaining to certain property injustices caused to the victims of holocaust and dealing with Jewish property, Aryanised during the time of holocaust, not returned to their owners after the War, and stolen again by the communist regime. The present list should serve mainly the original owners or, if they are not living any more, to their surviving spouses and offspring, to identify places where they can make a request for the transfer of ownership for the works of art. The list is not, and cannot be, complete; the Ministry of Culture will carry out its further updating in the course of year 2001. Besides state collections, works of art of that origin are also in the collections of the Jewish Museum in Prague. Information on these is available at the website of the Jewish Museum in Prague: http://www.jewishmuseum.cz
artworks recuperated from Germany to the Netherlands
Herkomst Gezocht Deelrapportage (Origins Unknown)
The second Ekkart Committee interim report 'Herkomst Gezocht' (Origins Unknown). The interim report can be downloaded from http://www.minocw.nl/cultuur.htm with 'acrobat reader'. There is an english foreword from page 245. The Ekkart Committee studies the provenance of artworks which were recuperated from Germany to the Netherlands after World War II. The research itself is carried out by the Herkomst Gezocht (Origins Unknown) project group. This interim report includes the results of the research into the provenance of 460 paintings from the NK collection [Art Property Foundation Collection]. The NK collection, which comprises 4,217 artworks is now under government custody in the Instituut Collectie Nederland [Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage]. The following interim reports will deal with the provenance of the remaining parts of the NK collection.
The Art Newspaper: Focus on Looted Art
The Art Newspaper takes a special interest in reporting the lasting repercussions of the Second World War as they relate to the art trade. If you have questions, comments or information on this subject that you would like to make The Art Newspaper aware of, email us at contact@theartnewspaper.com.
The Art Newspaper has also published a complete list of names of the dealers, museum curators, collectors and Nazi officials involved in trading art in occupied Europe, as reported to the US government in 1946 by the Office of Strategic Services. It has never been published anywhere but in The Art Newspaper. To access the list: http://www.allemandi.com/TAN/looted/index.asp
A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust: An overview of the people and events of the Holocaust through photographs, documents, art, music, and literature. Produced by the Florida Center for Instructional Technology, College of Education, University of South Florida. One of the best sources about the holocaust on the WWW.
Watching the Detectives: Scholars at area museums face an enormous, often tedious task: searching out records to trace the Nazi-era ownership of their works.
On The Trail of a Lost Breughel: Canadian searches for her lost collection, by Steve Freiman, itscrowded@home.com.
Although it is only in recent years that art claims from the Holocaust Era garner media attention, for some heirs, like the niece of Ernst and Gisela Pollack of Vienna, 55 years of battles, legal fees and stonewalling bureaucracy precede the publicity these matters now seem to elicit. “It is time we come forward,” indicated Maria Kluge from her Toronto townhouse, “as our situation is already transparent. Databases, confiscation lists and legal briefs dispersed over the internet are now commonplace”. And it is precisely this day and age of electronic information resource that may, in the end, yield the whereabouts of her uncle’s greatest treasure, Pieter Brueghel’s painting, “The Good Shepherd” also known as “Wolf und Hirte”. read on....
Oliver Rathkolb, From 'Legacy of Shame' to the Auction of 'Heirless' Art in Vienna: Coming to Terms 'Austrian Style' with Nazi Artistic War Booty
Research on Collections Provenance, 1933-45, The J. Paul Getty Museum
These pages present the J. Paul Getty Museum's continuing research on the provenance (history of ownership) of works in its collection during the period 1933 to 1945, that is, from the rise to power of the Nazi party to its defeat. We publish this information in accordance with the Guidelines Concerning the Unlawful Appropriation of Objects During the Nazi Era adopted by the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) in June, 1998. Provenance research has always been and continues to be a central and often laborious activity of the staff, as it is at most art museums. It serves many purposes, sometimes helping to substantiate an attribution and at all times aiding curators, educators, and scholars to understand the history of collecting and taste. We have published this research in collection catalogues and other publications for many years; the Internet provides another powerful method of distribution.
Reconstruction of a complete history of ownership for a given work can be difficult and sometimes impossible. Many records of ownership have been destroyed as a result of natural disasters, man-made disasters such as war, and neglect. Information is sometimes withheld by dealers and auction houses at the request of previous owners who wish to maintain their anonymity. Much archival information remains undiscovered or difficult of access. Provenance information we receive or find needs to be treated cautiously, since owners, dealers, curators, and scholars have been known to associate documentary evidence with the wrong object.
The works published in this section of our website have gaps in, or no provenance for, the period 1933 to 1945. Such gaps in provenance, in and of themselves, are by no means proof that these works were looted during the Holocaust or World War II. We publish this list to open our inquiry further and we welcome any information on the provenance of works in our collection that users of this site can provide. This website will be augmented in the future. We have begun with our paintings and will be adding works from other departments periodically.
- SPOLIATION ADVISORY PANEL ON ART LOOTED IN THE NAZI ERA ANNOUNCE FINAL TERMS OF REFERENCE AND RULES OF PROCEDURE
Looting of Jewish assets in France
Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the US: If you are a Holocaust survivor or an heir of a survivor or believe that you are entitled to assets seized by the Nazi's during World War II there is information below on several funds which have been established to which you may apply. In addition, several lawsuits have been filed in U. S. courts regarding Holocaust-era assets. Below you will find information regarding these lawsuits and how you may get further information. The Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust-Era Assets is not responsible for any error in this information. All eligibility requirements should be directed to the Fund administrators directly.
Holocaust-Era-Assets
THE FATE OF WORKS OF ART IN THE NETHERLANDS DURING AND AFTER WORLD WAR TWO
POST-WAR RESTITUTION OF LEGAL RIGHTS IN RELATION TO WORKS OF ART REPATRIATED TO THE NETHERLANDS FROM NAZI GERMANY
1940-1948 Netherlands MUSEUM ACQUISITIONS PROJECT
Restitution
Museums and Galleries Commission
Download as Acrobat PDF file
This section provides information on cultural property issues, such as requests for repatriation of museum objects, and claims for the return of works of art looted during the Holocaust era. Below we outline some of the work undertaken by the MGC and other organisations on this issue. In the resources section you will find references to advisory groups and links to useful sites. The overview section features some relevant case studies and will carry details of new developments as appropriate
The Commission for Art Recovery is dedicated to reuniting works of art looted by the Nazis before and during World War II with their rightful owners and/or their heirs. Mission is to identify and locate art stolen by the Nazis and their collaborators, and register claims for the victims of Nazi art theft.
a chronological look at some of the issues and actions in Holocaust reparations
- Nazi loot from Holocaust victims enriched Eva Perón (book review)
Boston Globe lost art series
Holocaust Assets & Reparations
extensive list of links collected by Jonathan Sazonoff
condensed list of relevant links
Nazi art thefts come to haunt top museums
Restitution for looted art is discussed
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is America's national institution for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust history, and serves as this country's memorial to the millions of people murdered during the Holocaust.
The Holocaust was the state-sponsored, systematic persecution and annihilation of European Jewry by Nazi Germany and its collaborators between 1933 and 1945. Jews were the primary victims --- six million were murdered; Gypsies, the handicapped, and Poles were also targeted for destruction or decimation for racial, ethnic, or national reasons. Millions more, including homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, Soviet prisoners of war, and political dissidents also suffered grievous oppression and death under Nazi tyranny.
The Museum's primary mission is to advance and disseminate knowledge about this unprecedented tragedy; to preserve the memory of those who suffered; and to encourage its visitors to reflect upon the moral and spiritual questions raised by the events of the Holocaust as well as their own responsibilities as citizens of a democracy.
Chartered by a unanimous Act of Congress in 1980 and located adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the Museum strives to broaden public understanding of the history of the Holocaust through multifaceted programs: exhibitions; research and publication; collecting and preserving material evidence, art, and artifacts relating to the Holocaust; annual Holocaust commemorations known as the Days of Remembrance; distribution of educational materials and teacher resources; and a variety of public programming designed to enhance understanding of the Holocaust and related issues, including those of contemporary significance.
55 Years Old story: a nice example of the human motivations often behind art repatriation
The Quedlinburg Hoard; How a journalist helped crack the case of the missing medieval loot....
Holocaust widow set to win back UKP.3m painting; a breakthrough over Nazi loot
(Discovering truth about the auctions of despair)
(An everyday tale of theft and murder)
(Claim sets a precedent)
Swiss face £15bn Nazi art scandal
By Godfrey Barker and Colin Randall

Hunt for a looted legacy
The Profits of Plunder - Art ownership under review (The Gutmann case)

Did the Nazis loot this?
Colin Gleadell reports on Christie's worry over its star lot

'Vatican cover-up' over Nazi art thefts

Miscellany related links within the Museum Security Website, and external links:
LE OPERE SOTTRATTE ALL'ITALIA DURANTE IL PERIODO BELLICO 1940 - 1945 Le opere sono divise per tipologia e, all'interno di ciascuna di esse, ordinate per secoli. Per ogni opera vengono indicati nella scheda:
- la tipologia e il soggetto, preceduti dal nome dell'autore presunto o dell'attribuzione tradizionale
- l'eventuale titolo con cui l'opera è nota
- l'ambito culturale di produzione
- la datazione
- la materia e la tecnica di esecuzione con le misure
- la località di reperimento (nel caso di materiali di scavo archeologico nella scheda abbreviato in 'Prov.')
- la collocazione originaria dell'opera e quella eventualmente successiva (è il caso dei depositi o di collezioni diverse, corrispondenti al campo 'collocazione successiva', nella scheda abbreviato: in 'Coll.succ.')
- Seguono ove possibile le note critiche, la bibliografia specifica, le referenze fotografiche ed il numero di catalogo riferito al volume "L'Opera da ritrovare"
Stolen Property or Finders Keepers
Reporting Stolen Property
Holocaust-Era Assets: Research Institute Resources
This short list refers to Research Institute holdings which bear upon nazi-era looting and post-war dissemination of stolen art. These archives contain provenance information, financial records, correspondence, and photographic documentation that both track the movement of objects and document the art market. The Research Institute houses many more archives than are listed here and therefore researchers are encouraged to browse the Research Library's on-line catalogues, IRIS and the Photo Study Collection Database, for dealer and gallery archives, as well as auction and conservator photographs, which may contain useful provenance information. The Institute has also a comprehensive collection of dealer and auction catalogues. In addition to these resources, the Getty Provenance Index maintains several electronic databases as well as nonautomated material on the history of ownership of works of art gathered from sales catalogues, archival records, and museum files.
Boston Globe Articles about looted art
CHARTER OF COURMAYEUR
Switzerland and the Looted Art Trade Linked to World War II: By Prof. Georg Kreis, University of Basel, Switzerland
ICOM Recommendations concerning the Return of Works of Art Belonging to Jewish Owners

index WW.II pages
Home Museum Security Website

WW.II. AND THE LOOTED ART PROBLEM

CONTENTS:

Museums and Galleries Commission

Miscellany related links within the Museum Security Website, and external links: