Returning Jewish cultural property: The handling of books looted by the Nazis in the American zone of occupation, 1945 to 1952

Libraries and the Cultural Record

Volumn 37, Issue 3, 2002, Pages 213-228

  Waite, Robert G ^a  

^a NONE

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 34247529950     PISSN: 19324855     EISSN: 19329555     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1353/lac.2002.0062     Document Type: Article

References (40)

1. See, for example, Joseph Wulf, Kultur im Dritten Reich: Die bildenden Künste, eine Dokumentation (Frankfurt am Main: Verlag Ullstein GmbH, 1989);
2. Jonathan Petropoulos, Art as Politics in the Third Reich (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1996);
3. Gunther Haase, Die Kunstsammlung des Reichsmarschalls Hermann Göring: Eine Dokumentation (Berlin: Quintessenz Verlag, 2000);
4. Anja Heuss, Kunst- und Kulturgutraub: Eine vergleichende Studie zur Besatzungspolitik der Nationalsozialisten in Frankreich und der Sowjetunion (Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag C. Winter, 2000);
5. and Elizabeth Simpson, ed., The Spoils of War: World War II and Its Aftermath (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1997).
6. Marlene P. Hiller, "Bücher als Beute: Das Schicksal sowjetischer und deutscher Bibliotheken als Folge des Zweiten Weltkrieges," Nordost-Archiv 4 (1995): 9-27;
7. F. J. Hoogewoud, "The Nazi Looting of Books and Its American Antithesis': Selected Pictures from the Offenbach Archival Depot's Photographic History and Its Supplement," Studia Rosenthaliana 26 (1992): 160-66;
8. Philip Friedman, "The Fate of the Jewish Book during the Nazi Era," Jewish Book Annual 15 (1957-58): 3-13;
9. Donald E. Collins and Herbert P. Rothfeder, "The Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg and the Looting of Jewish and Masonic Libraries during World War II," Journal of Library History 18 (1983): 21-36;
10. and Dov Schidorsky, "Confiscation of Libraries and Assignments to Forced Labor: Two Documents of the Holocaust," Libraries & Culture 33 (fall 1998): 347-88.
11. For a discussion of the fate of a collection of cultural items seized by the Nazis, see Edward Van Voolen, Irene Faber, and Annette Weber, "Jewish Ceremonial Silver from Germany in the Jewish Historical Museum, Amsterdam," in Leo Baeck Institute, Year Book 1995, vol. 40 (London: Martin Secker and Warburg Limited, 1995), 265-88;
12. Vivian B. Mann, "Jewish Ceremonial Art and Private Property," in Simpson, ed., The Spoils of War, 84-87.
13. The seizure of books is outlined in various postwar correspondence concerning the ultimate disposition of the approximately 2.5 million volumes captured by American forces. See the letter from Headquarters, Jewish Restitution Successor Organization, "An das Zentralanmeldeamt Friedberg, Betr." Wiedergutmachungsbehorerde Frankfurt," 20 December 1948, National Archives, Washington, D.C., Record Group 260, box 66 (hereafter NA, RG, and box number);
14. See also Ladislav J. Zivny, "Czechoslovak Libraries during the War and After," Library Journal (15 June 1946) 877.
15. On the issue of the handling of cultural properties, including books and library collections, see Simpson, ed., The Spoils of War, Hiller; "Bücher als Beute."
16. Letter from Jerome Michael, acting chairman, Commission on European Jewish Cultural Reconstruction, to Gen. J. H. Hildring [sic], Assistant Secretary of state, 5 June 1946, NA, RG 260, box 720. The Commission on European Cultural Jewish Reconstruction, also referred to as the Jewish Cultural Reconstruction Commission, was an organization comprised of American Jewish religious leaders, scholars, and educators, including Hannah Arendt, Salo Baron, Koppel Pinson, and Jerome Michael.
17. see "Aktenvermerk für den Reichsleiter," 171-PS, IMG, 242-46.
18. See also Dieter Schiefelbein, "Das 'Institut zur Erforschung der Judenfrage Frankfurt am Main': Antisemitismus als Karrieresprungbrett im NS-Staat," in Fritz Bauer Institut, ed., 'Beseitigung des jüdischen Einflusses . . .': Antisemitische Forschung, Eliten und Karrieren im Nationalsozialismus (Frankfurt: Campus Verlag, 1999), 43-71.
19. Leslie I. Poste, "The Development of U.S. Protection of Libraries and Archives in Europe during World War II," Ph.D. dissertation, University of Chicago, 1958, 333-39.
20. Leslie I. Poste, "Books Go Home from the Wars," Library Journal (1 December 1948) 1699-1701;
21. and Seymour J. Pomrenze, "Policies and Procedures for the Protection, Use, and Return of Captured German Records," in Robert Wolfe, ed., Captured German and Related Records: A National Archives Conference (Athens: Ohio University Press, 1974), 22-27.
22. Poste, "The Development of U.S. Protection," 341-42;
23. Poste, "Books Go Home," 1700-1701.
24. Offenbach Archival Depot, "Subject: Monthly Report, March 1946," 31 March 1946, 3, NA, RG 260, box 254.
25. "Subject: Cultural Objects," 26 January 1948.
26. Reuben Peiss, "Final Summary Report," LOC-EMCAP, box 6;
27. and Reuben Peiss, "European Wartime Acquisitions and the Library of Congress Mission," Library Journal (15 June 1946) 863-70, 911.
28. Library of Congress, "Information Bulletin," 20-26 April 1946, 4-5, in NA, RG 260, box 721.
29. and S.J. Pomrenze, "Subject: Request for Clearance and Evacuation," 9 March 1946, LOC-EMCAP, box 9.
30. Poste, "The Development of U.S. Protection," 392.
31. See also Peiss, "Summary Report," 13-14.
32. See, for example, Offenbach Archival Depot, "Monthly Report," September 1946 and October 1946;
33. Theodor H. Gaster to the librarian of Congress, 30 December 1945, LOC-EMCAP, box 34.
34. and Theodor H. Gaster to Verner Clapp, director, Acquisitions Department, 14 April 1946, LOC-EMCAP, box 34.
35. John H. Allen, colonel, chief of branch, "Disposition of Jewish Books," 16 August 1946, and "Draft," NA, RG 260, box 720.
36. Mr. Jean Thomas, deputy executive secretary, UNESCO, to Dr. Lydenberg, 17 May 1946;
37. and Herman Dicker, Of Learning and Libraries: The Seminary Library at One Hundred (New York: Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1988), 55;
38. Poste, "Books Come Home," 1700.
39. "Tentative List of Jewish Cultural Treasures in Axis-Occupied Countries," 5-103.
40. Hannah Arendt, executive secretary, Jewish Cultural Reconstruction, Inc., to Theodore A. Heinrich, Cultural Affairs advisor, OEA, Property Division, HICOG, 21 January 1950;