Spoils of War

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Spoils of War Spoils of War International Newsletter. No. 5. June 1998 Imprint: Editorial board: István Fodor, Ekaterina Genieva, Wojciech Kowalski, Josefine Leistra, Doris Lemmermeier, Nicolas Vanhove. Editing: Doris Lemmermeier, Christiane Kienle. Technical assistance: Jost Hansen, Svea Janner, Yvonne Sommermeyer. Translations: Will Firth, Ingo Redlingshöfer. Editorial address: Koordinierungsstelle der Länder für die Rückführung von Kulturgütern beim Kultusministerium des Landes Sachsen-Anhalt Turmschanzenstr. 32, 39114 Magdeburg. Phone: 0049 - 391 - 567 38 59/ 567 38 57 Fax: 0049 - 391 - 567 38 56 E-mail: [email protected] or ISSN 1435-6325 Addresses of the members of the editorial board: István Fodor, Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum, Múzeum körni 14-16, 1088 Budapest, Hungary, phone: 36/1/3382 220, fax: 36/1/3382/673 Ekaterina Genieva, All-Russia State Library for Foreign Literature, Nikolojamskaja Street 1, 109 189 Moscow, Russia, phone: 7/095/915 3621, fax: 7/095/915 3637, E-mail:[email protected] Wojciech Kowalski, University of Silesia, Department of Intellectual and Cultural Property Law, ul. Bankowa 8, 40 007 Katowice, Poland, phone/fax: 48/32/517104, phone: 48/32/588211, fax: 48/32/599188 Josefine Leistra, Inspectorate of Cultural Heritage, Prinsessegracht 31, 2514 AP The Hague, The Netherlands, phone: 31/70/302 8120, fax: 31/70/365 1914, E-mail: [email protected] Nicolas Vanhove, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Directorate Economic Relations, Rue Gen. Leman 60, 1040 Brussels, Belgium, phone: 32/2/206 5862, fax: 32/2/514 0389 If you have proposals or questions concerning special sections of the newsletter, please contact the following members of the board: Special Reports: Josefine Leistra Legal Issues: Wojciech Kowalski Country Reports: Editorial Center, Nicolas Vanhove Archival Reports: Ekaterina Genieva Restitutions: István Fodor Latest News: Editorial Center Bibliography: Josefine Leistra, Ekaterina Genieva Contents: Editorial ................................................................................................. ... 5 Special Reports Legal Issues Introduction to International Law of Restitution of Works of Art Looted during Armed Conflicts. Part IV - by Wojciech Kowalski................. 7 The Ukraine and the Russian Law on Removed Cultural Values - by Sergei Kot............. ...................................................... 9 Recent Developments in the Recovery of Old Master Drawings from Bremen - by Thomas R. Kline............................................................... 15 Museum Losses Berlin Aviation Collection Lost without Trace in Pomerania - by Holger Steinle.................................................................. 19 Library Losses Catalogue of the Sárospatak Reformed College's Misplaced Collection - by Evgenia Korkmazova............................................. 20 International Program of the Library for Foreign Literature on the Preservation and Making Accessible of Captured and Rare Book Collections - by Svetlana Gorokhova..................... ............... 22 The Case of the Ossolineum Collection - by Larysa Krushelnytska ............... 25 Center on the Problems of the Transferred Book Collections in St. Petersburg - by Irina Matveyeva......................... ..... 27 ___________ For Germany and Themselves: The Motivation behind the Nazi Leaders Plundering and Collecting of Art. Part II – by Jonathan Petropoulos...................... ......................................................... 28 Return to Dresden after Decades. An Exhibition of the State Galleries Dresden - by Christiane Kienle......... .... 35 Ancient Ukrainian Mosaics and Frescos Lost during the War and now Located in Russian Museums - by Sergei Kot............................... ...... 37 Review of the 1997 Russian Press on the Issue of the Restitution of Cultural Values – by Evgenia Korkmazova.. ................... 41 Country Reports Belgium - by Nicolas Vanhove ...................................................................... 44 Czech Republic – by Ladislav ýHSLþND.................................................. ........ 44 Germany - by Doris Lemmermeier................................................................. 56 Hungary – by István Fodor........................................................................... 57 Italy – by Mario Bondioli-Osio ........................................................................ 58 Korea – by Jongsok Kim .............................................................................. 60 Luxembourg – by Paul Dostert..................................................................... 62 Norway – by Berit Reisel and Bjarte Bruland .................................................... 63 Poland – by Monika Kuhnke ......................................................................... 68 The Netherlands - by Josefine Leistra .......................................................... 69 Ukraine – by Sergei Kot............................................................... .................. 49 Archival Reports Database of the Coordination Office of the Federal States for the Return of Cultural Property – by Doris Lemmermeier and Jost Hansen............. 71 Database of the Government Plenipotentiary for Polish Cultural Heritage – by Monika Kuhnke.......................................................... 77 Target-Lists and German Cultural Material. Findings of a Research Trip to the National Archives Washington – by Kai von Jena.................... ....... 80 Restitutions Books from Armenia Returned to Germany – by Christiane Kienle .............. 85 Miniatures of Kassel Library Returned from the U.S.A. - by Christiane Kienle........................................................... ........................ 86 The Return of Hungarian Archival Material Taken to the U.S.A. after World War II - by János Lakos...................... ....... 86 Restitution of a Battonii Painting to Poland – by Monika Kuhnke.... ............. 88 Dutch Portrait by Govaert Flinck Recovered – by Josephine Leistra.............. 90 Bibliography Books and Articles on General Aspects .................................................. 91 Books and Articles on Specific Countries................................................ 91 Latest News Role of Holocaust Claims Processing Office Expanded...................... .... 97 World Jewish Congress: Commission for Art Recovery .......................... 97 New Addresses........................................................................................ 97 Website Concerning Cultural Property Losses........................................ 98 Quedlinburg Treasure.............................................................................. 64 Objects of the Amber Room in Germany................................................. 64 Spoils of War International Newsletter. No. 5. June 1998 Editorial This issue of "Spoils of War" already reaches you from Magdeburg, the capital of the land Sachsen-Anhalt. As planned and as announced in the previous issue the Coordination Office – the editorial center of "Spoils of War" – moved to Magdeburg at the beginning of January 1998. Please note the new address: Koordinierungsstelle der Länder für die Rückführung von Kulturgütern Kultusministerium des Landes Sachsen-Anhalt Turmschanzenstr. 32 39114 Magdeburg Tel. 391 - 567 3857 (secretary) 567 3858 (project leader) 567 3859 (scientist) Fax: 391 - 567 3856 Please note that the text of "Spoils of War", No. 5 as well as of the previously published numbers is to be found on internet, but the relevant address has changed recently: http://www.beutekunst.de/. The e-mail address of the editorial center, however, remained the same ([email protected]). As we still finance the newsletter with the contributions mainly of Belgium (Ministry of Economic Affairs), the Netherlands (Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, Inspectorate of Cultural Heritage) and Germany (Coordination Office of the Federal States for the Return of Cultural Property), it is getting difficult for us to provide all interested private persons with a copy of "Spoils of War". To get a better overview who of the private persons are still interested and what their relation to the topic is we kindly ask them to write to the editorial center if they want to remain on the distribution list. In number 4 of "Spoils of War" we printed the text of the Russian law on "Cultural Values Removed to the U.S.S.R. as a Result of World Wart II and Located in the Territory of the Russian Federation" and comments from experts of different countries. One more comment is printed in this issue (see special reports, p.9). As you probably all know, the Russian Constitutional Court recently declined President Yeltsin's request not to have to sign the law because of formal reasons. The President had to sign and he did so shortly after Easter. At the same time he appealed to the Constitutional Court again, now because of his estimation, that this Russian law on the displaced cultural property is incompatible with international law. We certainly will inform you of the further development in this respect. The Russian edition of "Spoils of War" has been successfully printed and is being distributed among the Russian archives, libraries and other institutions concerned with the problem of spoils of war. We have received direct and indirect requests from 85 Russian institutions which are interested in getting both the Russian and English editions of the international newsletter. Please let the Russian editorial board member
Recommended publications
  • D'antonio, Michael Senior Thesis.Pdf
    Before the Storm German Big Business and the Rise of the NSDAP by Michael D’Antonio A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the University of Delaware in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Honors Degree in History with Distinction Spring 2016 © 2016 Michael D’Antonio All Rights Reserved Before the Storm German Big Business and the Rise of the NSDAP by Michael D’Antonio Approved: ____________________________________________________________ Dr. James Brophy Professor in charge of thesis on behalf of the Advisory Committee Approved: ____________________________________________________________ Dr. David Shearer Committee member from the Department of History Approved: ____________________________________________________________ Dr. Barbara Settles Committee member from the Board of Senior Thesis Readers Approved: ____________________________________________________________ Michael Arnold, Ph.D. Director, University Honors Program ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This senior thesis would not have been possible without the assistance of Dr. James Brophy of the University of Delaware history department. His guidance in research, focused critique, and continued encouragement were instrumental in the project’s formation and completion. The University of Delaware Office of Undergraduate Research also deserves a special thanks, for its continued support of both this work and the work of countless other students. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction to the Captured German Records at the National Archives
    THE KNOW YOUR RECORDS PROGRAM consists of free events with up-to-date information about our holdings. Events offer opportunities for you to learn about the National Archives’ records through ongoing lectures, monthly genealogy programs, and the annual genealogy fair. Additional resources include online reference reports for genealogical research, and the newsletter Researcher News. www.archives.gov/calendar/know-your-records The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the nation's record keeper. Of all the documents and materials created in the course of business conducted by the United States Federal government, only 1%–3% are determined permanently valuable. Those valuable records are preserved and are available to you, whether you want to see if they contain clues about your family’s history, need to prove a veteran’s military service, or are researching an historical topic that interests you. www.archives.gov/calendar/know-your-records December 14, 2016 Rachael Salyer Rachael Salyer, archivist, discusses records from Record Group 242, the National Archives Collection of Foreign Records Seized, and offers strategies for starting your historical or genealogical research using the Captured German Records. www.archives.gov/calendar/know-your-records Rachael is currently an archivist in the Textual Processing unit at the National Archives in College Park, MD. In addition, she assists the Reference unit respond to inquiries about World War II and Captured German records. Her career with us started in the Textual Research Room. Before coming to the National Archives, Rachael worked primarily as a professor of German at Clark University in Worcester, MA and a professor of English at American International College in Springfield, MA.
    [Show full text]
  • The Fate of National Socialist Visual Culture: Iconoclasm, Censorship, and Preservation in Germany, 1945–2020
    City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works School of Arts & Sciences Theses Hunter College Fall 1-5-2021 The Fate of National Socialist Visual Culture: Iconoclasm, Censorship, and Preservation in Germany, 1945–2020 Denali Elizabeth Kemper CUNY Hunter College How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/hc_sas_etds/661 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] The Fate of National Socialist Visual Culture: Iconoclasm, Censorship, and Preservation in Germany, 1945–2020 By Denali Elizabeth Kemper Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Art History, Hunter College The City University of New York 2020 Thesis sponsor: January 5, 2021____ Emily Braun_________________________ Date Signature January 5, 2021____ Joachim Pissarro______________________ Date Signature Table of Contents Acronyms i List of Illustrations ii Introduction 1 Chapter 1: Points of Reckoning 14 Chapter 2: The Generational Shift 41 Chapter 3: The Return of the Repressed 63 Chapter 4: The Power of Nazi Images 74 Bibliography 93 Illustrations 101 i Acronyms CCP = Central Collecting Points FRG = Federal Republic of Germany, West Germany GDK = Grosse Deutsche Kunstaustellung (Great German Art Exhibitions) GDR = German Democratic Republic, East Germany HDK = Haus der Deutschen Kunst (House of German Art) MFAA = Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives Program NSDAP = Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (National Socialist German Worker’s or Nazi Party) SS = Schutzstaffel, a former paramilitary organization in Nazi Germany ii List of Illustrations Figure 1: Anonymous photographer.
    [Show full text]
  • The German-American Bund: Fifth Column Or
    -41 THE GERMAN-AMERICAN BUND: FIFTH COLUMN OR DEUTSCHTUM? THESIS Presented to the Graduate Council of the North Texas State University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS By James E. Geels, B. A. Denton, Texas August, 1975 Geels, James E., The German-American Bund: Fifth Column or Deutschtum? Master of Arts (History), August, 1975, 183 pp., bibliography, 140 titles. Although the German-American Bund received extensive press coverage during its existence and monographs of American politics in the 1930's refer to the Bund's activities, there has been no thorough examination of the charge that the Bund was a fifth column organization responsible to German authorities. This six-chapter study traces the Bund's history with an emphasis on determining the motivation of Bundists and the nature of the relationship between the Bund and the Third Reich. The conclusions are twofold. First, the Third Reich repeatedly discouraged the Bundists and attempted to dissociate itself from the Bund. Second, the Bund's commitment to Deutschtum through its endeavors to assist the German nation and the Third Reich contributed to American hatred of National Socialism. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION... ....... 1 II. DEUTSCHTUM.. ......... 14 III. ORIGIN AND IMAGE OF THE GERMAN- ... .50 AMERICAN BUND............ IV. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE BUND AND THE THIRD REICH....... 82 V. INVESTIGATION OF THE BUND. 121 VI. CONCLUSION.. ......... 161 APPENDIX....... .............. ..... 170 BIBLIOGRAPHY......... ...........
    [Show full text]
  • A Historiography of World War II Era Propaganda Films
    Essays in History Volume 51 (2018) A Just Estimate of a Lie: A Historiography of World War II Era Propaganda Films Christopher Maiytt Western Michigan University Introduction Heroes and monsters have reared their heads on celluloid in every corner of the globe, either to conquer and corrupt or to defend wholesome peace. Others grasp at a future they believe they have been denied. Such were the tales of World War II-era propaganda flms and since their release, they have been at turns examined, defended, and vilifed by American and British historians. Racism, sentiments of isolationism, political and social context, and developments in historical schools of thought have worked to alter historical interpretations of this subject matter. Four periods of historical study: 1960s postwar Orthodox reactions to the violence and tension of the war-period, the revisionist works of 1970s social historians, 1990s Postmodernism, and recent historical scholarship focused on popular culture and memory- have all provided signifcant input on WWII-era propaganda flm studies. Each was affected by previous historical ideologies and concurrent events to shape their fnal products. Economic history, lef-leaning liberal ideology, cultural discourse, and women’s studies have also added additional insight into the scholarly interpretations of these flms. Tere is no decisive historiography of WWII propaganda studies and there is even less organized work on the historical value of propaganda flms. My research is intended as a humble effort to examine the most prolifc period of global propaganda flm production and how the academic world has remembered, revered, and reviled it since. Tis historiographical work is not intended to be an exhaustive review of every flm or scholarly insight offered on the subject.
    [Show full text]
  • Francesca Coccolo, Rodolfo Siviero Between Fascism and the Cold
    STUDI DI MEMOFONTE Rivista on-line semestrale Numero 22/2019 FONDAZIONE MEMOFONTE Studio per l’elaborazione informatica delle fonti storico-artistiche www.memofonte.it COMITATO REDAZIONALE Proprietario Fondazione Memofonte onlus Fondatrice Paola Barocchi Direzione scientifica Donata Levi Comitato scientifico Francesco Caglioti, Barbara Cinelli, Flavio Fergonzi, Margaret Haines, Donata Levi, Nicoletta Maraschio, Carmelo Occhipinti Cura scientifica Daria Brasca, Christian Fuhrmeister, Emanuele Pellegrini Cura redazionale Martina Nastasi, Laurence Connell Segreteria di redazione Fondazione Memofonte onlus, via de’ Coverelli 2/4, 50125 Firenze [email protected] ISSN 2038-0488 INDICE The Transfer of Jewish-owned Cultural Objects in the Alpe Adria Region DARIA BRASCA, CHRISTIAN FUHRMEISTER, EMANUELE PELLEGRINI Introduction p. 1 VICTORIA REED Museum Acquisitions in the Era of the Washington Principles: Porcelain from the Emma Budge Estate p. 9 GISÈLE LÉVY Looting Jewish Heritage in the Alpe Adria Region. Findings from the Union of the Italian Jewish Communities (UCEI) Historical Archives p. 28 IVA PASINI TRŽEC Contentious Musealisation Process(es) of Jewish Art Collections in Croatia p. 41 DARIJA ALUJEVIĆ Jewish-owned Art Collections in Zagreb: The Destiny of the Robert Deutsch Maceljski Collection p. 50 ANTONIJA MLIKOTA The Destiny of the Tilla Durieux Collection after its Transfer from Berlin to Zagreb p. 64 DARIA BRASCA The Dispossession of Italian Jews: the Fate of Cultural Property in the Alpe Adria Region during Second World War p. 79 CAMILLA DA DALT The Case of Morpurgo De Nilma’s Art Collection in Trieste: from a Jewish Legacy to a ‘German Donation’ p. 107 CRISTINA CUDICIO The Dissolution of a Jewish Collection: the Pincherle Family in Trieste p.
    [Show full text]
  • Guides to German Records Microfilmed at Alexandria, Va
    GUIDES TO GERMAN RECORDS MICROFILMED AT ALEXANDRIA, VA. No. 32. Records of the Reich Leader of the SS and Chief of the German Police (Part I) The National Archives National Archives and Records Service General Services Administration Washington: 1961 This finding aid has been prepared by the National Archives as part of its program of facilitating the use of records in its custody. The microfilm described in this guide may be consulted at the National Archives, where it is identified as RG 242, Microfilm Publication T175. To order microfilm, write to the Publications Sales Branch (NEPS), National Archives and Records Service (GSA), Washington, DC 20408. Some of the papers reproduced on the microfilm referred to in this and other guides of the same series may have been of private origin. The fact of their seizure is not believed to divest their original owners of any literary property rights in them. Anyone, therefore, who publishes them in whole or in part without permission of their authors may be held liable for infringement of such literary property rights. Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 58-9982 AMERICA! HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION COMMITTEE fOR THE STUDY OP WAR DOCUMENTS GUIDES TO GERMAN RECOBDS MICROFILMED AT ALEXAM)RIA, VA. No* 32» Records of the Reich Leader of the SS aad Chief of the German Police (HeiehsMhrer SS und Chef der Deutschen Polizei) 1) THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION (AHA) COMMITTEE FOR THE STUDY OF WAE DOCUMENTS GUIDES TO GERMAN RECORDS MICROFILMED AT ALEXANDRIA, VA* This is part of a series of Guides prepared
    [Show full text]
  • Northern Gothic: Werner Haftmann's German
    documenta studies #11 December 2020 NANNE BUURMAN Northern Gothic: Werner Haftmann’s German Lessons, or A Ghost (Hi)Story of Abstraction This essay by the documenta and exhibition scholar Nanne Buurman I See documenta: Curating the History of the Present, ed. by Nanne Buurman and Dorothee Richter, special traces the discursive tropes of nationalist art history in narratives on issue, OnCurating, no. 13 (June 2017). German pre- and postwar modernism. In Buurman’s “Ghost (Hi)Story of Abstraction” we encounter specters from the past who swept their connections to Nazism under the rug after 1945, but could not get rid of them. She shows how they haunt art history, theory, the German feuilleton, and even the critical German postwar literature. The editor of documenta studies, which we founded together with Carina Herring and Ina Wudtke in 2018, follows these ghosts from the history of German art and probes historical continuities across the decades flanking World War II, which she brings to the fore even where they still remain implicit. Buurman, who also coedited the volume documenta: Curating the History of the Present (2017),I thus uses her own contribution to documenta studies to call attention to the ongoing relevance of these historical issues for our contemporary practices. Let’s consider the Nazi exhibition of so-called Degenerate Art, presented in various German cities between 1937 and 1941, which is often regarded as documenta’s negative foil. To briefly recall the facts: The exhibition brought together more than 650 works by important artists of its time, with the sole aim of stigmatizing them and placing them in the context of the Nazis’ antisemitic racial ideology.
    [Show full text]
  • Paper Number: 2860 Claims on the Past: Cave Excavations by the SS Research and Teaching Community “Ahnenerbe” (1935–1945) Mattes, J.1
    Paper Number: 2860 Claims on the Past: Cave Excavations by the SS Research and Teaching Community “Ahnenerbe” (1935–1945) Mattes, J.1 1 Department of History, University of Vienna, Universitätsring 1, 1010 Wien, Austria, [email protected] ___________________________________________________________________________ Founded in 1935 by a group of fascistic scholars and politicians around Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, the “Ahnenerbe” proposed to research the cultural history of the Aryan race and to legitimate the SS ideology and Himmler’s personal interest in occultism scientifically. Originally organized as a private society affiliated to Himmler’s staff, the “Ahnenerbe” became one of the most powerful institutions in the Third Reich engaged with questions of archaeology, cultural heritage and politics. Its staff were SS members, consisting of scientific amateurs, occultists as well as established scholars who obtained the rank of an officer. Competing against the “Amt Rosenberg”, an official agency for cu ltural policy and surveillance in Nazi Germany, the research community “Ahnenerbe” had already become interested in caves and karst as excellent sites for fossil man investigations before 1937/38, when Himmler founded his own Department of Karst- and Cave Research within the “Ahnenerbe”. Extensive excavations in several German caves near Lonetal (G. Riek, R. Wetzel, O. Völzing), Mauern (R.R. Schmidt, A. Bohmer), Scharzfeld (K. Schwirtz) and Leutzdorf (J.R. Erl) were followed by research travels to caves in France, Spain, Ukraine and Iceland. After the establishment of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia in 1939, the “Ahnenerbe” even planned the appropriation of all Moravian caves to prohibit the excavations of local prehistorians and archaeologists from the “Amt Rosenberg”, who had to switch for their excavations to Figure 1: Prehistorian and SS- caves in Thessaly (Greece).
    [Show full text]
  • Indictment Presented to the International Military Tribunal (Nuremberg, 18 October 1945)
    Indictment presented to the International Military Tribunal (Nuremberg, 18 October 1945) Caption: On 18 October 1945, the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg accuses 24 German political, military and economic leaders of conspiracy, crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Source: Indictment presented to the International Military Tribunal sitting at Berlin on 18th October 1945. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, November 1945. 50 p. (Cmd. 6696). p. 2-50. Copyright: Crown copyright is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office and the Queen's Printer for Scotland URL: http://www.cvce.eu/obj/indictment_presented_to_the_international_military_tribunal_nuremberg_18_october_1945-en- 6b56300d-27a5-4550-8b07-f71e303ba2b1.html Last updated: 03/07/2015 1 / 46 03/07/2015 Indictment presented to the International Military Tribunal (Nuremberg, 18 October 1945) INTERNATIONAL MILITARY TRIBUNAL THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, THE FRENCH REPUBLIC, THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND, AND THE UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS — AGAINST — HERMANN WILHELM GÖRING, RUDOLF HESS, JOACHIM VON RIBBENTROP, ROBERT LEY, WILHELM KEITEL, ERNST KALTEN BRUNNER, ALFRED ROSENBERG, HANS FRANK, WILHELM FRICK, JULIUS STREICHER, WALTER FUNK, HJALMAR SCHACHT, GUSTAV KRUPP VON BOHLEN UND HALBACH, KARL DÖNITZ, ERICH RAEDER, BALDUR VON SCHIRACH, FRITZ SAUCKEL, ALFRED JODL, MARTIN BORMANN, FRANZ VON PAPEN, ARTUR SEYSS INQUART, ALBERT SPEER, CONSTANTIN VON NEURATH, AND HANS FRITZSCHE,
    [Show full text]
  • Nazi-Confiscated Art Issues
    Nazi-Confiscated Art Issues Dr. Jonathan Petropoulos PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY, LOYOLA COLLEGE, MD UNITED STATES Art Looting during the Third Reich: An Overview with Recommendations for Further Research Plenary Session on Nazi-Confiscated Art Issues It is an honor to be here to speak to you today. In many respects it is the highpoint of the over fifteen years I have spent working on this issue of artworks looted by the Nazis. This is a vast topic, too much for any one book, or even any one person to cover. Put simply, the Nazis plundered so many objects over such a large geographical area that it requires a collaborative effort to reconstruct this history. The project of determining what was plundered and what subsequently happened to these objects must be a team effort. And in fact, this is the way the work has proceeded. Many scholars have added pieces to the puzzle, and we are just now starting to assemble a complete picture. In my work I have focused on the Nazi plundering agencies1; Lynn Nicholas and Michael Kurtz have worked on the restitution process2; Hector Feliciano concentrated on specific collections in Western Europe which were 1 Jonathan Petropoulos, Art as Politics in the Third Reich (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press). Also, The Faustian Bargain: The Art World in Nazi Germany (New York/Oxford: Oxford University Press, forthcoming, 1999). 2 Lynn Nicholas, The Rape of Europa: The Fate of Europe's Treasures in the Third Reich and the Second World War (New York: Alfred Knopf, 1994); and Michael Kurtz, Nazi Contraband: American Policy on the Return of European Cultural Treasures (New York: Garland, 1985).
    [Show full text]
  • The Deceptive Art Deal of Van Beuningen
    The deceptive art deal of Van Beuningen Koenigs Collection Wednesday begins the lawsuit by the heirs Koenigs at Museum Boijmans A case that shows the less attractive side of patron Van Beuningen. • Arjen Ribbens October 18, 2016 at 16:55 A great art collection often occurs at the expense of previous collectors. This is showed once again by the documents of the lawsuit that was filed Wednesday in Rotterdam against Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. Six heirs of businessman Franz Koenigs demand the return of hundreds of Old Master drawings, which are given to the museum on loan in 1935. This loan was part of a previous, much larger loan which was partly donated to the museum? That is the question at the present proceedings. The history of the great loan - 46 paintings and 2,000 drawings - is worth telling. She makes clear to which behaviour an obsessive collector is capable of. The protagonist in this story is Daniel George van Beuningen (1877-1955), director of the Coal Trading Association (SHV) and one of the Rotterdam harbour barons who before the war ruled the city and its workers. It starts in April 1940 In April 1940, when the Nazis set Europe ablaze, Van Beuningen does an art purchase that will be central to the next trial. The Jewish owners of the Amsterdam banking Lisser and Rosenkranz want to flee to the United States. In all haste they try to liquidate their bank. Part of their property is the loaned art collection of Franz Koenigs to Museum Boijmans, which the businessman pawned to the bank after the stock market crash.
    [Show full text]