The persecution of Jews in Darmstadt
Before the state tyranny of the Nazi regime and widespread anti-Semitism led to the catastrophe of the Shoah – the persecution and murder of European Jews during the Second World War. .
Among the most personal testimonies to the persecution are the books of those who fled and were murdered. They are often the carriers of private memories and provide insights into a lost German-Jewish everyday world. When the assets of the persecuted were stolen by Nazi institutions, academic libraries also benefited from the plundering of Jewish people and organizations. As part of a Project supported by the German Lost Art Foundation, the ULB is searching today in its holdings for looted property acquired during the years of Nazi rule and in the post-war period.
The following examples show how personal fates are being brought back to life today by means of entries or stamps in the books.
Community libraries
The repressive organs of the Nazi State deliberately confiscated the libraries of Jewish communities and organisations. After the end of the war, particular Books from the Jewish Community of Wiesbaden were taken directly from the cellars of the Gestapo and SD to what was then the State Library. Among the later antiquarian acquisitions of the institutes of the TH Darmstadt, books from Community libraries in Berlin und Munich could be identified.
From the property of Jewish deportees
In 1942, the Finanzamt Darmstadt sold a large package of books to the Hessian State Library. The acquisition was closely linked to the deportation of the Jewish population to the concentration camps. Only a few of the books survived the destruction of the library in 1944. They provide an insight into the personal lives of the Jews of Darmstadt.
A book owned by Delphine Homberger, born Mayer (1846-1919), carries a dedication for her 18th birthday on 25 June 1864 and was probably passed down as an heirloom in the Family (opens in new tab). The last owner among the descendants deported in 1942 has not yet been identified.
This handwritten note dates back to the time of Nazi persecution:
On 19 September 1935, the Darmstadt youth group Agudas Jisroel gave this book to the twins Artur (1922-1942?) and Leo (1922-2018) Sender (opens in new tab). Only one of the brothers survived the Shoah and later wrote about his experiences in a community memorial book. The search for their heirs in Israel has not yet been completed.
"Never again" is now!
Every single book is a memorial of remembrance. In 1998, the Federal Republic of Germany committed itself in the Washington Declaration to enable fair solutions and the restitution of looted cultural property, regardless of the expiry of legal deadlines. The ULB supports these efforts and will also maintain the memory of book theft permanently alive in catalogues and databases even after any returns.