Definition Nazi loot
Removal due to persecution means that the previous owner of the book belonged to the group of persecuted individuals. This includes people who were persecuted for racist, religious or political reasons as well as their associations or corporations that were then dissolved.
Another condition is that the book was sold by the owner between 30 January 1933 and 8 May 1945. So the issue not only concerns books that were confiscated directly by the persecuting authorities, but also forced sales – usually well below the actual value – e.g. to antiquarian bookshop
Political background
An important impetus for provenance research in Germany came from a 1998 conference in Washington on assets from the time of the Holocaust. The participants demanded that German cultural institutions search their collections for Nazi loot and return it to the former owners or heirs or legal successors. This was the subject of the Washington Principles adopted at the conference. In 1999, the German Federal Government, the Länder and the national associations of local authorities issued a “Common Statement”". This basically included libraries as well as museums. Over the course of time, many libraries began searching for Nazi loot. Some projects have been completed, while new applications are being submitted for others – as is the case at TU Darmstadt.
Research project at ULB Darmstadt
This project is investigating the approach in acquisition after 1945. Even in the post-war period books by persecuted persons found their way into the ULB holdings, especially through antiquarian bookshops, private individuals or the Allies' collection points. This is called “secondary loot”.
The reason why the Nazi period is not the focus of the investigation is due to the history of the ULB. The former State Library suffered considerable losses in a bombing raid on 11 September 1944, and tried to fill the resulting gaps with low-cost acquisitions in the post-war period. As random samples showed, this allowed large quantities of Nazi loot to end up in the library. It can be assumed that most of the looted books acquired before 1945 were destroyed in the bombing raid. One exception is forbidden literature that was secreted at the time, which was preserved and is therefore included in the investigation.
The research project is based on the holdings of the former State Library, which was re-formed after its destruction in 1945-1949. This applies to the shelf marks 45/ to 47/ and 49/ set up as numerus currens, a total of about 40,000 volumes. The books are inspected directly on the shelf (autopsy method) and searched for provenance features of the previous owners, such as ex libris, stamps and the like. Other sources are the library accession registers, which contain information on suppliers (not always reliable), archival sources and relevant databases.
The objectives of the project
- Systematic identification of Nazi plundered books
- Documentation of provenances in the library catalogue and relevant databases
- Preparation of the conclusion of restitution or other “equitable and fair solutions” (Washington Principles) with heirs or legal successors
As the object biographies of the books are reconstructed and documented, so too are the biographies and fates of the people behind the books.
The provenance lists provide an overview of the identified persons and institutions.
"Never again" is now!
The ULB remembers the persecution of Jewish life in Darmstadt and Germany during the Nazi-period. The former property, such as the looted books of persecuted, emigrated, or murdered victims of the Nazi-regime can be considered as a very personal testimony. Every single book is a memorial of remembrance and gives insight into an individual destiny.