The records made available on the Portal from the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) include over 2.3 million pages of documents created or received by the U.S. Government during and after World War II as part of its investigations into cultural assets that were looted or otherwise lost during the war. All of the records have been described in NARA's online catalog. Many of the records have additionally been digitized and made available for free online by our partner Fold3.com (Holocaust Era Assets records ). The records are primarily in English, although some seized records are in German or other languages. There are no privacy or other access restrictions on the records.
The sections below direct the user to the National Archives online catalog, which provides both a description of each corresponding series of records and a URL in the online resource section for the digitized records on Fold3. The additional links that accompany each image direct the user to the microfilm/digital publication pamphlet as well as to the digitized records either on Fold3 or in NARA's online catalog.
For more information about the records of the National Archives and Records Administration, please visit the National Archives' website. Or search directly on the National Archives Online Catalog.
As the Nazis took over Europe in WWII, they looted everything from major artwork pieces from national museums to ceremonial and personal items from the Jewish people. The Ardelia Hall is a record collection of these recovered items and the work to restore these stolen items to their proper owners. This is one of the most popular collections at the National Archives and provides a different picture of the Holocaust that many may not know about.
Record Group 260; Descriptive Pamphlet #M1940 (6 rolls).
Description available in NARA's online catalog.
Digital images available on Fold3.
On the six rolls of this microfilm publication are reproduced approximately 6,000 property cards and accompanying survey reports regarding German repositories that stored Nazi-confiscated works of art.
Record Group 260; Descriptive Pamphlet #M1941 (45 rolls).
Description available in NARA's online catalog.
Digital images available on Fold3.
On the 45 rolls of this microfilm publication are reproduced the general records, activity reports, and restitution and custody receipts of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (MFAA) Section as distributed to the Headquarters of Office of Military Government, U.S. Zone (Germany) [OMGUS]. These records consist of intelligence reports, interrogation reports, captured documents, and general information regarding German art looting.
Record Group 260; Descriptive Pamphlet #M1942 (13 rolls).
Description available in NARA's online catalog.
Digital images available on Fold3 (in two categories: Administrative Records and Photographs).
On the 13 rolls of this microfilm publication are reproduced the records of the Offenbach Archival Depot. These consist of administrative records, cultural object restitution and custody records, correspondence relating to restitution claims, monthly reports, and photographs of library bookplates and markings.
Record Group 260; Descriptive Pamphlet #M1946 (334 rolls).
Description available in NARA's online catalog.
Digital images available on Fold3 (in three categories: Munich Administrative Records,
Munich Photos and
Munich Property Cards).
On the 334 rolls of this microfilm publication are reproduced the administrative records, property cards, and photographs of artworks and of activities from the Munich Central Collecting Point during the period 1945-51. The Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives (MFAA) Section recovered Nazi-looted works of art and artifacts from various storage areas and shipped the objects to one of four U.S. central collecting points, including Munich. In order to research restitution claims, the MFAA officers gathered intelligence reports, interrogation reports, captured documents, and general information regarding German art looting. The Munich records are part of the "Ardelia Hall Collection" in Records of United States Occupation Headquarters, World War II, Record Group (RG) 260.
Record Group 260; Descriptive Pamphlet #M1947 (117 rolls).
Description available in NARA's online catalog.
Digital images available on Fold3 (in three categories: Administrative Records,
Photographs and Property Cards).
On 117 rolls of this microfilm publication are reproduced the administrative records, photographs of artworks, and property cards from the Wiesbaden Central Collecting Point during the period 1945-52. The Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (MFAA) Section recovered Nazi-looted works of art and artifacts from various storage areas and shipped the objects to one of four U.S. central collecting points, including Wiesbaden. In order to research restitution claims, MFAA officers gathered intelligence reports, interrogation reports, captured documents, and general information regarding German art looting. The Wiesbaden records are part of the "Ardelia Hall Collection" in Records of United States Occupation Headquarters, World War II, Record Group (RG) 260.
Record Group 260; Descriptive Pamphlet #M1948 (28 rolls).
Description available in NARA's online catalog.
Digital images available on Fold3 (in two categories: Administrative Records and Property Cards).
On the 28 rolls of this microfilm publication are reproduced the records of the Marburg Central Collecting Point, 1945-1949. They consist of general administrative records, Marburg Central Collecting Point property accessions, the directory of Marburg Central Collecting Point property released to the Wiesbaden Central Collecting Point, and photographs.
Record Group 260; Descriptive Pamphlet #A3389 (76 rolls).
Description available in NARA's online catalog.
Digital images available on Fold3.
On the 76 rolls of this microfilm publication are reproduced an original set of microfilms consisting of selected files from the restitution records of the central collecting points, along with a number of documents and manuscripts temporarily in State Department custody after the central collecting points of the Office of Military Government, U.S. Zone (Germany) [OMGUS] were closed. A copy of the original microfilm was transferred to the National Archives from the State Department with the central collecting point files. The microfilm and additional records of the central collecting points are located in the Records of United States Occupation Headquarters, World War II, Record Group (RG) 260.
Collection REMM.
Description and digital images available in NARA's online catalog.
A collection of albums containing photographs of cultural property that was looted by the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR) during World War II. These albums were donated to the National Archives by Robert Edsel and the Monuments Men Foundation and are now part of the National Archives and described in greater detail here.
Record Group 260; Descriptive Pamphlet #M1943 (40 rolls).
Description available in NARA's online catalog.
Digital images available on Fold3.
On the 40 rolls of this microfilm publication are reproduced the card file, interpositives, and photographic prints from the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR), 1940-1945. The card file and photographic materials are part of the Records of United States Occupation Headquarters, World War II, Record Group (RG) 260.
Also included is a collection of 39 albums containing photographs of cultural property that was looted by the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR) during World War II. Seized by the United States Army in 1945 and subsequently submitted as an United States exhibit at the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, these records are now part of the National Archives and described in greater detail here.
Record Group 238.
Description and digital images available in NARA's online catalog.
Included in these digitized records are reports, rosters, lists, sworn statements, and photographs relating to the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR); art dealers and other individuals involved in art looting activities including Robert Scholz, Bruno Lohse, Gisela Limberger, Gustav Rochlitz, Karl Kress, Guenther Schiedlausky, Karl Haberstock, Ernst Buchner, Walter Fleischer, Adolf Weinmüller, Hermann Voss, and Hildebrand Gurlitt; interrogations of individuals involved in art looting; and looted cultural objects.
Record Group 260; Descriptive Pamphlet #M1921 (14 rolls).
Description available in NARA's online catalog.
Digital images available on Fold3.
On the 14 rolls of this microfilm publication are reproduced records relating to monuments, museums, libraries, archives, and fine arts of the Cultural Affairs Branch, Education and Cultural Relations (ECR) Division, Office of Military Government, U.S. Zone (Germany) [OMGUS] during the period 1946-1949. These records pertain to the restitution of artworks, investigations of crimes involving art objects, conditions of archives and libraries in the American Zone and their holdings, problems encountered in reopening museums, libraries, and archives and the exchange of experts and exhibits.
Record Group 260; Descriptive Pamphlet #M1922 (135 rolls).
Description available in NARA's online catalog.
Digital images available on Fold3.
On the 88 rolls of this microfilm publication are reproduced investigation reports, interrogations of business and industrial leaders, and related records of the External Assets Investigation Section of the Property Control and External Assets Branch of the Property Division of the Office of Military Government, U.S. Zone (Germany) [OMGUS], during the period 1945-1949. These records are part of Records of U.S. Occupation Headquarters, World War II, Record Group (RG) 260.
Record Group 260; Descriptive Pamphlet #M1923 (8 rolls).
Description available in NARA's online catalog.
Digital images available on Fold3.
On the 8 rolls of this microfilm publication are reproduced bank investigation reports, interrogations of Nazi financiers, and related records of the Office of the Finance Division and Finance Advisor during the period 1945-1947.
Record Group 260; Descriptive Pamphlet #M1925 (11 rolls).
Description available in NARA's online catalog.
Digital images available on Fold3.
On the 9 rolls of this microfilm publication are reproduced records relating to intelligence and financial investigations of the Financial Intelligence Group, Office of the Finance Adviser (FINAD or OFA), Office of Military Government, U.S. Zone [OMGUS], during the period 1945-1949.
Record Group 260; Descriptive Pamphlet #M1949 (43 rolls).
Description available in NARA's online catalog.
Digital images available on Fold3.
On the 43 rolls of this microfilm publication are reproduced the records of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (MFAA) Sections of the Reparations and Restitution Branch, Office of Military Government, U.S. Zone, (Germany) [OMGUS]. These records consist of intelligence reports, interrogation reports, captured documents, and general information regarding German art looting.
For the Cultural Property Claim Applications found on rolls 8-26 of this publication, a Name Index and a Country Index are also available.
Record Group 260; Descriptive Pamphlet #DN1924 (191 rolls).
Description available in NARA's online catalog.
Digital images available on Fold3.
On the 149 disks of this digital publication are reproduced records relating to the administration and operation of the Foreign Exchange Depository Group, Office of the Finance Advisor, Office of Military Government for Germany (U.S.) [OMGUS], during the period 1944-1950. These records are contained within Records of the United States Occupation Headquarters, World War II, Record Group (RG) 260.
Record Groups 38 and 239; Descriptive Pamphlet #M1782 (1 roll).
Description available in NARA's online catalog.
Digital images available on Fold3.
On the single roll of this microfilm publication are reproduced the Detailed Interrogation Reports, Consolidated Interrogation Reports, and the Final Report of the Office of Strategic Service's (OSS) Art Looting Investigation Unit (ALIU). The ALIU distributed copies of these documents to numerous Government agencies. In order to produce the highest quality microfilm image, the best physical copy of each report was selected for inclusion in M1782.
Also available for these reports is a Name Index.
Record Groups 226; Descriptive Pamphlet #M1934 (35 rolls).
Description available in NARA's online catalog.
Digital images available on Fold3.
On the 24 rolls of this microfilm publication are reproduced records that were originally in the custody of the Washington Office, Secret Intelligence Branch and the Washington Office, Special Funds Division of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), and their predecessor units, during the period 1942-1946. The records were created and collected by these units while they were engaged in Project Safehaven, the code name of a project of the Foreign Economic Administration, in cooperation with the State Department and the military services, to block the flow of German capital across neutral boundaries and to identify and observe all German overseas investments. These materials are part of the Records of the Office of Strategic Services, Record Group (RG) 226.
A subject list of the numbered documents is available.
Record Group 239; Descriptive Pamphlet #M1944 (187 rolls).
Description available in NARA's online catalog.
Digital images available on Fold3.
On the 187 rolls of this microfilm publication are reproduced the Records of the American Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic Monuments in War Areas (The Roberts Commission). This publication contains all the series in Record Group 239 except for two series in original microfilm format: "Card File of Japanese Works, Collections, Sites, and Installations Requiring Protection, 1946" (NARA Microfilm Publication #A3383), and "Microfilm Copies of Reports from the Mediterranean and European Theaters of Operations Received from the Allied Military Government, 1943-1946" (NARA Microfilm Publication #A3380). While most of this publication consists of textual records, a large number of maps, photographs, and aerial photographs are included.
Record Group 239; Descriptive Pamphlet #A3380 (3 rolls).
Description available in NARA's online catalog.
Digital images available on Fold3.
On the 3 rolls of this microfilm publication are reproduced reports, lists, and card files that consist of selected pages of reports received from Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (MFAA) officers in the European and Mediterranean Theaters of Operations; information on private art collections; and extracts of card files related to war damage, art looting, and auctions. These records are part of Records of the American Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic Monuments in War Areas, Record Group (RG) 239.
Record Group 260; Descriptive Pamphlet #M1926 (156 rolls).
Description available in NARA's online catalog.
Digital images available on Fold3.
On the 156 rolls of this microfilm publication are reproduced the individual claims processed by and general records of the Reparations and Restitutions Branch of the United States Element, Allied Commission for Austria (USACA) Section, 1945-1950. The claims represent assembled information that was used to determine if the claimants deserved restitution of property or that property's value.
Record Group 260; Descriptive Pamphlet #M1927 (14 rolls).
Description available in NARA's online catalog.
Digital images available on Fold3.
On the 14 rolls of this microfilm publication are reproduced the individual claims processed by and general records of the Monuments and Fine Arts Branch of the United States Element, Allied Commission for Austria (USACA) Section, 1945-1950.
Record Group 260; Descriptive Pamphlet #M1928 (132 rolls).
Description available in NARA's online catalog.
Digital images available on Fold3.
On the 132 rolls of this microfilm publication are reproduced reports on businesses with German affiliations and information on the organization and operations of the German External Assets Branch of the United States Element, Allied Commission for Austria (USACA) Section, 1945-1950.
Record Group 260; Descriptive Pamphlet #DN1929 (600 rolls).
Description available in NARA's online catalog.
Digital images available on Fold3.
On the 413 disks of this digital publication are reproduced cases and reports, claims processed by, and general records of the Property Control Branch of the United States Element, Allied Commission for Austria (USACA) Section, 1945-1950. These records are part of Records of United States Occupation Headquarters, World War II, Record Group (RG) 260.
Record Group 153; Descriptive Pamphlet #M1933 (9 rolls).
Description available in NARA's online catalog.
Digital images available on Fold3.
On the nine rolls of this microfilm publication are reproduced the Safehaven reports received by the War Crimes Branch during the period 1944-1945. These materials are part of the records of the War Crimes Branch in Records of the Office of the Judge Advocate General (Army), Record Group (RG) 153.
Description and digital images available through the William J. Clinton Library.
The Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United States, formed in 1998, was charged with investigating what happened to the assets of victims of the Holocaust that ended up in the possession of the United States Federal government. The final report of the Commission, "Plunder and Restitution: Findings and Recommendations of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United States and Staff Report" was submitted to President Clinton in December 2000.
The records relate to Holocaust assets created between the mid 1930's and early 1950's by a variety of U. S. Government agencies and foreign sources. Digitized by the William J. Clinton Presidential Library, the collection consists of 19 series and is described in greater detail here.
The records of the German Bundesarchiv (Federal Archives) concerning seizure, disposal and restitution of Nazi-Era looted cultural property are in Record Groups NS 8 (Kanzlei Rosenberg), NS 30 (Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg), and B 323 (Treuhandverwaltung für Kulturgut bei der Oberfinanzdirektion München). The online finding aids for these relevant holdings are linked to this Portal. Many of the records are also available in digital format online. Links within the online finding aids are provided where appropriate. For the use of records that are not available digitally online, visitors should contact the Bundesarchiv prior to planning their visit. For more information about the Bundesarchiv, visit the Bundesarchiv website.
The U.S. Army collected files of Alfred Rosenberg from various sources for use at the Nuremberg trials. These records were subsequently taken to Alexandria, Virginia, USA, and were partly microfilmed. These files, which were known as the U.S. Army Departmental Records Branch Record Group 1008, Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories, arrived at the Bundesarchiv in March 1963 in the course of the repatriation of records from the USA. In the fall of 1963 the records were split into several groups according to their provenance. Those files that were part of this repatriation and originated from the Rosenberg Chancellery represent the main body of Record Group NS 8 (Kanzlei Rosenberg). Some files that had made their way to the State Archives of Nuremberg and were handed over to the Bundesarchiv in 1955 were also added to this Record Group, as were several volumes from various other American records repatriations. Further additions included one volume from the Central Archives of the German Democratic Republic (GDR, Zentrales Staatsarchiv der DDR - 62 Ka 2/1) and one volume from the so-called NS-archives of the Ministry of State Security of the GDR (NS-Archiv des Ministeriums für Staatssicherheit der DDR - ZA VI 6322).
Record Group NS 30 (Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg) comprises a collection of dispersed files and single documents received from various sources. Most of these records derive from the provisional office of the ERR in Ratibor, Silesia. Part of the ERR headquarters (Stabsführung) and staff of the Ostbücherei (a special ERR library responsible for research on Bolshevism) were evacuated from Berlin to Ratibor, beginning in 1943, together with large holdings of books. The ERR in Ratibor later received additional documents that the members of the Hauptarbeitsgruppen (HAG) Ostland, Ukraine and Weißruthenien (Main Working Groups in the Eastern Territories, Ukraine, and White Ruthenia) had been able to rescue. The records stored at Ratibor were later evacuated to western Germany.
Record group B 323 (Treuhandverwaltung für Kulturgut bei der Oberfinanzdirektion München) contains files and documents from various sources that contributed to the clarification of the ownership status of looted cultural property and its restitution after 1945. This Record Group can be described as a collection of materials, most of which are copies of NS-governmental records, contact prints of files taken to the USA or index cards. Other files document the Trusteeships' efforts at restitution.
The British records available through this portal are held by The National Archives in London, the repository since Domesday of all British government documentation. They represent records from all government departments involved in countering the Nazi spoliation of Europe and in resolving restitution and reparation claims arising after the war.
The records highlight the wartime policy initiatives taken by the British government including the Inter-Allied Declaration against Acts of Dispossession Committed in Territories under Enemy Occupation and Control, issued in London on 5 January 1943, and the establishment of the Vaucher Commission in April 1944 and the Macmillan Committee in May 1944. Both during and after the war, the UK committed efforts and resources to establish collecting points and restitution commissions in Europe and effected the return of looted property to countries across Europe.
Documents range from policy proposals to forms submitted by claimants seeking post-war restitution, as well as photographs of missing works of art and lists of individuals involved in the looting and damaging of cultural property. One of the distinctive features of this collection is the focus on losses from both public and private collections in countries such as Belgium, France, Hungary, Italy, Malta, The Netherlands and Yugoslavia.
For more information about The National Archives of the United Kingdom, visit the National Archives of the United Kingdom website.
For more information about the Commission for Looted Art in Europe, visit the Commission for Looted Art in Europe website.
The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs participates fully in the activities of the public authorities regarding the restitution and compensation of cultural property looted during the Second World War by the Germany occupation authorities. It contributes in particular to research into the origin of works of art, both for the public and for its institutional partners: the National Museums section of the Ministry of Culture and Communication; and the Commission d'indemnisation des victimes de spoliations (Commission for the Compensation of Victims of Spoliation -- CIVS), which reports to the Prime Minister.
In order to carry out this work successfully, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs relies on a considerable archives collection, which is curated by the Diplomatic Archives Directorate. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has taken responsibility for the archives of the Service des biens et intérêt privés (Department for Personal Property and Interests) (OBIP), which have been supplemented with those records created by Rose Valland during her work in France and Germany after the war, as well as by the archives of other French services tasked with locating and returning looted cultural property (Commission de Récupération artistique (Commission for Art Recovery), Office des biens et intérêt privés (Office for Personal Property and Interests), Bureau central de Restitutions (Central Office for Restitutions), Service de Récupération artistique de Berlin (Berlin Department for Art Recovery) and Service de Remise en place des œuvres d'art (Department for the Return of Works of Art). Most of the documents illustrating Rose Valland's heroic activity at the Jeu de Paume during the Occupation are to be found in the Bibliothèque et les Archives des Musées nationaux (Library and Archives of the National Museums) in the Louvre.
All of these archives are accessible to researchers (to victims' families as well as to notaries and lawyers, historians, museum curators and art trade professionals). They can be consulted at the headquarters of the Diplomatic Archives Directorate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, situated to the north of Paris (3, rue Suzanne Masson -- 93126 LA COURNEUVE) or online. Because of the lack of a single, reliable inventory, as a first step, the curator responsible for the collection carries out research for information that is sought whether by French or foreign researchers.
These precious archives are fragile and of interest to a very wide audience. In 2011, in order to facilitate both their consultation and their preservation, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs tasked a specialist in archiving and digitization of documents (the Van Dijk company) to carry out a feasibility study for the digitization and indexing of the whole archive collection.
As a first step, the Diplomatic Archives Directorate has undertaken the following tasks:
Le ministère français des affaires étrangères participe pleinement à l'action des Pouvoirs publics pour la restitution et l'indemnisation des biens culturels spoiés pendant la Seconde Guerre mondiale par les autorités allemandes d'occupation. Il contribue en particulier aux recherches de provenance des œuvres d'art à la fois pour un large public mais aussi pour ses partenaires institutionnels (service des Musées de France du ministère de la Culture, commission d'indemnisation des victimes de spoliations auprès du Premier Ministre - CIVS).
Pour mener à bien cette action, le ministère des affaires étrangères s'appuie sur un fonds considérable d'archives que conserve la direction des Archives diplomatiques. Chargé des attributions du Service des biens et intérêt privés, le ministère des affaires étrangères en conserve en effet les archives auxquelles se sont ajoutées celles créées par Rose Valland dans le cadre de son activité en Allemagne et en France après la guerre, ainsi que les archives d'autres services français chargés de retrouver et de restituer les biens culturels spoliés (commission de Récupération artistique, office des Biens et Intérêts privés, bureau central des Restitutions, service de Récupération artistique de Berlin, service de Remise en place des œuvres d'art). La majeure partie des documents illustrant son activité héroïque au Jeu de Paume pendant l'Occupation est en revanche conservée par la Bibliothèque et les Archives des Musées nationaux situées au Louvre.
Toutes ces archives sont communicables. Mises à la disposition de tous les chercheurs (les familles des victimes mais aussi les hommes de Loi - notaires, avocats -, les historiens, les conservateurs de musée, les acteurs du marché de l'art), ces archives sont consultables au siège de la direction des archives du ministère des affaires étrangères, situé au nord de Paris (3, rue Suzanne Masson -- 93126 La Courneuve) ou sur le site web.
Ces archives précieuses sont fragiles et intéressent un très large public. Pour faciliter leur consultation et, en même temps, les préserver, le ministère français des affaires étrangères a chargé en 2011 un spécialiste dans l'archivage et la dématérialisation des documents (la société Van Dijk) de réaliser une étude de faisabilité pour la numérisation et l'indexation de la totalité de ce fonds d'archives.
Comme première étape, la direction des Archives diplomatiques a engagé les opérations suivantes:
Catalog of the National Museums Recovery Program
The Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR) was the main Nazi agency engaged in looting cultural valuables in Nazi-occupied countries during the Second World War. At the moment, the ERR archives are dispersed in 29 repositories in 9 countries.
One of the biggest and most important parts of the ERR archives is kept by the Central State Archives of Supreme Bodies of Power and Government of Ukraine (TsDAVO). These records provide information about arts, books, and archival materials confiscated from museums, libraries, and archives in former Soviet Union territory, as well from private collections (mainly Jewish) in Nazi-occupied North France and Belgium.
Three TsDAVO collections of ERR and related records were digitized and presented on-line by Archival Information Systems. The project was sponsored by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
About 137,000 digital images of ERR documents are available free of charge through this Portal, which provides a direct link to the TsDAVO website. The descriptions, as well as the index of individual, geographic, and organization names, are available only in the Russian version at the moment. But Ukrainian, English, and German versions are planned.
The Lost Art Database registers cultural objects which as a result of persecution under the Nazi dictatorship and the Second World War were relocated, moved or seized, especially from Jewish owners.
Website: http://www.lostart.de
On 16 November 1944, shortly after the liberation of the Belgian national territory, the Belgian authorities set up the Department for Economic Recovery (DER)/Office de Récupération Economique (ORE) under the former Ministry of Economic Affairs. From its creation until its dissolution in 1968, the DER was the sole Belgian office responsible for tracing, recovering and liquidating lost movable goods of Belgian private or public possession in Belgium or abroad during the Second World War. As such, the DER was assigned with the tracing of enemy military equipment and responsible for war reparations by means of industrial compensations in kind, as well as the recovery and restitution of Belgian properties, including cultural goods. In light of the latter task, the DER included a culture office that was commissioned to identify and restitute stolen works of art. This resulted in the creation of various interesting record series on stolen artworks, including declaration forms, various files, file cards and a collection of photographs and glass negatives. The State Archives in Belgium conserve the "General Files" of the post-World War II service for the recovery of artworks, which was part of the DER. These records, which can be found under inventory numbers 362-632, are primarily in French and/or Dutch, and include a few records in English.
The documents on the registration and recovery of looted art, which constitute a specific section within the "General Files," were digitized in 2012. The digital images have been linked to the existing inventory descriptions, which are currently available on the State Archives' intranet. Researchers are required to inform the personnel of the National Archives (the State Archives' repository in the Brussels region) in advance and direct their inquiries before an appointment in the reading room can be made. Instructions for making such arrangements can be found online. Apart from its General Files, the DER also opened files about individual recovery claims that were handled. These files form a distinct archival fond of 120 linear metres, comprising two series dating from the 1940s to the early 1960s. The files concerning individual recovery claims from the DER have also been inventoried (this search instrument has been incorporated in the sub-series "National Archives of Belgium," as inventory I 400). The inventory is not accessible online yet, but even so, all research for individual names must be performed via the former institute's alphabetical file card system (sorted according to the family names of all persons who made claims). Such preliminary research must be performed by the personnel working at the National Archives of Belgium 2 ("Cuvelier repository"). In practice, requests for information are to be directed here.
Because of the fact that all DER files about persons who also filed a claim at the Office for War Damage (Administration Dommages de Guerre) were transferred to the latter administration, the very voluminous archives from the Office for War Damage (under the authority of the former Minister for Reconstruction, later Public Works) will undoubtedly contain more information on looted or lost artworks. Handling of the reparation claims for material damage incurred to private goods led to the creation of a huge file series, 10 kilometres of which has been conserved. Access to the file series of the Office for War Damage requires navigating through a complex record card system. Since the archives consist of a central series as well as nine provincial series, one can perform a double search based on the geographical location of the property or the former owner's residence (for each separate province, the file cards are alphabetically classified by town/municipality). Each file card contains a unique reference number pointing to a file. All preliminary research must be performed by the personnel working at the National Archives of Belgium 2 ("Cuvelier repository"). Requests for information are therefore to be directed here.
For more information about the State Archives in Belgium, please visit the State Archives in Belgium website.
Now also available for search using this Holocaust Assets Portal.
The Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR), the "Special Task Force" headed by Adolf Hitler's leading ideologue Alfred Rosenberg, was one of the main Nazi agencies engaged in the plunder of cultural valuables in Nazi-occupied countries during the Second World War. A particularly notorious operation by the ERR was the plunder of art from French Jewish and a number of Belgian Jewish collections from 1940 to 1944 that were brought to the Jeu de Paume building in the Tuileries Gardens in Paris for processing by the ERR Sonderstab Bildende Kunst or "Special Staff for Pictorial Art."
The Database of Art Objects at the Jeu de Paume is a joint project of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. This database brings together for the first time in searchable illustrated form the remaining registration cards and photographs produced by the ERR covering more than 20,000 art objects taken from Jews in German-occupied France and, to a lesser extent, in Belgium. Searchable by individual objects and by the owners from whom these objects were taken, the database is a detailed record of a small but important part of the vast seizure of cultural property that was integral to the Holocaust.
For more information about the Claims Conference, visit the Claims Conference website.
For more information about the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, visit the Holocaust Memorial Museum website.
For more information about the Deutsches Historisches Museum, visit the Deutsches Historisches Museum website.
Joint project of the Deutsche Historische Museum and the German Office for Central Services and Unresolved Property Issues (BADV)
Joint project of the Deutsche Historische Museum and the German Office for Central Services and Unresolved Property Issues (BADV). Website: http://www.dhm.de/datenbank/linzdb/
For more information about the Mémorial de la Shoah, visit the Mémorial de la Shoah website.
The Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR, no. 093a) archive at the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust, and Genocide Studies consists of 4,1 metres of documents. During the occupation of the Netherlands the ERR agency was engaged in confiscating and relocating property from houses owned by deported Jews. The collection consists of lists with confiscated real estate, inventories of property and certificates of delivery. With the kind support of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany , all documents have been digitized and are now freely accessible online.
The Direzione Generale Archivi (DGA: Italian Directorate General of Archives) coordinates and promotes the activities of all of the Italian State Archives (one in each province) and of the Soprintendenze archivistiche (Archival Departments, one in each region). The State Archives hold the documents that all state offices deposit 40 years after the records were created. The records of the offices of the Prime Minister, the ministries and other central bodies are sent to the Central State Archives in Rome, and those from regional offices go to the appropriate State Archives in each province. The Soprintendenze supervise the archives of other public authorities and of private archives considered of notable historical importance. This means that the DGA does not directly conserve documents but supervises all the state, public and private archives throughout the country.
The Royal Decree 126/1939 stated that Italian Jews could not own assets exceeding a certain amount. A special public agency, Ente di Gestione e Liquidazione Immobiliare (EGELI: Agency for Real Estate Management and Liquidation), was in charge of management and destination of excess assets. After January 1944, EGELI was in charge of the assets both seized and confiscated from Jews in the Fascist Italian Social Republic who had been sent to concentration camps. EGELI delegated the management of these assets to public and private credit institutions. Cultural properties were not mentioned separately, so it is necessary to search the files to find evidence of looted art and other cultural property. Please use the links below to view descriptions of relevant records included in the DGA Archives Information System or in other institutional web sites.
For more information about the records of the Italian Directorate General of Archives, please visit its website.
Central State Archive - Ministry of Finance, Coordination Directorate-General Taxation, General Affairs and Personnel, Jewish Property Service, General Affairs, Management of Assets in excess of CSR and Confiscation Decrees, 1938-1945
http://www.archivi-sias.it/Scheda_Complesso.asp?FiltraComplesso=107001141
Central State Archive - EGELI, 1939-1945
http://www.archivi-sias.it/Scheda_Complesso.asp?FiltraComplesso=107003927
Local EGELI, Jewish Property in Mantova, 1944-1945
http://www.archivi-sias.it/Scheda_Complesso.asp?FiltraComplesso=540000491
Office of Internal Revenue, Damage of Wars, Racial Laws: Compensation for confiscation of Jewish assets, 1943-end of the 20th century
http://www.archivi-sias.it/Scheda_Complesso.asp?FiltraComplesso=60276637
Records concerning EGELI's delegation of responsibility to the Compagnia di San Paolo for management of confiscated Jewish assets in the Piedmont and Liguria regions, 1940-1950
Records of Rodolfo Siviero, 1921-1983
Guide to Archival Fonds at the Bibliographical Center Tullia Levi, Activities of the Unione delle Comunità Ebraiche Italiane (Union of Italian Jewish Communities since 1965), 1965-1986
Jewish Community of Venice, 1930-1989
The links below direct users to the resources from the Getty Research Institute made available through the International Research Portal.
For more information about the records of the Getty Research Institute, please visit the Getty Research Institute website.
The Getty Provenance Index® Databases provide online access to German Sales Catalogs from German-speaking countries -- Austria, Germany and Switzerland -- from 1930 to 1945. More than 250,000 individual auction sales records for paintings, sculptures and drawings are searchable by a range of parameters including artist name and nationality, type of subject matter, lot title, buyer or seller's name and the city in which the sale occurred. Each record in the Provenance Index is linked to the full PDF of its corresponding catalog residing at the website of Heidelberg University Library. The Databases also contain bibliographic information on ca. 3,000 catalogs including the physical location of copies with handwritten annotations
A guide to archives at the Getty Research Institute that bear on Holocaust-era looting and postwar dissemination of stolen art.
The Berlin State Archive houses a number of records that are relevant for provenance research and document the Nazi Era persecution. These records were created by German institutions and authorities from 1933 to 1990. The holdings range from files of tax offices that document the confiscation of property of persecuted persons to the over 800,000 case files of the Berlin Restitution Offices. The records are not only about local history but also on persecution of persons from all over the Reich. The links below direct users to the resources from the Berlin State Archive made available through the International Research Portal for Records Related to Nazi-Era Cultural Property.
For more information about the records of the Landesarchiv Berlin, please visit the Landesarchiv Berlin website.
Restitution Offices WGA database
The WGA Database contains information transcribed from index cards for the case files from the Berlin Restitution Offices, listing the claimants, the injured parties, the defendant and the property claimed. The project aims to facilitate provenance research by providing a publicly accessible online database of the more than 800,000 restitution case files housed at the Berlin State Archive. The online database is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2014.
Database of Art and Cultural Property Auctions, 1933-1945
The auction files are preserved at the Berlin State Archive in the record group of the Berlin branch of the Reich's Chamber of Fine Arts. The Berlin Head Office of the Reich's Chamber of Fine Arts was established in 1935. Around this time, the auctioneers had to declare their planned auctions to the Reich's Chamber of Fine Arts and the Chief of Police. These declarations contain lists about vendors and objects. There is a variety of works of art listed among the declared objects, including some pieces of higher value. Some files include correspondence regarding both auctions and also single objects. The files also contain catalogues and partial auction result lists, including the names of the purchasers and hammer prices. The archival holdings contain 77 files, all of which are completely microfilmed. The files cover the period between 1935 and 1944 inclusive.
A finding aid is also available.
The Recovery Point for Scientific Libraries (Bergungsstelle für wissenschaftliche Bibliotheken) was established by the Berlin city government (Magistrat) in Berlin in July 1945. It was responsible for recovering material from over 200 private and public libraries throughout Berlin. The record group contains recovery orders, protocols and reports of the recovery. The documents from the file numbered 512 to 515, 515-1, and 522 were digitized and are available online.
A finding aid is also available.
The links below direct users to the resources from the National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism and the General Settlement Fund for Victims of National Socialism available through the International Research Portal.
For more information about the National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism and the General Settlement Fund for Victims of National Socialism, visit the National Fund website.
The Findbuch for Victims of National Socialism makes it possible to search the holdings of several Austrian archives for material on National Socialist property seizures and Austrian restitution and compensation measures. It is possible to call up information such as the "property notices" that Jewish people had to submit after the Anschluss of Austria in 1938 as well as the files of the Restitution Commissions that were established after the war. Due to data protection laws, registration is necessary in order to undertake research in the personal data holdings of the Findbuch. The Findbuch is purely a reference database and is therefore not a substitute for ordering the file from the relevant archive.
In addition, the Findbuch provides in digital form historical address books and official handbooks on public offices and institutions that facilitate research on private individuals, companies or the authorities that were responsible for the National Socialist seizures of property or restitution post-1945.
As such, the Findbuch is one of the most comprehensive collections of personal data on National Socialist property seizures and Austrian restitution and compensation measures after 1945.
The Art Database of the National Fund provides information on art and cultural objects presently located in museums and collections of the Republic of Austria or of the City of Vienna, which, according to latest provenance research, may have been seized under the National Socialist regime. Their publication in this database takes place in co-operation with the Federal museums and collections concerned and with other Austrian institutions conducting provenance research and aims to determine whether there is a possibility of restituting these objects.
Restitution reports of the Federation (1998-present) and restitution reports of the City of Vienna (2002-present) are available on the website of the Art Databases here.
Recommendations of the meetings of the Art Restitution Advisory Board (2009-present) are available on the website of the Art Databases here.
Heidelberg University Library provides access to around 8,000 auction catalogues published between 1901 and 1945 in Germany, Switzerland and Austria and additional countries occupied by Germany during this period.
The auction catalogues were partly digitized within the framework of the project "German Sales 1930-1945. Art Works, Art Markets, and Cultural Policy". The Kunstbibliothek der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin, as well as the Getty Research Institute, were partners in this project, which was generously supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation), the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Volkswagen Stiftung. Further auction catalogues are being digitized as part of the ongoing project "Art - Auctions - Provenances. The German Art Trade as Reflected in Auction Catalogues from 1901 to 1929" a collaborative effort of Heidelberg University Library and the Kunstbibliothek der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin. It is financially supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation).
All of the digitized auction catalogues, which today are scattered over numerous art and museum libraries, are accessible free of charge on the website of Heidelberg University Library as well as within the overall context of the project "German Sales 1901-1945" on arthistoricum.net. In addition to the digital images, OCR processing has provided searchable full texts. Refined search functions including the full text search have improved the accessibility to material that previously has been difficult to access. The search options provide the possibility to browse the digital collection by countries, cities, auction houses or collectors.
For more information about the international cooperative digitization of these auction catalogues, please visit "German Sales 1901-1945" on arthistoricum.net.
For more information about Heidelberg University Library, please visit the Heidelberg University Library website.
The Deutsches Kunstarchiv in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg, is the largest archive of primary documentation relating to German art and culture. Its holdings cover the fine arts in German-speaking countries, with a focus on hand- and typewritten manuscripts as well as personal documents such as letters, and professional records of the careers of artists and art historians as well as art institutions and galleries. In addition to gathering and preserving artists' and art historians' estates in order to catalogue them and make them publicly available, the Deutsches Kunstarchiv is actively engaged in researching its own holdings as the basis for exhibitions, publications and lectures.
The Galerie Heinemann Munich was founded in 1872 by David Heinemann (1819-1902) and was numbered amongst the most important art dealerships in Germany until its Aryanization in 1938. The gallery, which operated internationally, had several branch offices in cities such as Frankfurt am Main, Nice and New York. It specialized in 19th and early 20th century German art, but also dedicated itself to English, French and Spanish art. Altogether it organized approximately 300 solo and thematic group exhibitions between 1880 and 1935.
The Galerie Heinemann project, comprising digitization, data entry and internet presentation of the gallery's documents, is the first major digitization project of German dealer records relevant to the Nazi era. The provision of dealer records online is a significant development in assisting researchers internationally in documenting provenance. The Galerie Heinemann project was developed by the Deutsches Kunstarchiv in cooperation with the Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte, Munich, as well as with the conceptual assistance of Facts & Files, Historisches Forschungsinstitut Berlin (Historic Research Institute). The Arbeitsstelle für Provenienzrecherche/ -forschung (Bureau for Provenance Research and Investigation), Berlin, approved and provided financial support for the project in spring 2009. The Galerie Heinemann internet database was activated on July 29, 2010.
For more information, please visit the Deutsches Kunstarchiv im Germanischen Nationalmuseum.
The Galerie Heinemann online database facilitates searches of the records of the Munich art dealer Galerie Heinemann (1872-1938), with a focus on the period from 1890 to 1938. It makes information accessible on approximately 43,500 important paintings from all centuries as well as on about 13,000 persons and institutions associated with the acquisition or sale of these paintings.
The database includes the business records (stock ledgers, purchase books and cash books) and the eight card indexes of the gallery (artworks sold, buyers, locations of buyers, artworks in stock, artworks offered in journals, exhibitions, artworks offered for sale, consignors), which are in the Deutsches Kunstarchiv, as well as the catalogs and photographs, which are stored in the Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte, Munich. Searches are available for individual artworks and associated information, which includes data on artists, clients, purchases and sales. The database provides both a transcription of the most important content of the records, as well as scans of the original documents. The database facilitates a simple search within a full-text search mode as well as an advanced search with selected search fields.
The database currently consists of 43,703 images of documents from three basic types of artworks:
The site provides literature and information on the history and range of Galerie Heinemann. An online inventory for the complete holdings of the Galerie Heinemann in the Deutsches Kunstarchiv is available . This inventory also includes documents that are not part of the database: the Heinemann family's personal documents, especially with regard to their emigration and the related payment of taxes and compulsory charges, account books for private and business accounts and the gallery's balance sheets for the years 1926 to 1937.