Spoliation
of Jewish Cultural Property
Spoliation
of Jewish Cultural Property
To help museums implement the resolution adopted by the ICOM General Assembly in Barcelona on 6th July 2001, the UNESCO-ICOM Information Centre has put together a file of resources on the issue of spoliation of Jewish cultural property during the Second World War.
The information below includes references for national and international directives for museums concerning the identification and return of looted or stolen Jewish property. Databases of objects which were looted or have disappeared are also listed, along with several examples of individual initiatives by museums to facilitate the task of establishing the provenance of certain items in their collections.
A vast body of information is available on this topic and this file does not purport to be exhaustive. The Centre would be happy to receive any additional information or resources, particularly relating to the policies of museums on this issue.
Resolution
no. 8
Aware that the Nazi regime, in power from 1933 to 1945, orchestrated
and enabled during the implementation of the Holocaust, the misappropriation
of art and other cultural property through means such as theft, confiscation,
coercive transfer, looting and pillage,
Acknowledging that despite efforts following World War II to undertake
restitution of misappropriated property, many objects were never returned to
their original owners or legal successors,
Concerned that such objects may have subsequently come into the custody
of museums,
Recalling ICOM's Recommendations Concerning
the Return of Works of Art Belonging to Jewish Owners issued by
the Executive Council in December 1998,
Noting that museum professionals, other individuals and organisations
have gathered to establish international principles for addressing the problem
of misappropriated objects, such as those contained in the Washington
Conference Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art, December 1998, the
Vilnius Forum Declaration,
October 2000, and the American
Association of Museums' Guidelines Concerning the Unlawful Appropriation of
Objects during the Nazi Era, April 2001,
Urges all museums to encourage action by their national governments to ensure full implementation of the provisions of such documents, which establish international principles for addressing the problem of misappropriated objects.
Immediately after the Second World War, laws were passed in European countries concerning the return of art works to their original owners. But despite this legislation, many art works remained unclaimed and were deposited with national collections. In the late 1990s, following a number of international conferences on the theme of Nazi looting of art works, the issue regained prominence and requests were made for art works to be returned, including by museums. This led to a resolution being adopted by the Council of Europe in 1999; and some countries passed new laws or issued directives for museums on the identification and return of art works stolen during the Second World War.
Washington Conference
on Holocaust-Era Assets
Washington Conference Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art, released in
connection with the Washington Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets, Washington,
D.C., December 3, 1998.
http://www.state.gov/www/regions/eur/981203_heac_art_princ.html
Council of Europe
Resolution 1205 (1999)1. Looted Jewish Cultural Property / Parliamentary
Assembly. (Extract from the Official Gazette of the Council of Europe, November
1999).
Text adopted on 4 November 1999 by the Standing Committee, acting on behalf
of the Assembly.
http://stars.coe.fr/ta/ta99/eres1205.htm
Austria
Federal law of 4 December 1998 concerning the return of works of art from
Austrian federal museums and collections. In: "Federal Law Gazette" 1998/I/181.
http://www.ris.bka.gv.at
Czech Republic
Law No. 212/2000. Act of 23 June 2000 to mitigate certain property-related
injustices caused by the Holocaust and to amend Act No. 243/1992, to regulate
certain issues relating to Act No. 229/1991 regarding the ownership of land
and other agricultural property as amended by Act No. 92/199.
http://www.restitution-art.cz
France
Recommandations de la mission Mattéoli concernant la restitution des œuvres
d'art spoliées. (Recommendations of the Mattéoli Mission concerning the
restitution of looted works of art). Available only in French.
http://www.ladocfrancaise.gouv.fr/BRP/notices/004000897.html
Germany
Statement by the Federal Government, the Länder (Federal States) and the
national associations of local authorities on the tracing and return of Nazi-confiscated
art, especially Jewish property of 14 December 1999.
http://www.lostart.de/kontakt/
Netherlands (The)
In March 1998, several major Dutch museums launched an initiative to check the
provenance of objects acquired during the 1940-1948 period. As a result, the
1940-48 Museum Acquisitions Project was launched under the aegis of the Dutch
Museums Association. Guidelines were issued and sent to the 382 museums members
of the association.
"Richtlijn Museale Verwervingen 1940-1948". In: Museumwijzer, 3, 1999.
http://
www.museumvereniging.nl/nmv/publicaties/mwijzer/mw3-99.html
In English: Guidelines on museum acquisitions 1940-1948
http://www.museumvereniging.nl/engels/nmv/publications/index.html
Russia (Federation of)
Russian Federal Law on Cultural Valuables Displaced to the U.S.S.R. as a
Result of World War II and Located in the Territory of the Russian Federation.
Federal Law N 64-FZ of April 15, 1998.
http://docproj.loyola.edu/rlaw/r2.html
United Kingdom
Spoliation of Works of Art During the Holocaust and World War II Period.
Progress report on UK Museums' Provenance Research for the Period 1933-1945:
Statement of Principles and Proposed Actions : In June 1998 the National
Museum Directors' Conference (NMDC) established a working group to examine the
issues surrounding the spoliation of art during the Holocaust and World War
II period and drew up a statement of principles and proposed actions for member
institutions. The statement was adopted by the NMDC in November 1998 and presented
to the Washington Conference on Holocaust Assets in December 1998.
http://www.nationalmuseumsorg.uk/spoliation/principles.html
United States of America
Guidelines Concerning
the Unlawful Appropriation of Objects During the Nazi Era. American Association
of Museums. Washington, DC : AAM, 1999. 5 p. (approved by AAM and AAM/ICOM in
November 1999)
http://www.aam-us.org/nazieraprov.htm
Association of Art
Museum Directors. Taskforce on the Spoliation of Art During the Nazi/World War
II Era (1933-45): Statement of Principles and Guidelines.
http://www.aamd.org/guideln.shtml
Databases
on Art Looted from Jewish Owners
The Art Loss Register
is a private database of stolen art and antiquities. It includes works of art
looted during World War II which are identified separately. The Art Loss Register
"is committed to working with the Commission for Art Recovery of the World Jewish
Congress and the New York State Banking Department Holocaust Claims Processing
Office in order to build a database as comprehensive as possible of Holocaust
and World War II art losses". Claimants are able to register a wartime theft
at no charge, but there is a fee to search the database.
Email artloss@artloss.com - http://www.artloss.com
The Museum Provenance
List is a compilation of museums that have listed works of art in their
collections of uncertain or dubious provenance (between 1933 and 1945). This
website attempts to list the artworks in one place in so that claimants do not
have to search through several different websites. It is necessary to subscribe.
Email info@provenancelist.com -
http://www.provenancelist.com
The Holocaust Art Restitution
Project (HARP) was founded under the auspices of the Klutznick National
Jewish Museum and is located within the museum in Washington DC. It aims to
document cultural losses during the Holocaust and to establish a website database,
but this has yet to be set up.
http://www.lostart.org
Czech Republic. Restitution-Art,
database of Works of Art from the Property of Victims of the Holocaust.
Created by the Czech Ministry of Culture and the Moravian Museum. It does not
provide photographs of the works of art. Searches are carried out by title,
artist or the name of the current owner, which can be the museum housing the
work.
http://www.restitution-art.cz
France. Musées Nationaux
Récupération (MNR). The Direction des musées de France has created a database
of the 2000 art works classified as MNR (national museums recovery programme)
which have been stored in national museums, provincial museums and the Mobilier
national (national furniture collection) since 1949. A catalogue of these works,
consisting of descriptions of each art work accompanied by illustrations, has
been accessible on line since November 1996.
http://www.culture.gouv.fr/documentation/mnr/pres.htm
France. Schloss Collection.
Non Restituted Works Looted 1943-1998. The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs
has published on its website the catalogue of Dutch and Flemish art stolen from
Adolphe Schloss' collection during World War II. Adolphe Schloss was an internationally
renowned art collector with one of the last great collections of Dutch art in
19th century France. The online catalogue only lists the works not restituted
by July 1st 1997. The research may be made on the whole collection and by the
name of painters.
http://www.france.diplomatie.fr/archives/dossiers/schloss/
Germany. Lost Art Internet
Database. This is a joint project by the Federal Government in Germany and
the German federal states. It was implemented by the Coordination Office for
Lost Cultural Assets with the Institute for Technical and Business Information
Systems, Otto-von-Güricke University, Magdeburg. It serves to register lost
cultural assets and to list these losses as search reports. The database operates
on different levels. The focus is on the single institution which reported the
loss. The institutions are divided into archives, libraries, and museums. The
name of the institution, the department and the federal state are given first.
http://www.lostart.de
Germany. Looted Art -
First Internet Research Catalogue (Saxony-Anhalt). The catalogue lists the
losses in museums, archives and libraries. By clicking on the section devoted
to museums you obtain a list of works looted from the museums of the region
of Saxony-Anhalt.
http://www.beutekunst.de/museen.html
Hungary. A database
of World War II losses was set up at the Hungarian National Gallery of Budapest
following the decision of the Hungarian Restitution Committee in 1992. The objectives
are to describe artworks lost between 1938 and 1945, as well as artworks smuggled
out of Hungary between 1945 and 1949. The estimated number of references to
lost artworks is about 3 million, of which 170,000 have already been entered
into the database. The data is stored on CDs.
Contact: Laszlo Mrávol, Art Historian - Magyar Nemzeti Galéria - Budavári
Palota, P.O. Box 31, 1250 Budapest, Hungary.
Tel. (36 1) 375 7533. Fax (36 1) 375 8898.
Italy. Art Treasures
Removed from Italy during the War Period, 1940-1945. In October 1995, the
Italian Government supervised the publication of a catalogue entitled Treasures
Untraced - An Inventory of the Italian Treasures Lost during the Second World
War, available in Italian, English and German. This catalogue lists over
2,500 objects and has been put online on the website of the International Commission
for Art Works. It includes two sections: Treasures Untraced / Treasures Retraced.
http://www.esteri.it/polestera/dgrc/opereperse/
Poland. Wartime Losses:
Polish Paintings. The electronic version of the catalogue has been made
possible through the generosity of the Polish American Congress. It is the first
of a planned series of catalogues. It comprises 440 oil and pastel paintings,
watercolours from the 17th to the 20th century. It provides an index of painters
and an index of owners.
http://www.polamcon.org/lostart/index.html
United Kingdom. UK Museums'
Provenance Research. It provides a list of works with incomplete provenance
in national and non-national museums and galleries.
http://www.nationalmuseumsorg.uk/spoliation/
United Kingdom. The Central
Registry of Information on Looted Cultural Property 1933-1945 is a comprehensive
website containing internationally available information on cultural property
looted between 1933-1945. The website will include a unique database of looted
objects and of objects under investigation in museums throughout the world.
Other information, such as government reports, claimant information, and research
resources will be made available and organised by country.
http://www.lootedart.com
United States of America.
Nazi Era Provenance. The American Association of Museums lists here the
websites of museums which in compliance with AAM's guidelines make available
to the public a list of works of art in their collections that have gaps in
provenance for the period 1933-1945.
http://www.aam-us.org/nazieraprov.htm
Individual
Museums Provenance Research Projects
The following museums have implemented provenance research projects for works of art of questionable origin featured in their collections.
The National Gallery
of Victoria (Australia)
Part of its online collection has been made public. It has dedicated a web page
to its Provenance Research Project, but there is no specific section for works
of art of uncertain provenance in the catalogue of the collection online.
http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/collection/
Landesmuseum Joanneum
(Austria)
Information on the museum's policy concerning restitution of Jewish property.
http://www.museum-joanneum.at/restitution/
Gemäldegalerie Berlin
(Germany)
The Gemäldegalerie has published the complete catalogue of its reunified collections,
a catalogue of artworks lost during the war (Dokumentation der Verluste,
1995) and a catalogue of foreign-owned paintings (Dokumentation des Fremdbesitzes,
Verzeichnis in der Galerie eingelargerten Bilder unbekannter Herkunft, 1999).
However, these catalogues are not available for consultation on the Internet.
Contact: Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Preussischer Kulturbesitz,
Kulturforum im Tiergarten, 10785 Berlin, Germany.
Tel. (49 30) 2662 101. Fax (49 30) 2662 103. Email gg@smb.spk-berlin.de
US Museums
In compliance with AAM guidelines and with the statement of principles and guidelines
of AAMD, ten museums in the country have been working to make Nazi-era provenance
information on their collections available to the public and list works that
have gaps in provenance for the years 1933-1945. These are: Art Institute of
Chicago, Cleveland Museum of Art, Harvard University Art Museums, J. Paul Getty
Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, MoMA,
Boston Museum of Fine Arts, National Gallery of Art, Seattle Art Museum.
http://www.aam-us.org/nazieraprov.htm
Additional Sources of
Information and Contacts
The following institutions are currently working on the topic and can provide further information or assistance.
Commission for Looted
Art in Europe (ECLA)
Catherine House, 76 Gloucester Place,
London, England W1U 6HJ, United Kingdom.
Tel. (44 20) 7487 3401. Fax (44 20) 7487 4211.
Email annewebber@compuserve.com
http://www.lootedartcommission.com
ECLA is an expert organisation which assists claimants to locate looted art
and pursues claims on their behalf.
Artloot
Email info@artloot.com
http://www.artloot.com
Artloot is a private organisation. It presents itself as "dedicated to providing
all available information and resources relating to artworks stolen, looted
and sold during the Holocaust era."
Austria
Bundesdenkmalamt - Abteilung
für Museen und Bibliotheken, Sicherheit
Hofburg, Säulenstiege, A-1010 Wien.
Tel. (43 1) 53415-273, 53415-217. Fax (43 1) 53415-252.
http://www.bda.at
Österreichische
Historikerkommission
Nottendorfer Gasse 2, A-1030 Wien.
Tel. (43 1) 79540 180. Fax (43 1) 79540 186.
Email hiskom@oesta.gv.at
http://www.historikerkommission.gv.at
(information also available in English)
Belgium
Commission d'étude sur le sort des biens des membres de la communauté juive
de Belgique spoliés ou délaissés pendant la guerre 1940-1945.
Boulevard Bischoffsheim, 38, 1000 Brussels.
Tel. (32 2) 214 0910. Fax (32 2) 214 0911.
France
Commission pour l'indemnisation des victimes de spoliation intervenues du fait
des législations antisémites en vigueur pendant l'Occupation (CIVS)
1, rue de la Manutention, 75116 Paris.
Tel. (33 1) 5652 8500. Fax (33 1) 5652 8773.
Email webmestre@civs.gouv.fr
http://www.civs.gouv.fr
The Mattéoli Commission
http://www.info-france-usa.org/wchea/second.htm
Germany
Beauftragter der Bundesregierung
für Angelegenheiten der Kultur und der Medien Referat K 13, Rückführung von
Kulturgut
Graurheindorfer Strasse 198, D-53117 Bonn.
Tel. (49 1888) 681-0. Fax (49 1888) 681-3821.
Email Poststelle@bkm.bmi.bund.de
Koordinierungstelle für Kulturgutverluste
beim Kultusministerium des Landes Sachsen-Anhalt
Kantstr. 5, D-39104 Magdeburg.
Tel. (49 391) 54487-12. Fax (49 391) 535396-33.
Email mfranz@lostart.de
http://www.lostart.de
Hungary
Cultural Heritage Directorate
Hungarian Art Restitution Project
1053 Budapest, Magyar u. 40, 1461 Budapest Pf. 211.
Tel. 266 0027. Fax 327 7702.
http://www.koi.hu/restitucio/index.html
Israel
Yad Vashem, The Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes Remembrance Authority
P.O.B. 3477, Jerusalem 91034.
Tel. 02 644 3400. Fax 02 644 3443.
http://www.yadvashem.org.il
Italy
Commissione Interministeriale per le Opere d'Arte
Via degli Astalli 3/A, 00186 Roma.
Tel. (39 06) 679 2871. Fax (39 06) 679 2880.
Email comin.res@esteri.it
http://www.esteri.it/polestera/dgrc/opereperse/
Lithuania
International Commission for the Evaluation of the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet
Occupation Regimes
Gedemino ave. 11, Vilnius 2039.
Tel. (370 2) 66 38 04. Fax (370 2) 66 38 05.
Email komisija@lrvk.lt
Netherlands
Inspectie
Cultuurbezit / Cultural Heritage Inspectorate
Prinsessegracht 31, 2514 AP Den Haag.
Tel. (31 70) 302 8120. Fax (31 70) 365 1914.
Email insp@cultinsp.minocw.nl
Nederlands
Kunstbezit collection
Origins Unknown
Prins Willem Alexanderhof 20
NL-2595 DE Den Haag
Tel. (31 70) 3028120 Fax (31 70) 3651914
Email herkomstgezocht@cultuurbezit.nl
http://www.originsunknown.org/
http://www.herkomstgezocht.nl/
Suisse
Commission indépendante
d'Experts - Suisse - Seconde Guerre mondiale
Esther Tisa, Postfach 259, CH-3000 Bern 6.
Tel. 31 325 1195. Fax 31 325 1238
Email Esther.Tisa@uek.admin.ch
Office fédéral de la culture, Bureau de l'art spolié
Hallwylstrasse 15, CH-3003 Bern.
Tel. (41 31) 322 0325. Fax (41 31) 322 9273.
United Kingdom
Spoliation Advisory Panel
c/o Department for Culture, Media and Sport
204 Cockspur Street, London, England SW1Y 5DH.
Tel. (44 20) 7211 6200.
http://www.culture.gov.uk
Shauna Isaac, Content director
Central Registry of Information on Looted Cultural Property 1933-1945
76 Gloucester Place London, England W1U 6HJ.
Tel. (44 20) 7487 3401. Fax: +44 (0)20 7487 4211.
Email shaunaisaac@lootedart.com
United States of America
Association of Art Museum
Directors
41 East 65th Street New York, NY, 10021
Tel. (1 212) 249 4423. Fax (1 212) 535 5039.
Email aamd@amn.org
http://www.aamd.org/documents.shtml
United States Holocaust Memorial
Museum
100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW, Washington, DC 20024-2150.
Tel. (1 202) 479 9732. Fax (1 202) 488 2693.
Email wfisher@ushmm.org
http://www.ushmm.org/assets/
Holocaust Claims Processing Office of the New York State Banking Department
2 Rector Street, New York, NY 10006.
Tel. (1 212) 618 6983. Fax (1 212) 618 6908
Email claimsques@banking.state.ny.us
http://www.claims.state.ny.us
The Project for the Documentation of Wartime Cultural Losses (Cultural Property
Research Foundation)
CPRF is a non-profit organisation based in New York. The Project "has been formed
to gather and make available information relating to works of art, archives,
and other types of cultural property displaced as a consequence of war. The
main focus of the research is the period of World War II although other conflicts
are also considered relevant".
http://docproj.loyola.edu/
Commission for Art Recovery.
World Jewish Congress
767 Fifth Avenue, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10153.
Email car@rslmgmt.com
http://www.comartrecovery.org/
State Department Information. Holocaust issues
http://www.state.gov/
US National Archives and Records Administration
Holocaust-Era Assets: Records and Research at the NARA
http://www.nara.gov/research/assets/index.html
Conference on Jewish
Material Claims against Germany (1951)
The Claims Conference has had several primary missions, in particularly to recover
unclaimed Jewish property.
http://www.claimscon.org
International Scientific
Conference on Restitution of Cultural Values: the Problems of Return and Joint
Use (Legal, Scientific and Moral Aspects), Minsk, Belarus, (19-20 June 1997).
This conference was attended by delegates from seven countries (Belarus, the
Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, Russia, Ukraine and the United Kingdom). It
focused mainly on the issue of looting as it related to Russia and the other
CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries. The conference produced
a final declaration calling on the CIS countries in particular to strengthen
legislation and create the requisite institutions to deal with this question.
Washington Conference
on Holocaust-Era Assets (30 November-3 December 1998)
International Conference on the spoliation of Jewish property during World War
II. Eleven "Principles With Respect to Nazi-Confiscated Art" have been adopted.
The proceedings are available on:
http://www.state.gov/www/regions/eur/981203_heac_art_princ.html
Or order from: U.S. Government Printing Office (Prix : US$61.00).
Tel. (1 202) 512 1800. Fax (1 202) 512 2250)/
Vilnius International
Forum on Holocaust Era Looted Cultural Assets (3-5 October 2000)
Proceedings are available for consultation on Internet:
http://www.vilniusforum.lt
For more information, contact: International Commission for the Evaluation of
the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes in Lithuania
Gedemino ave. 11, Vilnius 2039, Lithuania.
Tel. (370 2) 66 38 04. Fax (370 2) 66 38 05.
Email komisija@lrvk.lt
The Art Newspaper
http://www.theartnewspaper.com/looted/lootedart.asp
The Museum Security Network
Mailing List has created a page dedicated to World War II and the looted art
problem.
http://www.museum-security.org/
The Getty Research Library
holds documents relevant to spoliation of art during World War II. It has put
its resources on Nazi-era assets on the Web:
http://www.getty.edu/gri/research/holo.htm
The Art Institute of Chicago's
Ryerson Library has compiled a bibliography and list of websites related to
the search and recovery of lost European works of art.
http://www.artic.edu/aic/libraries/provenance.html
The University of Chicago
Library presents a bibliography on: Law-Related Resources on Nazi Gold and
Other Holocaust Assets, Swiss Banks during World War II, and Dormant Accounts.
http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/~llou/nazigold.html
The Nazi-Era Provenance
Internet Portal Project
The Nazi-Era Provenance Internet Portal is currently working with U.S. museums
to enter information about objects in their collections into the Portal database.
We will open our public search interface in summer 2003.
http://www.nepip.org/
An abridged version has been published in: ICOM News, Vol. 54, No. 4, 2001. © ICOM
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