ࡱ > @ C ? )- bjbj A: % = X @ 8 ! $ E 8 Y Y " { v x x x x x x $ / b v v v ;M b 0 3 3 3 | 3 : Lucille A. Roussin, FIT/SUNY
Jewish Cultural Reconstruction and the Distribution of Looted Judaica
By the end of World War II little remained of the once prosperous German Jewish community. Most of the synagogues lay in ruins, and their precious Torah Scrolls and ceremonial objects, and those of Jewish families, had been stolen. Much of this property had to be classified as ownerless because the rightful owners and all their kin had been murdered by the Nazis. Under normal circumstances such heirless property escheats to the state, but it was unthinkable that heir Jewish property should escheat to the very state that had tried to annihilate the Jews.
This situation had already been contemplated before the end of the war and several Jewish commissions had been formed to deal with the issue and from these organizations the Jewish Restitution Successor Organization was formed. The JRSO was formally recognized in the U.S. zone of occupation, but not officially until 1948. Under Article 13 of Military Government Law 59, Designation of Successor Organizations, which stated that the organization had to be representative of the entire group or class which it is to be authorized to represent. Although there is no specific reference to the Jews, it was clear through correspondence between the Jewish organizations and the American authorities that the regulation referred to the Jewish people as a whole.
The Jewish Cultural Reconstruction, Inc. (JCR, Inc.) was established in 1947 and charged with the mission of recovering Jewish property of cultural value. In a Memorandum of Agreement signed on February 15, 1949 by the authorized representative of the U.S. Military Governor and Joshua Starr for the JCR, Inc. and Benjamin B. Ferencz as the authorized representative of the Jewish Reconstruction Successor Organization (JRSO). The properties transferred to the JCR were primarily Jewish books, Torah scrolls and Jewish ritual objects that could not be restituted under the authority of Military Government Law 59, which provided for the restitution of property to identifiable owners. The Office of Military Government for Germany, United States (OMGUS) defined such unidentifiable property as property for which no claims have been received. . . . and no identification of prior ownership can be reasonably established. The Agreement specified that the JCR would act as Trustee for the Jewish people, distributing it to such public or quasi-public religious, cultural or educational institutions as it sees fit to be used in the interest of perpetuating Jewish art and culture. In an Appendix to the memorandum of Agreement it is specifically stated that JCR, Inc. would file an annual report and would deliver any property identified as restitutable to the Military Authorities.
But how was this property to be identified? In 1946 the Commission on European Jewish Cultural Reconstruction issued a Tentative List of Jewish Cultural Treasures in Axis-Occupied Countries, which listed cultural treasures known to have existed before World War II. The extensive list includes only movable objects from known collections and arranged by country. As helpful in identifying known collections as it was, the Commission itself stated that the lack of readily available, reliable data concerning Jewish cultural treasures in European countries before they were overrun by the Nazis has long been felt as a serious obstacle to intelligent action.
Jewish cultural property was sent to the Offenbach Archival Depot. There were over one thousand unclaimed Torah scrolls and over 17,000 Jewish ritual objects, most of them silver. However, of the approximately 9,000 objects nearly 60% were beyond repair and were sent to Sheffield, England for melting down. The JCR Advisory Committee classified the ritual objects as art objects suitable for museums and other ceremonial objects that should be available for presentation to synagogues. Dr. Mordechai Narkiss, director of the Bezalel Museum in Jerusalem, classified the objects and noted that there were 133 cases of museum quality objects and 54 cases of synagogue materials. Of these, 72 cases of museum materials and 11 cases of synagogue materials were shipped to New York. In all, 40% of the objects went to Israel, 40% to the U.S. and other countries in the Western Hemisphere and 20% to other countries.
But not all German Jewish communities had been totally annihilated and the distribution of Jewish cultural objects outside of Europe provoked resentment and criticism from the remaining Jewish communities. In 1950 the JRSO filed a claim for some 450 ceremonial objects that had belonged to the Frankfurt Jewish Museum and later that year some members of the Frankfurt Jewish community gained access to the boxes in which the objects were stored and took some for themselves and returned others to the Frankfurt Municipality. Some months later the JCR did return some of the objects to the Frankfurt Museum. However, there also surviving Jewish communities in Munich, Augsburg, Nuremberg, Regensburg, Wrtzburg and Frth in Bavaria, and Karlsruhe, Mannheim and Heidelberg in Baden.
An exhibition at the Vienna Jewish Museum in 1995, Beschlagnahmt. Die Sammlung des Wiener Jdischen Museums nach 1938 (Seized. The Collection of the Vienna Jewish Museum) reunited Jewish ceremonial objects, photographs and other items from the Museum that had been seized immediately after the Anschluss and scattered to other institutions as historical artifacts of the Jews. Many of the objects reunited and exhibited had been found only between 1992 and 1995.
Photographs of many silver Jewish ritual objects, including objects that were certainly privately owned, as well as synagogue and museum properties, are to be found in a large album in the Ardelia Hall Collection at the National Archives College Park. Publication of these objects, or even an illustrated database placed on the Internet, might result in identification and restitution of some of these objects. Prototypes for such a searchable database are on the Israel Museum web site and on the Judaica section of the Central Registry of Information on Looted Cultural Property, sponsored by the Commission for Looted Art in Europe which acts as a representative for the European Council of Jewish Communities and the Conference of European Rabbis.
Torah Breastplate
In 2001 I was privileged to be the attorney who negotiated the first restitution of a valuable Torah Breastplate to the American heirs of the family that had owned it for almost a century. Although the provenance was certain the piece was published in 1928 in Theodor Harburger's monumental work, Die Inventarisation judischer Kunst und Kulturdenkmaler in Bayern it took a year of negotiating with the municipal government of Frth before the breastplate was restituted to the family.
Rimmon
Just last year I was able to restitute this 18th Rimon to the heirs of Ernst Levite, from whose house in Monchsroth it was stolen on Kristallnacht. This piece, too, was illustrated in Harburgers monumental work
Theodor Harburger's monumental work, Die Inventarisation judischer Kunst und Kulturdenkmaler in Bayern (1928, republished 1998), has not been used efficiently in doing provenance research on objects of Judaica, nor have the online resources. Both the Council of American Jewish Museums and the European Council of Jewish Museums have endorsed the principle of provenance research and restitution. Further research may reveal that Jewish ceremonial objects currently in museums or private collections around the world were stolen from German congregations that still exist or have been revived and should be returned to them. As archives are opened, provenance research is conducted and objects are posted on the Internet many more Jewish ceremonial objects may finally go home.
National Archives College Park (NACP) RG 260, Ardelia Hall Collection, Box 66 (390 45 18 2-5).
Plunder and Restitution at SR-188.
NACP, RG 260, Ardelia Hall Collection, Box 66 (390 45 18 2-5).
It is interesting to note that the cost of shipping from the location of the property to the restitutee was to be borne by the restitutee. Id.
Research Staff of the Commission on European Jewish Cultural Reconstruction, Tentative List of Jewish Cultural Treasures in Axis-Occupied Countries (1946), available at HYPERLINK "http://www.lootedart.com/commonFiles/template"http://www.lootedart.com/commonFiles/template (hereinafter Tentative List of Jewish Cultural Treasures). See also, Plunder and Restitution: The U.S. and Holocaust Victims Assets, Findings and Recommendations of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the U.S. and Staff Report (Dec. 2000) at SR-187 (hereinafter Plunder and Restitution.)
Tentative List of Jewish Cultural Treasures at 8.
Plunder and Restitution at SR-191.
Plunder and Restitution at SR-190.
Id. at SR-190-191.
Id.at 191 -192.
Ayaka Takei, The Gemeinde Problem: The Jewish Restitution Successor Organization and the Postwar Jewish Communities in Germany, 1947-1954, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Vol. 16/2 (2002), 266-288; at 271.
Bernhard Purin, Beschlagnahmt. Die Sammlung des Wiener Jdischen Museums nack 1938 (Vienna Jewish Museum, 1995).
NACP RG 260, Ardelia Hall Collection, Box 106.
Available at http://www.lootedartcommission.com/.
PAGE
PAGE 4
d e h
9 w
F G ; < @ A
` , C D E j R X ĺĺĺĺĤĺĤĺh7 h:v hk j hAy 0J UhAy j h 0J Uh hj j hd5 0J Uhd5 hx h, h hR- hr6 hDU h h@@ hFG h G >* h G >* hNg h G h G 8 e g
E V * ! 0! # ## # ' f' ' ' ]( * * + gd d d ` $d `a$gd G d `gd G X ^ ( T U V ) * Z [ % & q r ! ! ! /! 0! 1! ]" " # ## R# T# # # $ zk h h CJ OJ QJ ^J h h CJ H*OJ QJ ^J h >*CJ OJ QJ ^J hd5 >*CJ OJ QJ ^J hd5 CJ OJ QJ ^J h CJ OJ QJ ^J hd5 >* hj >*h$ h j hd5 0J Uhd5 hk j hn 0J Uhn j h:v 0J Uh7 h ( $ ^$ $ i& j& k& & & & & & ' ' ' e' f' g' ' ' ' ' ' ' Y( \( ]( ^( ( ( ) ) B) C) p) q) ) ) ) ) * * * * * * +
+ -+ .+ /+ 0+ 3+ B+ C+ D+ E+ ǺǺǭǭǣ救 h:v j h:v 0J UhAy j hAy 0J U h 6]
h 0J j h U h >*h j h 0J U hd5 6] j hd5 0J Uhj hY hd5 h A9 h h >* 7 + .+ C+ U+ *, , , - - - - - - - - - - - - - %- &- '- (- )- d ` &`#$ E+ H+ T+ U+ V+ + , ), *, +, <, d, e, , , , , , , - - - - - - -
- -
- - - - - - - - - !- "- #- $- %- &- (- )- ǺǶǶ h@ 0J mH nH u
hj 0J
hd5 0J j hj 0J Uj hq Uhq hj hd5 mHsH hd5 >*hd5 j hd5 0J U hn hn hn >*hn j hn 0J U h:v h:v h:v h:v 6 ,? 0
01h:pj <0BP / =!"#$% ^ 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 v v v v v v v v v 6 6 6 6 6 6 > 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 h H 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 2 0 @ P ` p 2 ( 0 @ P ` p 0 @ P ` p 0 @ P ` p 0 @ P ` p 0 @ P ` p 0 @ P ` p 8 X V ~ _HmH nH sH tH D ` D j N o r m a l 1$ 7$ 8$ H$ _HmH sH tH D A` D
D e f a u l t P a r a g r a p h F o n t R i R 0 T a b l e N o r m a l 4
l 4 a ( k (
0 N o L i s t 6 B@ 6 j B o d y T e x t CJ aJ 6 @ 6 j
F o o t n o t e T e x t @ &@ @ j F o o t n o t e R e f e r e n c e H* 6 U@ !6 j H y p e r l i n k >*B*ph 4 @ 24 j F o o t e r
! . )@ A. j P a g e N u m b e r F V QF j F o l l o w e d H y p e r l i n k >*B* ph e@ b j H T M L P r e f o r m a t t e d C 2 (
Px 4 #\'*.25@9 1$7$8$H$ OJ PJ QJ ^J N g qN j H T M L T y p e w r i t e r CJ OJ PJ QJ ^J aJ PK ! [Content_Types].xmlj0Eжr(Iw},-j4 wP-t#bΙ{UTU^hd}㨫)*1P' ^W0)T9<l#$yi} ;~@(Hu* Dנz/0ǰ $ X3aZ,D0j~3߶b~i>3\`?/[G\!-Rk.sԻ..a濭? PK ! ֧ 6 _rels/.relsj0 }Q%v/C/} (h"O
= C?hv=Ʌ%[xp{۵_Pѣ<1H0ORBdJE4b$q_ 6LR7`0̞O,En7Lib/Se е PK ! ky theme/theme/themeManager.xml M
@}w7c(Ebˮ CAǠҟ7՛K
Y,
e.|,H ,lxɴIsQ}#Ր ֵ+!,^$j=GW)E+&
8 PK ! P theme/theme/theme1.xmlYOo6w toc'vuر-Mn iP@I}úama[إ4:l ЯGRX^6؊>$ !)O^rC$y@ /yH*)UDb`}"qۋJחX^)I`nEp)liV[]1M<OP6r=zgbIguSe bORD۫qu gZo~ٺlAplxpT0+[}`j zA V2Fi@qv֬5\|ʜ̭NleXd sjcs7f
W+Ն7` g ȘJj|h(KD-
dXiJ؇(x$( :;˹! I_TS 1?E ??ZBΪmU/ ?~xY'y5g&/ɋ>GMGeD3Vq%'#q$8K )fw 9:ĵ
x}rxwr:\TZaG*y8IjbRc|XŻǿI
u3KGnD 1NIBs
RuK>V.E L+M2#'fi ~V vl{u8z H
* :( W ☕
~JTe\O*tHGHY }KNP*ݾ˦ TѼ9/#A7qZ $*c?qUnwN%Oi4 =3ڗP
1Pm \\9Mؓ2aD];Yt\[x]}Wr|]g-
eW
)6-rC Sj
id DЇAΜIqbJ#x꺃 6k#ASh&ʌt(Q% p%m&]caS l=X\P1Mh9MVdDAaVB[݈fJíP|8 քAV^f
Hn- "d>znNJ ة>b&2vKyϼD:,AGm\nziÙ .uχYC6OMf3or$5N HT[XF64T,ќM0E)`#5XY`פ ;%1U٥m;R>QD DcpU'&LE/pm%]8firS4d 7y\`JnίI R 3U~7+#m qBiDi*L69mY&iHE=(K&N!V.KeLDĕ{D vEꦚdeNƟe(MN9ߜR6&3(a/DUz<{ˊYȳV)9Z[4^n5!J?Q3eBoCM m<.vp IYfZY_p[=al-Y}Nc͙ŋ4vfavl'SA8|*u{-ߟ0%M07% < ҍ PK !
ѐ ' theme/theme/_rels/themeManager.xml.relsM
0wooӺ&݈Э5
6?$Q
,.aic21h:qm@RN;d`o7gK(M&$R(.1r'JЊT8V"AȻHu}|$b{ P8g/ ]QAsم(#L[ PK- ! [Content_Types].xmlPK- ! ֧ 6 + _rels/.relsPK- ! ky theme/theme/themeManager.xmlPK- ! P theme/theme/theme1.xmlPK- !
ѐ ' theme/theme/_rels/themeManager.xml.relsPK ]
F ; @
C T % )%
c Z + @ R ' )% : $ $ $ ' X $ E+ )- + )- ' ! ! ? m X T # A A @ 0 (
B
S ? e$ t$ z$ $ % % % % % % % % % % % % '% *% V h ! ! " " " # # -# 0# B# E# T# \$ t$ $ $ $ % % % % % % % % % % % % % '% *% 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 X ^ U > > Z [ i j k " # C# *$ % % % % % % % % % % % % % % $% *% @ , R- d5 r6 A9 @@ E] j Ay k 7 pA :v q $ DU x n G Y (7 @ d )% @ U n k n o w n G * T i m e s N e w R o m a n 5 S y m b o l 3. * A r i a l ?= * C o u r i e r N e w A B C a m b r i a M a t h " 1 h zFzF c 8 c 8 ! x x 2 HP $P E] 2 ! x x ~ T h e m i s a p p r o p r i a t i o n o f a r t a n d o t h e r a s s e t s p e r p e t r a t e d b y G e r m a n y d u r i n g W o r l d W a r I I c o n t i n u e s t o b e a m a j o r i s s u e o f i n t e r U n k n o w n U s e r L u c i l l e A . R o u s s i n Oh +'0 , D P \ l
The misappropriation of art and other assets perpetrated by Germany during World War II continues to be a major issue of inter Unknown User Normal Lucille A. Roussin 2 Microsoft Office Word @ G @ dxM@ dxM c ՜. +,D ՜. +, | h p
[ DellComputerCorporation 8 The misappropriation of art and other assets perpetrated by Germany during World War II continues to be a major issue of inter Title 8 @ _PID_HLINKS A O . h t t p : / / w w w . l o o t e d a r t . c o m / c o m m o n F i l e s / t e m p l a t e ?
! " # $ % & ' ( ) * + , - . 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 8 9 : ; < = > A B E R o o t E n t r y F pMD 1 T a b l e 3 W o r d D o c u m e n t A: S u m m a r y I n f o r m a t i o n ( / D o c u m e n t S u m m a r y I n f o r m a t i o n 8 7 M s o D a t a S t o r e TM;M 1 E S M J U K B Z Q T Q = = 2 TM;M I t e m
P r o p e r t i e s U C o m p O b j
y
F' Microsoft Office Word 97-2003 Document
MSWordDoc Word.Document.8 9q