Examination of book holdings acquired from 1933 to 1950 by the LBZ/Pfälzische Landesbibliothek Speyer

The project on Nazi-confiscated cultural property conducted by the Landesbibliothekszentrum Rheinland-Pfalz/Pfälzische Landesbibliothek Speyer (hereinafter: LBZ/PLB) lasted for a total of three years (October 1, 2012–September 30, 2015) and was carried out in two phases. The first project phase (October 1, 2012–September 30, 2013) focused on investigating whether any of the purchases and donations acquired by PLB Speyer from 1933 to 1950 were Nazi looted art. During this project phase, the donations received were thoroughly examined (approx. 21,500 volumes); out of the purchased objects, the antiquarian acquisitions were examined (approx. 12,000 volumes). Suspicious and unclear finds were entered into an Access database which, now that both project phases have been completed, contains nearly 6,700 entries with information on possible existing provenance features and acquisition sources. Of these entries, approx. 6,600 come from the holdings of the LBZ/PLB and approx. 100 from the library of the Jewish community in Speyer. These were compiled for settlement purposes.

As a result of the first project phase, around 1,000 books were identified which come from Jewish citizens of Speyer. They were deported to Gurs (France) in October 1940 and their property confiscated by the authorities. A problem presented itself in that these came into the PLB together with another 1,500 books that probably originate from the so-called “Rosenberg donations”, but some of them contain provenance markings indicating that they once belonged to Jewish citizens

of Speyer. The books that are looted Jewish property and also the assumed Rosenberg donations come from a gift provided by the city of Speyer in summer 1941 and, to a lesser extent, from the NSDAP Speyer district leadership in the same period. A detailed investigation of these objects was not possible in the first project phase, and neither was a restitution of the identified looted books. For these reasons, an application was made to extend the project for two years. The aim of the second phase was to examine the approx. 2,500 books that had been handed over to the Pfälzische Landesbibliothek in 1941 as donations from the city of Speyer (2,200 volumes) and from the NSDAP Speyer district leadership (270 volumes). Around 1,000 of these books are definitely the property of Speyer’s Jewish citizens who were deported in October 1940. The suspicion of whether the remaining 1,500 books were looted property could be neither refuted nor confirmed. A qualitative and quantitative examination of the books and provenance markings as well as a reappraisal of the organization and execution of the donation campaigns after 1939 support the presumption, however, that the majority of the books handed over by the city of Speyer are Nazi-confiscated property, although this

estimate cannot be definitively proven due to a lack of provenance information. The donations from the NSDAP Speyer district leadership, on the other hand, are the remnants of the Rosenberg donations, as the district leadership was responsible for implementing the campaign—whereas the city of Speyer was actively involved in the “utilization” of Jewish-owned property after the deportation in 1940.

In addition, during the course of the project an examination of the utilization of movable assets owned by Jewish citizens of Speyer was conducted through archival research in order to clarify the circumstances of their transfer to the PLB. The investigations provided no evidence that the PLB had actively sought Jewish looted property. Furthermore, intensive efforts were made to trace the original owners or their heirs in order to return the looted books that had been found. The discoveries of looted property and suspicious objects were also documented in the Lost Art Database (www.lostart.de).

And finally, the National Socialist history of the PLB was analyzed for the first time using the abundant source material available in the library. This was to round out the results of the project and evaluate them as effectively as possible.

The findings of the project were made available to the public in an exhibition at the LBZ/PLB (July 23, 2015–September 5, 2015) and in a publication accompanying the exhibition. This was dedicated to presenting the history of the institution, the results of the search for looted property and the problem areas associated with the project.

(c) Landesbibliothekszentrum Rheinland-Pfalz