Scholarly context research and systematic search for Masonic literature confiscated by the Nazis at Rostock University Library in response to a restitution request on the part of the United Grand Lodges of Germany

The forced dissolution of lodges in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania has not yet been subjected to scholarly analysis. The basis for the reappraisal and discovery of items of cultural property seized as a result of Nazi persecution, in this case in the area of German Masonic lodges is to be provided by research into the structures and the individuals involved during the period of the forced dissolution of the Masonic lodges between 1933 and 1936. This basic research focused on the lodges in the Mecklenburg area. The area of Western Pomerania was not included in the research due to the fact that it is historically unrelated to Mecklenburg. The initial questions for this part of the project were:

1. Where were lodges located in Mecklenburg?

2. Under what circumstances and at what time did the dissolution of the lodges take place?

3. Were assaults or other acts of violence documented in connection with the dissolutions?

4. Are there any distinguishing features in connection with the dissolutions in Mecklenburg as compared to other German federal states and if so, what were they?

5. What happened to the inventories after the lodges were dissolved and which institutions or individuals were involved?

The project in figures

Research outcomes from the final phase of the long-term project at Rostock University Library, which ended in July 2017, indicated that consignments of confiscated Masonic literature were inventoried as gifts between 1934 and 1936 and also in 1941. A total of around 6,500 titles were reviewed in relation to the periods in question, with a total of 29 works being identified as Masonic literature seized as a result of Nazi persecution.

Transparency

At the invitation of the regional museum association Museumsverband in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern e.V., a lecture on provenance research at the Rostock University Library entitled "Zweifelhafte Geschenke. NS-Raubgut an der Universitätsbibliothek Rostock" [Dubious Gifts. Nazi Looted Books at the Rostock University Library] was given on 11 March 2018 as part of the spring conference in Wismar on the theme Provenienzforschung. Zukunft kommt von Herkunft [Provenance research. The future is rooted in the past]. The plan is to publish the text of the lecture as part of the conference proceedings. The results of the extensive archive research carried out in connection with the project will be compiled and published in a scholarly article.

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