How should libraries deal with books suspected of having been looted from victims of Nazi persecution? This question has been addressed by Bielefeld University Library, which has developed a new procedure. Suspect books are recorded, labelled and systematised. A total of 120 titles have now been transferred to the Lost Art Database of the German Lost Art Foundation, making them publicly accessible and searchable.
Although Bielefeld University was founded as a reform university after the Nazi era, its library holdings nevertheless include books suspected of constituting Nazi-looted property — for example, through the antiquarian purchase of entire collections. In 2023, a history student in Bielefeld happened upon a library book containing indications that it may have been unlawfully taken from its original owners during the National Socialist period. In response, Bielefeld University Library developed a workflow to record titles suspected of representing cultural property losses.
Librarians manually recorded more than 400 suspect titles together with their provenance features — that is, characteristics indicating the origin of the books, such as stamps or handwritten annotations. The result: of the approximately 400 books recorded, around 360 works are likely to constitute cultural property losses, of which about 120 titles are suspected to be Nazi-looted property.
In the digital library catalogue, affected works are marked with the additional note “Suspected Nazi-looted property” and listed under the newly created classification “Suspected cultural property loss”. This enables the works to be located within the classification system via their new secondary entry. The books are then returned to their original shelf location, bearing the additional note and a loan restriction.
The University Library has now transferred 120 titles suspected of being Nazi-looted property to the Lost Art Database, which is funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. The database systematically records numerous objects — such as books, paintings and sculptures — that are suspected cultural property losses in the Nazi context. Suspect items taken from victims of Nazi persecution are thus made transparently accessible and searchable in Lost Art — including the suspected Nazi cases held by Bielefeld University Library.
In recognition of this commitment and sense of responsibility, the Coordination Office for Provenance Research in North Rhine-Westphalia (KPF.NRW) — which coordinates provenance research across the state in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and Science of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Regional Associations of Rhineland and Westphalia-Lippe — has commended Bielefeld University Library for its exemplary and transparent handling of suspect books, describing it as a pioneer in North Rhine-Westphalia. Nevertheless, more than 80 years after the end of the Nazi era, it remains a challenge to continue investigating and resolving the cases now listed.
Further information
- On the classification “Suspected cultural property loss (Nazi-looted property, SBZ/GDR, colonial contexts, wartime losses)” in the catalogue of Bielefeld University Library
Transparency notice: This translation was created with machine assistance and subsequently edited.
