System Category: Remaining

Art and cultural assets that were not considered particularly valuable or unsaleable went not only to auction but also to direct salesIn the context of the “Verwertung” (liquidation) of assets looted during the Nazi era: sale of seized or confiscated items directly to buyers outside of a public auction. More as a form of “Verwertung“Verwertung” (liquidation) refers to all measures taken by the Reich financial administration to transfer stolen assets to the state treasury and, if necessary, convert material goods into cash. More”.

They ended up with second-hand and individual goods dealers along with other household goods. These dealers purchased a family’s household goods in bulk from the asset liquidation office and resold the items to private individuals. In most cases, detailed information about the individual objects is lacking when they are liquidated in this way.

Some individual art and cultural objects found private buyers who purchased the items directly from the financial administration. In these cases, too, the objects are usually only sparsely documented.

If the National Socialists considered the items to be ordinary household goods, the Vermögensverwertungsstelle auctioned them off in its own auction house on Kottbusser Ufer. However, the items auctioned here also repeatedly included art and cultural assets, which were described in brief.

If neither the senior bailiffs nor the experts designated looted art and cultural assets for removal, the Nazi financial administration classified them as ordinary household goods. As a result, they ended up at auctions, were sold collectively to second-hand and individual goods dealers, or found individual interested buyers (“direct sales”).