System Category: Removal

“High-quality cultural assets or valuable art treasures (especially valuable art collections)”, as stated in the official instructions, were initially excluded from auctions. The Reichsfinanzminister (Reich Minister of Finance) had to be consulted when deciding on the fate of art treasures and valuable art collections. These cultural assets, which were classified as valuable, usually went directly to state institutions such as the “Sonderauftrag LinzThe „Sonderauftrag Linz“ (Special Commission Linz) Adolf Hitler’s project to collect art for a planned “Führermuseum” (Museum for the Führer) in Linz. More” or museums.

“Antique furniture, genuine carpets, paintings by recognised masters, valuable porcelain” were regularly transferred by the Nazi financial administration to the Hans W. Lange auction house. Auctioneer Hans Lange therefore played a special role in the “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” of valuable art objects on behalf of the Vermögensverwertungsstelle.

The information in the files of the Vermögensverwertungsstelle is particularly detailed when the objects were handed over to Lange’s auction house or to state institutions. In these cases, there are usually parallel records of the cultural assets in addition to the information in the Nazi financial administration’s documents, such as the information in Lange’s auction catalogues, which contain important information for provenance researchProvenance research (from Latin provenire: to come from) investigates the origin of objects, their changes of ownership, and the paths they have taken.. This allows researchers to find the titles of artworks, the names of the artists, dimensions and, in some cases, illustrations of the works.

From 1942 onwards, libraries containing more than 500 volumes found in the homes of deportees or in their belongings had to be reported to the expert Max Niederlechner. Niederlechner assessed them separately and determined how the books were to be utilised.

Selected volumes were sold directly to specialist booksellers, distributed via the Reichstauschstelle (Reich Exchange Office), or sent to the Zentralbibliothek of the Reichsicherheitshauptamtes. The Army’s Dolmetscher-Lehr-Abteilung (Interpreter Training Department) was designated as the buyer of foreign-language literature and language books.

In rare cases, Niederlechner specified the exact titles and authors of the books in his reports. In most cases, he valued the books as a collection or grouped them according to subject matter.

Objects identified by experts as “jüdisches Kulturgut”, including works of art and books, were not allowed to be “verwertet” at public auctions. Some of these cultural assets ended up with other Nazi authorities, such as the office of Reichsleiter Rosenberg or the Central Library of the Reichsicherheitshauptamtes (Reich Security Main Office), which specifically collected “jüdisches Kulturgut”. Less valuable objects were to be destroyed. Nevertheless, the files of the Vermögensverwertungsstelle contain isolated instances of Judaica in the documents of public auctions. This suggests that the objects were not identified as such by the Nazi officials.

The information on “jüdisches Kulturgut” in the files of the Vermögensverwertungsstelle is limited to the information deemed most necessary from the perspective of the Nazi financial administration.

“Entartete Kunst” (degenerate art) was not allowed to enter public institutions or the free art market. In the files of the Vermögensverwertungsstelle, the researchers were able to trace two different procedures used by the Vermögensverwertungsstelle to deal with these objects.

Either the works of art were destroyed and only the frames of the paintings were sold at collective auctions. Or the Nazi financial administration made them available free of charge to other government agencies or NSDAP institutions such as the Propagandaministerium (Propaganda Ministry) or Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (Rosenberg Task Force).

In both cases, the description of the objects was limited to a few key points. The Nazi regime had no interest in accurately documenting “entartete Kunst”.

Art and cultural assets that the experts classified as particularly valuable or (for various reasons) unsaleable were removed from the remaining possessions and “verwertet” (meaning in this case: utilised) in a special way.

In addition to “Hochwertigem Kulturgut oder wertvollen Kunstschätzen” (high-quality cultural assets or valuable art treasures) and extensive libraries, this also included works of art classified as “entartet” (degenerate) and “jüdisches Kulturgut” (Jewish cultural assets). Service regulations issued by the Reichsfinanzministeriums (Reich Ministry of Finance) and the Oberfinanzpräsident Berlin-Brandenburg (Senior Finance President) governed the further handling of these art and cultural assets.