Nazi Art Looting in the Records of the Vermögensverwertungsstelle Berlin
With another FührervorbehaltThe „Sonderauftrag Linz“ (Special Commission Linz) Adolf Hitler’s project to collect art for a planned “Führermuseum” (Museum for the Führer) in Linz. More (Führer’s prerogative), Adolf Hitler secures privileged access to looted art collections throughout the German Reich.
The Vermögensverwertungsstelle (Asset Liquidation Office) at the OFP Berlin is established. It takes over the cases and staff of the Ausbürgerungsabteilung (Denaturalisation Department) at the Finanzamt Moabit‑West (Moabit-West Tax Office).
At the Wannsee Conference, representatives of the Reich government and the Nazi Party coordinate the organisation of the murder of Jewish people within the Nazi sphere of power.
Responsibility for the plundering of political opponents – what the National Socialists called “Reichsfeinde” (enemies of the Reich) – within Germany is transferred to the Reich financial administration. Until then, the Gestapo in the federal states had been responsible.
The Hauptwirtschaftsamt (Main Economic Office) of the city of Berlin takes over the household furnishings of deported Berlin Jews from the Vermögensverwertungsstelle. The items are distributed to the Berlin population.
The German Wehrmacht invades the Soviet Union. The campaign deliberately targets the civilian population. Immediately following the military operations, “Einsatzgruppen” of the German police, supported by the Wehrmacht, murder more than half a million Jewish people, as well as Sinti and Roma, prisoners of war, and communist party officials.
A decree of the Reichsfinanzministeriums (Reich Ministry of Finance) allows the household goods of Jewish refugees to be auctioned even without completed denaturalisation.
Jewish people in the German Reich aged six and above must wear the “Judenstern” (yellow star) in public.
Mass deportations of Jewish people from Germany begin. The first deportation train leaves Berlin on 18 October. Shortly afterwards, all Jewish people in Germany are forbidden to emigrate.
The household furnishings left behind by those deported on the first transport are publicly auctioned inside the apartments by court bailiffs. Afterwards, retailers take over the sale of the remaining items.
The Reichsfinanzministerium assigns the local Oberfinanzpräsident (Senior Finance President) responsibility for organising and carrying out the plundering of the assets left behind by deported Jewish people.
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With the Elfte Verordnung zum Reichsbürgergesetz (Eleventh Ordinance to the Reich Citizenship Law), all Jewish people abroad are stripped of their German citizenship. Their property becomes the immediate property of the Reich. This applies both to refugees and to deported individuals.
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Circular from the Reich Association of Jews in Germany regarding the circular “Restrictions on the Disposal of Jewish Movable Property” dated 27 November 1941. Berlin State Archives, A Rep. 093-03 No. 54682, fol. 268
Jewish people are forbidden to give away or sell their movable property without official permission.
The Einsatzstab (task force) Reichsleiter Rosenberg is established, led by Nazi party ideologue Alfred Rosenberg. Initially tasked with registering “Jewish cultural property”, it quickly develops into a central institution for the systematic looting of art, cultural objects, and household furnishings in the territories occupied by Germany.
The “Sonderauftrag Linz” (Special Commission Linz) is established to assemble artworks for the planned “Führermuseum” in Linz. Staff members draw preferentially on looted art and cultural property.
The German Wehrmacht invades Poland. During the campaign, the Germans immediately begin murdering and persecuting Polish elites, people with disabilities, and Polish Jews.
An export ban for “national wertvolle Kunstwerke” (nationally valuable artworks) is issued to prevent people fleeing persecution from taking valuable artworks abroad.
The Verordnung über die Anmeldung des Vermögens von Juden (Ordinance on the Registration of Jewish Property) obliges Jewish individuals to submit a detailed declaration of their assets to their local tax office.
Adolf Hitler secures privileged access to confiscated art collections in Austria, creating the basis for the collection intended for the planned “Führermuseum”.
Beginning 1 January 1939, Jewish Germans who do not have a first name that is “anerkannt jüdisch” (recognised as Jewish) are required to additionally use the compulsory names Israel or Sara. This is intended to make Jewish people easier to identify.
The National Socialists initiate a nationwide anti‑Jewish pogrom. Antisemites destroy and loot shops, homes, and synagogues and physically attack Jewish people.
Under the Verordnung zur Ausschaltung der Juden aus dem deutschen Wirtschaftsleben (Decree on the Exclusion of Jews from German Economic Life), issued in the wake of the November pogroms, Jewish people were forced to sell their businesses, mostly at below market value. They were also required to pay the "Judenvermögensabgabe" (Jewish Property Levy) to cover the damage caused by the pogroms perpetrated by the anti-Semitic mob.
As part of the “Entartete Kunst” (degenerate art) confiscation campaign, the National Socialists remove around 20,000 works of modern art from one hundred German museums. The exhibition Entartete Kunst opens on 19 July 1937 in Munich and publicly defames numerous modern artists and their works.
Anyone who cannot provide proof of their ‘Aryan’ ancestry from this point on is excluded from the chambers of the Reich Chamber of Culture. By this time at the latest, Jewish individuals persecuted under National Socialism can no longer work in the cultural sector.
The “Nürnberger Gesetze” (Nuremberg Laws) come into force. The regulations define who is considered Jewish under the legislation. Jewish Germans now have a special, inferior civic status.
Adolf Hitler is appointed Reich chancellor. The National Socialists immediately begin transforming the state into an authoritarian regime. Political opponents and Jewish people are arrested and attacked.
The Nazi Party organises a nationwide boycott of shops owned by Jewish proprietors. Party members position themselves in front of the shops and harass or attack owners and customers.
With the Gesetz zur Wiederherstellung des Berufsbeamtentums (Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service), Jewish civil servants are removed from public service.
The Gesetz über die Einziehung kommunistischen Vermögens (Law on the Confiscation of Communist Property) allows the Nazi state to seize the assets of communist organisations and their members.
The Gesetz über die Einziehung volks- und staatsfeindlichen Vermögens (Law on the Confiscation of Assets Hostile to People and State) and the Gesetz über den Widerruf von Einbürgerungen und die Aberkennung der deutschen Staatsangehörigkeit (Law on the Revocation of Naturalisations and the Deprivation of German Citizenship) are passed on the same day
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The Finanzamt Moabit-West (Moabit‑West Tax Office) becomes responsible nationwide for the “Verwertung” (liquidation) of forfeited assets belonging to those persecuted through denaturalisation.
The first denaturalisation list is published in the Reichsanzeiger. Among those denaturalised are primarily writers and political functionaries. Their property is confiscated.
The Reich Chamber of Culture is founded. It becomes the umbrella organisation for all those working in the cultural sector and is divided into seven individual chambers (e.g. the Reich Chamber of Fine Arts). Membership is compulsory. Jewish artists, art dealers, and experts are gradually excluded. Exclusion from the chamber effectively amounts to a professional ban.
