Glossary
This glossary serves as a guide and supplements the historical accounts.
A
affidavit
Legally binding statement regarding a matter of fact. Making a false statement in an affidavit can have legal consequences.
Allied Powers
The alliance formed to wage military action against National Socialist Germany and its allies. The three principal powers of the anti‑Hitler coalition were Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union, but the alliance also included other important countries such as the Republic of China.
Alterstransport
The Berlin Gestapo used the term “Alterstransporte” (transports of elderly people) for all deportation transports to the ->Theresienstadt ghetto, regardless of the age of the deported persons.
Arisierung
(Aryanisation/Aryanised) The term “Arisierung” refers to the systematic expropriation of Jewish people, often also of their companies or businesses, and the transfer of monetary assets and objects to non‑Jewish Germans or to the state. This National Socialist term is based on the racist Nazi ideology that described non‑Jewish Germans as “Arier” (Aryans).
Asoziale
In National Socialist terminology, the term “Asoziale” (asocial individuals) was used to describe social outcasts and minorities who were deliberately excluded from society and persecuted, including people labelled at the time as “homeless,” “beggars,” and “vagrants,” as well as large families from poorer social backgrounds, people with alcoholism, “prostitutes” and “pimps,” and migrant workers. For a long time, those affected were not recognised as victims of the National Socialist regime and, in some cases, were even persecuted by German authorities after 1945.
auction catalogue
Directory containing detailed information on objects or lots offered at an auction. Auction catalogues are usually published as bound booklets or books and issued by the auction house. Historical auction catalogues are an important source for -> provenance research.
Auschwitz
Auschwitz is the name of the largest and best‑known National Socialist concentration and extermination camp. Extermination camps were specific concentration camps established to carry out mass murder. In Auschwitz, a separate camp section was created in 1941 with the sole purpose of killing as many people as possible in a short time. Between 1941 and 1945, the SS and their auxiliaries murdered over one million Jewish people, Sinti and Roma, as well as Soviet prisoners of war. Today, the name Auschwitz is also used as a synonym for the planned, industrialised murder of people persecuted by the Germans, which is also referred to as the Holocaust or Shoah.
Ausgleichsstelle (Compensation Office)
Authority established within the Reichs-Rechtsanwaltskammer (Reich Chamber of Lawyers) to regulate economic and professional matters among lawyers, in particular the redistribution of clients and income in the course of excluding Jewish lawyers during the National Socialist period.
B
Berufsverbrecher
During the National Socialist period, the term “Berufsverbrecher” (professional criminals) was used to refer to people who had committed repeated offences. They were regarded as “Volksschädlinge” (enemy of the people) and were persecuted by the Nazi authorities, imprisoned in concentration camps, and murdered.
Bewegliches Vermögen
In legal terminology, this refers to all movable objects belonging to an estate. The Reich financial administration also used the term to denote, in addition to household furnishings, items including production machinery, automobiles, valuables, jewellery, and artworks.
Bombengeschädigte
In National Socialist terminology, the term “Bombengeschädigte” (bomb victims) or “Fliegergeschädigte” (air raid victims) referred to people whose flats, houses, or property had been destroyed or damaged by Allied air raids. They had preferential access to looted household furnishings.
Bundesentschädigungsgesetz (BEG)
(German Federal Compensation Act) The law came into force on 1 October 1953. It enabled victims of National Socialist persecution, as well as their relatives and descendants, to claim compensation for damage to life, health, physical integrity, liberty, professional advancement, and property. Not all groups of people who were persecuted benefited from the BEG. Homosexuals, people whom the National Socialist authorities labelled as -> “Asoziale”, persons subjected to forced sterilisation, and those convicted of “Wehrkraftzersetzung” (undermining military morale) were excluded from the law. Eligible claimants also generally had to wait a long time for “Entschädigung” (compensation).
C
Central Collecting Point (CCP)
Collection points set up by the US armed forces after 1945 in the western ->occupation zones, where works of art from discovered depots containing looted art were registered, documented, and preserved. The most important CCP was in Munich.
Commission for Looted Art in Europe (CLAE)
An international organisation founded in 1999 that campaigns for the return of cultural assets looted during the Nazi era and supports those affected in researching and enforcing restitution claims. The CLAE has a mandate to represent the European Council of Jewish Communities and the European Rabbinical Conference.
compulsory name
Beginning 1 January 1939, Jewish women and men were forced to adopt the additional first names Sara and Israel, respectively. They were required to use these compulsory names in all official documents and certificates, as well as in official correspondence. This served to identify them as Jews to state authorities and to those with whom they corresponded.
Confiscation
By confiscating assets, government officials initially deprived owners of the authority to dispose of their bank accounts, household furnishings, securities, etc., which were placed under state administration. In most cases, the confiscation was limited to one year. Ownership rights therefore initially remained unaffected. Only with the order for -> Einziehung or Verfall (seizure or forfeiture) of the assets did ownership pass to the German Reich.
D
deportation
Forced removal of people by state authorities from their place of residence or origin to another state territory or to remote regions where they are detained. During the Nazi era, deportation referred in particular to the removal of persecuted persons to concentration and extermination camps (-> Auschwitz)
Deportationswelle
(deportation waves) The Geheime Staatspolizei Berlin (Secret State Police) grouped together a large series of deportation transports, which it organised and carried out within a certain period of time, into “Deportationswellen”. A “Deportationswelle” usually comprised several individual deportation transports.
direct sales
In 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, with the purchase price being negotiated separately (-> form “Verhandlung”). Private sales could generate higher proceeds than would have been the case with an auction.
Dresdner Katalog
(Dresden Catalogue) Internal directory of the -> “Sonderauftrags Linz”, in which works of art for the planned “Führermuseum” were documented with photos and object data. The catalogue is named after the place where it was created – namely by the director of the Dresden Picture Gallery – and served to systematically record and manage these objects.
E
Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg
(Rosenberg Task Force) Nazi organisation under Reichsleiter Alfred Rosenberg, which systematically recorded and looted Jewish books, archives, works of art, and other cultural assets in the occupied territories from 1940 onwards.
Entartete Kunst
“Entartete Kunst” (degenerate art) is a Propagandistic term used by the Nazi regime to describe art that it rejected on political and aesthetic grounds. This mainly included works of classical modern art, which were removed from museums from 1937 onwards.
G
Geheime Staatspolizei (Gestapo)
Politische Polizei in der Zeit des Nationalsozialismus, die politische Gegner*innen überwachte und verfolgte. Die Gestapo war ein zentrales Verfolgungsinstrument im NS-Staat und maßgeblich für die Durchführung und Organisation der Schoah verantwortlich. Zusätzlich zog die Gestapo Vermögen von politisch Verfolgten für die Länder ein. Die Gestapo war Teil des -> Reichssicherheitshauptamtes (RSHA).
H
Hauptplanungsamt der Stadt Berlin
(Main Planning Office, Berlin) Local authority responsible for overall urban planning in Berlin during the Nazi era. In carrying out these plans, the authority extensively used apartments vacated through the -> deportation of persecuted Jews, re-allocating them to other Berlin residents.
Hauptwirtschaftsamt der Stadt Berlin
(Main Economic Office, Berlin) During the Nazi era, this was the city’s central administrative authority responsible for economic management and for supplying the population. The Hauptwirtschaftsamt organised the distribution of food, goods, and housing. From the end of 1942, it had privileged access to the expropriated property of deported Berlin Jews.
hyperinflation of 1923
The hyperinflation of 1923 was an extreme devaluation of currency in the Weimar Republic, triggered by the consequences and debts of war, reparation payments, and the occupation of the Ruhr. The consequences included an explosive increase in the cost of living and an almost complete devaluation of savings and government bonds.
I
illicit excavation
Archaeological excavations carried out improperly or illegally, in which artefacts are removed from the ground or other sites without permission and without scholarly documentation. Illegal excavations are not only a violation of property rights and other legal relationships but also lead to the loss of valuable information by destroying the context in which the artefacts were found.
J
Jewish Restitution Successor Organization (JRSO)
Founded in New York in 1948 by several Jewish organisations from the United States and other countries. Its task was to pursue the restitution of heirless property belonging to private individuals who had been persecuted and murdered as Jews in the American occupation zone and in the American sector of Berlin. In addition, it also took over restituted property from Jewish institutions and organisations that had been expropriated and dissolved by the National Socialists.
Judaica
Collective term for rare Jewish handicrafts, ritual and sacred objects, and literature dealing with Jewish religion or culture.
Judenvermögensabgabe
(Jewish property levy) A compulsory levy introduced for Jews after the November pogroms. They were obliged to pay for the damage caused by the pogroms directed against them and had to hand over up to 20 per cent of their assets to the state treasury. In total, one billion reichsmarks were extorted from Jews in Germany.
Jüdische „Pension“
(Jewish boarding house) Boarding houses whose owners were persecuted as Jews under National Socialism. From 1939 onwards, such flats and houses in Berlin were increasingly used to forcibly accommodate Jews who had lost their homes as a result of antisemitic persecution.
Jüdisches Kulturgut
(Jewish cultural assets) Term defined by the National Socialists for cultural assets such as works of art or books that were produced and used by people who were persecuted as Jews. The term also included -> Judaica.
K
Konsulent
(consultant) In September 1938, the National Socialist state revoked the general licence of the remaining lawyers who were persecuted as Jews. This was preceded by the gradual exclusion of Jews from the legal profession beginning in 1933. Instead of “lawyer”, those affected by the measures were now required to use “Konsulent” (Latin for “advisor”) as their professional title. They were only allowed to represent Jewish clients.
L
Linz number
Inventory number assigned to art and cultural assets intended for Adolf Hitler’s planned “Führermuseum” in Linz. The number was used to record, manage, and track objects confiscated, purchased, or expropriated as part of the -> “Sonderauftrags Linz”
Lost Art Database
The database of the German Lost Art Foundation is a central German online database documenting cultural property that was relocated, confiscated, or stolen during the Nazi era and is still considered missing today. It publishes both search and discovery reports.
M
Maly Trostinec
Maly Trostinec was a Nazi forced labour and extermination camp near Minsk (now Belarus), where
the SS and Schutzpolizei murdered between 40,000 and 60,000 people between 1942 and 1944.
The victims were mainly deported Jews, Soviet prisoners of war, and persons accused of being partisans. The people were shot in nearby forests or killed in gas vans.
Minderwertige Kunst
(inferior products) Objects of fine art that were not considered valuable during the Nazi era. These included works by little-known artists that did not fetch high prices on the art market, or works by artists who did not conform to the Nazi ideal of art.
Munich number
Registration number assigned to works of art recorded at the -> Central Collecting Point (CCP) in Munich after the Second World War. The number was used for systematic documentation, storage, and later allocation for restitution.
N
November pogroms
Acts of violence organised and directed by the National Socialists against Jews and Jewish institutions on the night of 9 to 10 November 1938. Shops, homes, and synagogues were destroyed; Jews were murdered and over 10,000 were arrested.
NS-verfolgungsbedingt entzogenes Kulturgut
Cultural assets confiscated from their owners by the Nazi regime. Today, -> provenance research is attempting to locate these objects so that they can be returned to their owners or their descendants.
Nürnberger Gesetze
(Nuremberg Laws) The Nürnberger Gesetze comprise the Gesetz zum Schutz des deutschen Blutes und der deutschen Ehre (Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honour) and the Reichsbürgergesetz (Reich Citizenship Law), which were passed in 1935 at the Nazi Reich Party rally in Nuremberg. These laws defined who was considered Jewish and formed the basis for the systematic persecution and exclusion of Jews until 1945.
O
Oberfinanzpräsident (OFP)
(Senior Finance President) Until 1937, Landesfinanzämter (regional finance offices). OFPs were the highest regional authorities responsible for the Reich’s financial administration. They were subordinate only to the Reichsfinanzministerium (Reich Ministry of Finance) and supervised, coordinated, and organised the work of the tax offices, customs offices and foreign exchange offices. From the end of 1941, they were tasked with planning and carrying out the theft of property from deported Jews.
Occupation Zone
After the German Reich surrendered on 8 May 1945, its territory (within its pre-war borders) was divided among the four victorious powers, creating American, British, French, and Soviet occupation zones, also known as sectors. The British occupation zone comprised the former Prussian provinces of Hanover, Schleswig-Holstein, and Westphalia, as well as the states of Brunswick, Hamburg, Lippe, Oldenburg, and Schaumburg-Lippe. This region was controlled by a British military government. With the founding of the two German states in 1949, the government passed from the occupying powers to the government of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) in the GDR. In the East, the founding of the GDR largely ended the Soviet occupation zone; in the Federal Republic, the Deutschlandvertrag (Germany Agreement) of 1955 officially did the same.
Orientalist painter
A term used for artists who create “Orientalist” works, which depict motifs from everyday life, architecture, and landscapes from the Near and Far East. The term and the works to which it refers are problematic because they project a Eurocentric and homogenising view of multicultural diversity and exoticise colonised foreign countries.
Osttransport
(Eastern Transport) The Geheime Staatspolizeileitstelle Berlin used this term to refer to deportation transports to the ghettos and extermination camps (-> Auschwitz) in the occupied eastern territories. A total of sixty-three “Osttransporte” can be verified for Berlin.
P
provenance
In the context of art history: origin of art and cultural assets.
provenance marks
Physical indications (stamps, bookplates, stickers, signatures, etc.) on an object that make it possible to trace its acquisition and origin history.
provenance research
Provenance research (from Latin provenire: to come from) investigates the origin of objects, their changes of ownership, and the paths they have taken. Such research is often initiated to identify the original owners of looted cultural property.
R
Reichsanzeiger
(Reich Gazette) Official press organ of the German Reich, published between November 1918 and April 1945. It contained laws and public announcements. During the Nazi era, it also published information on expatriations and asset confiscations, among other things.
Reichsfeind
(enemies of the Reich/enemies of the people/enemies of the state) National Socialist term for persons whose religion, origin, or political convictions did not conform to the regime’s guidelines. These people were marginalised, disenfranchised, and persecuted. In addition to Jews, Social Democrats, Communists, criminals, Freemasons, Sinti and Roma, and resistance fighters were also considered “Reichsfeinde” or “Staatsfeinde”.
Reichsfluchtsteuer
(Reich flight tax) Introduced in 1931, it was intended to prevent capital flight abroad. If they had sufficient assets at the time of emigration, emigrants had to pay 25 per cent of their monetary assets to the German state.
Reichsrechtsanwaltskammer
(Reich Chamber of Lawyers) Central organisation of the German legal profession under the National Socialist state, founded in 1933. It served to bring the legal profession into line with Nazi ideology and to exclude Jewish and politically undesirable lawyers.
Reichssicherheitshauptamt
(Reich Security Main Office) Central police authority in Nazi Germany, founded in September 1939. The RSHA combined the state security police and the SS security service. In addition to the Gestapo, the RSHA also controlled the criminal police and the police task forces behind the front lines. The RSHA was the main body responsible for coordinating, planning, and carrying out the Shoah and massacres of the civilian population and political opponents in the territories occupied by Germany.
Reichstauschstelle
(Reich Exchange Office) The main task of the Reichstauschstelle established in 1926 within the Reichsministerium für Wissenschaft, Erziehung und Volksbildung (Reich Ministry of Science, Education and National Education), was to supply libraries with books. During the Second World War, the Reichstauschstelle rebuilt libraries that had been destroyed during the war. It was involved on a large scale in the theft of books and their transfer to public libraries.
Reichsvereinigung der Juden in Deutschland
(Reich Association of Jews in Germany) Compulsory association of all Jewish organisations and communities, founded in June 1939. All persons who were persecuted as Jews under the Nuremberg Laws were required to join. The Reich Association of Jews was under the direct control of the -> Reichssicherheitshauptamtes (RSHA) and was used by it for administrative and social control and to enforce participation in disenfranchisement, coercive measures, and later → deportations. In addition, it took on support and welfare tasks for those who were persecuted.
Restitution
Return of confiscated property to its rightful owners or their heirs. Restitution aims to restore the situation to what it was before the confiscation by returning the stolen objects – not just by reimbursing their value.
S
sales negotiations
The form “Verhandlung” (negotiation) was used for the direct sale of stolen items. The buyer, the items sold, and the purchase price, among other things, were then noted on this form by hand.Für den direkten Verkauf von geraubten Gegenständen existierte der Vordruck „Verhandlung“. Darauf wurden dann handschriftlich u. a. der*die Käufer*in, die verkauften Objekte sowie der Kaufpreis vermerkt.
Sammellager
(collection camp) In the context of the National Socialist regime: places where Jews were crammed together before -> deportation. Employees of the Jewish communities had to complete the formalities for the deportation transport on behalf of the Gestapo. This included registering those to be deported, checking their luggage, and accepting their ->Vermögenserklärungen. Bailiffs also served the Einziehungsverfügungen (-> Einziehung) for the property left behind. Until 1943, one of the largest assembly camps was located at Große Hamburger Straße 26 in Berlin.
Schutzpolizei (SchuPo)
(security police) Part of the uniformed police force in Nazi Germany. The SchuPo was affiliated with the Hauptamt Ordnungspolizei (OrPo), which in turn was subordinate to the Reichsinnenministerium (Reich Ministry of the Interior). The Schutzpolizei also participated in the persecution of Jews, Sinti and Roma, political opponents, and war criminals in the occupied territories.
signature
In the context of art and art history: the artist’s signature or initials on a work of art. The signature plays an important role in identifying and classifying works.
The term is used in a different sense in archiving and librarianship, where it refers to the code – usually a combination of letters and numbers – under which an object is classified in the institution’s system.
Sinti and Roma
During National Socialism, Sinti and Roma were racially persecuted as “gypsies”. They were excluded from professional organisations and schools, and in many places in Germany they were also imprisoned in municipal forced labour camps. Most of the Sinti and Roma a living in Germany were deported to Auschwitz in March 1943 in several transports, where they were murdered. Even after 1945, the surviving Sinti and Roma were subjected to anti‑Roma and anti‑Sinti persecution, exclusion, and police surveillance. In some cases, this was based on the structures developed by the Nazi authorities. For a long time, those affected were not recognised as a group persecuted under National Socialism, and compensation was denied to the victims and their descendants. The self-designations Rom – Roma (male, singular – plural) and Romni – Romnja (female) as well as Sinto – Sinti (male) and Sinta/Sintizza – Sintizze (female) have only gradually become established in German usage.
Sonderauftrag Linz
The „Sonderauftrag Linz“ (Special Commission Linz) Adolf Hitler’s project to collect art for a planned “Führermuseum” (Museum for the Führer) in Linz. From 1939 onwards, works of art were systematically expropriated or purchased for this purpose. Many of the works came from Jewish owners or occupied territories. Many art dealers were involved in the procurement. From June 1938, Hitler secured sole decision-making authority over state-confiscated works of art in Austria intended for the expansion of the collection through the so-called "Führervorbehalt" (Führer’s prerogative).
storage site
Secure location where valuable cultural assets are stored during natural disasters, crises, and armed conflicts to protect them from destruction. Storage sites include bunkers, mines, and sometimes castles. During the Second World War, begun by the National Socialist regime, the authorities also brought objects to such storage sites. Among other places, they stored many looted artworks in mines. A well‑known example is the Altaussee salt mine.
T
Theresienstadt ghetto
The Theresienstadt “Altersghetto” (ghetto for the elderly) was established in the old garrison town in what is today Terezín (Czech Republic) as the largest concentration camp (KZ) in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. The National Socialist authorities used the camp as a transit and collection camp for predominantly older people, who were subsequently deported onwards to the extermination camps (→ Auschwitz). Within National Socialist circles, it was regarded as a “Vorzeigeghetto” (model ghetto). Many of those deported there did not survive the inhumane conditions.
Treblinka extermination camp
Treblinka II was one of the largest extermination camps (-> Auschwitz) built by the National Socialists, constructed from May 1942 onwards. At Treblinka, they murdered at least 700,000 people in gas chambers or through torture.
Treuhandverwaltung von Kulturgut beim Auswärtigen Amt
(Fiduciary Management of Cultural Assets at the Foreign Office) Federal German administrative office that existed from 1952 to 1962 and secured and inventoried the art and cultural assets taken over from the ->Central Collecting Points after the Second World War and attempted to carry out further restitution measures. After it ceased operations, its remaining assets were transferred to the federal government.
U
Unbedenklichkeitsbescheinigung
(certificate of clearance) Certificate issued by Nazi tax offices confirming payment of tax arrears and compulsory levies for Jewish people. It had to be presented to obtain a passport and permission to leave Germany.
V
Verfall/Einziehung
In the context of the Reich’s financial administration, “Verfall” (forfeiture) and “Einziehung” (seizure) referred to the retention of confiscated items for the benefit of the state. With the formal seizure/forfeiture of assets, these became the property of the state or “verfiel” (forfeited) to it. Both terms obscure the predatory nature of the expropriation of persecuted persons. Verfallserklärungen (declarations of forfeiture) and Einziehungsverfügungen (confiscation orders) were purely administrative acts.
Vermögenserklärung
(declaration of assets) Before their → deportation he persecuted persons had to provide information about their assets located in Germany. For this purpose, the tax authorities developed a multi-page form that had to be filled out in advance. It served as an initial overview for the asset liquidation office of the assets to be -> “verwertet” (liquidated).
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. This included the sale of home furnishings, removal goods, real estate, land, or companies, as well as the retention of mortgages and securities in favour of the German Reich.
W
Waffen-SS
Military branch of the SS (Schutzstaffel), established in 1939 and greatly expanded during the Second World War. Members of the Waffen-SS were involved in numerous cases of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Washington Principles
The Washington Principles of 1998 are international guidelines for dealing with Nazi-looted art and its fair -> restitution to its rightful owners. Although they are not legally binding, they have set global standards for dealing with Nazi-looted property. Germany has also signed the principles.
work identity
The work identity is the unique attribution of an art object, which can be made on the basis of unique characteristics. These include, above all, the artist, a date, dimensions, and a title/image description. Where several versions of an artwork exist, further details can describe each work’s unique character.
Z
Zentralbibliothek des Reichsicherheitshauptamtes
Central service and working library of the -> Reichssicherheitshauptamt, established from 1939/40 onwards through the systematic confiscation of mainly Jewish, Masonic, and church libraries; served the SD as a working tool for what it called “opponent research”.
Zwangswohnung
Apartment in which Jewish people were forcibly housed from 1939 onwards. In principle, the owners or main tenants were also Jewish, and subtenants were assigned to them. The latter lost their flats either through the law on tenancies with Jews, the loss of their flats due to the withdrawal of their economic basis, or the resettlement policy of the General Building Inspector for Berlin for the planned new construction of “Germania”. Living conditions were often cramped. Most residents lived in the forced accommodation only for a very short time until their flight or deportation.