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Direct sales

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.

Receipt for the sale of oil painting no. 37 from the estate of Hugo Loewy to Johannes Schertl, SS Obersturmführer, 28 December 1942. BLHA, Rep. 36A (II) no. 24446, fol. 30
Receipt for the sale of oil painting no. 37 from the estate of Hugo Loewy to Johannes Schertl, SS Obersturmführer, 28 December 1942. BLHA, Rep. 36A (II) no. 24446, fol. 30v

Auction

Auctions were considered an effective “Verwertungsmethode” (method of utilization) for art and cultural assets. Here, too, there were gradations in the hierarchy of “Verwertung”.

The finance officials left “wertvoller Hausrat” (valuable household goods) as a whole lot to various auction houses in Berlin, such as Gerhard Harms or Leo Spik, and received the proceeds from them minus a commission. The documentation of the objects varies depending on the auction house but is generally not very detailed.

Take a look at the individual auctioneers who conducted auctions on behalf of the authorities.

Typescript document: list of objects — Transcript of the auction order from the Moabit-West tax office, 18 March 1941. LAB, A Rep. 093-03, no. 54683, fol. 419 419

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.

Pre-printed tabular form, completed in typescript and by hand — Excerpt from an Auction Record at Kottbusser Ufer concerning the Property of Paul Hermann Ludwig Kempner, 31 March 1942. BLHA, Rep. 36A (II) no. 19176, fol. 139v

Remaining

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”).

Excerpt from a document with a handwritten note – someone has written: What should happen to the rest? G[…] refuses; Korge? — Handwritten note from the file on Helene Haase, undated. BLHA, 36A (II) no. 13399, fol. 55

“Hochwertiges Kulturgut oder wertvoller Kunstschatz” (High-quality cultural assets or valuable art treasures)

List of objects. On the right, a column shows prices, which are the valuation amounts. — Valuation by Hans W. Lange, 26 March 1941. BLHA, Rep. 36A (II) no. 694, fol. 41

“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 Linz” 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” 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 research. This allows researchers to find the titles of artworks, the names of the artists, dimensions and, in some cases, illustrations of the works.

Black-and-white photograph; many people are standing in a queue in front of the entrance to the Hans W. Lange auction house — Before an auction by Hans W. Lange, after 1937. Private collection, from Gute Geschäfte: Kunsthandel in Berlin 1933–1945, published by Aktives Museum Faschismus und Widerstand in Berlin, Berlin 2011, p. 64

Libraries

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.

Typewritten document listing book titles; stamp — List compiled by the expert Max Niederlechner, 21 July 1942. BLHA, Rep. 36A (II) no. 26893, fol. 47

“Jüdisches Kulturgut”

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.

Typewritten letter with stamp and signature — Expert opinion by Max Niederlechner on the library of Siegfried Aschner, 7 September 1942. BLHA, Rep. 36A (II) no. 1282, fol. 28

“Entartete Kunst”

Pre-printed form with typewritten entries and stamps; handwritten notes in red ink — Expert opinion by Georg Hinsche on “entartete Kunst” from the collection of Hans Siegfried Zedner, 30 August 1943. BLHA, Rep. 36A (II) no. 41167, fol. 34

“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”.

Removal

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.

Appraisal

Inventory and valuation of Siegfried Levi’s possessions, 4 February 1943. BLHA, Rep. 36A (II) no. 22091, fol. 96
Expert opinion by Bruno Ritter on several works of art owned by Fritz Kurt Lomnitz, 5 May 1941. BLHA, Rep. 36A (II) no. 24496, fol. 17

In order to quantify the value of the confiscated items, the Vermögensverwertungsstelle commissioned bailiffs and other officially appointed appraisers to assess the objects. In addition to determining the value, these experts also identified whether the stolen items included potentially “high-value” art and cultural assets or art that did not conform to National Socialist ideology. These items were not allowed to be sold on the open market. The next step for such objects was to separate them from the rest of the property and have them further assessed by selected experts.

The bailiffs’ reports often contain only brief descriptions of the art and cultural assets, such as “paintings,” “pictures”, or “lot of books.” In rare cases, they deciphered the artists’ signatures visible on the paintings and gave titles to the works of art.

This differs from the reports prepared by the specialised experts. These documents usually described selected art and cultural assets in greater detail.

Take a look at the individual appraisers who assessed the properties on behalf of the authorities.

Confiscation

If a person fled Germany or was deported, the Geheime Staatspolizei (Secret State Police, Gestapo) confiscated the furnishings left behind in their home as well as any belongings stored with removal companies or in warehouses. They then notified the Vermögensverwertungsstelle of the confiscation. The office immediately began the process of “Verwertung” of the items.

The Gestapo’s “confiscation report” was usually brief and did not list the seized items individually.

Letter from the Geheime Staatspolizei to the Finanzamt Moabit-West (Moabit-West Tax Office) regarding the confiscated assets of Fritz Kurt Lomnitz, 5 March 1941. BLHA, Rep. 36A (II) no. 24496, fol. 2
Letter from the Geheime Staatspolizei to the Finanzamt Moabit-West (Moabit-West Tax Office) regarding the confiscated assets of Fritz Kurt Lomnitz, 5 March 1941. BLHA, Rep. 36A (II) no. 24496, fol. 2v