...

638,560

Number of Claimant related records assessed

820

Individual Claimants identified

4,600+

Number of Unique artworks identified

1,560

Number of Artwork Photographs identified

The Sources

Below you will find information on the Sources Data gathered into the Looted Art Claims Project over the last 4 years. Additional processing is ongoing and further sources will continue to be added to this area.

At the core of the Looted Art Claims Project is the aim of collating data to be able to contextualise the data and 'test' the reliability of source material evidence of European Impressionist & Modern artworks that were stolen, confiscated, seized, looted or subject to forced sale during the period 1933-1945.

Reliable evidence is at the core of every potential restitution case. Reliable is defined as – 'consistently good in quality or performance, able to be trusted.'

By collating the source data the Looted Art Claims Project discovered many reasons why it is so important to contextualise the source materials. There are inconsistencies within the source data, that taken as a singular piece of evidence would cause misrepresentation of information and be seen as 'unreliable' for example;

1. Testing the meaning and context of 'Looted.'

Contextual analysis proves that a number of artworks featured within 'List of property removed from France during the war 1939 -1945' Tome II were already restituted long before the publication was released, however the art market used this publication as a way of identifying objects that were looted and it was assumed, still looted.

2.Contextualising the accuracy of online statements. 

Contextual analysis proves that a Van Gogh painting declared in the Cultural Plunder by the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg, Database of Art Objects at the Jeu de Paume database as restituted, was misidentified both photographically and also misrepresented as restituted when it was not.

3.Identifying inconsistent post-war communication

Contextual analysis proves that The Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives Section Unit (MFAA) records related to lists of unrestituted artworks conflict directly with the same artwork data from Commission de Récupération Artistique (CRA) that show proof of restitutions.

It should be noted that there is a significant cross-over or multiples of records shared between archives and databases which made this task complex. This also made it essential that artwork 'uniqueness' was tested robustly. The reliability of the source material based on its context is not assessed or tested by any other database.

Cultural Plunder by the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg, Database of Art Objects at the Jeu de Paume (ERRP)

Source Type - Online Database

Data Type - Partially structured

Data Area 'Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR) a series of interlocking, major complex projects that provide information on the location of the records of the ERR, access to images of many of those records, and research on specific items that were plundered. Attention also focuses on key records of postwar U.S., French, British, and Soviet agencies seeking to retrieve the ERR loot, providing improved access to a major component of the record of wartime plunder and retrieval of cultural loot.'

'Reliable' Data? - No - references to archive sources are out of date, contextual checks revealed erroneous restitution commentary and photo attribution.

Source Status: Processed within the Looted Art Claims Project >sourced, structured, tested, contextualised and secured data is now reliable and verifiable.

updated 01 January 2025

AMEAE Centre des Archives diplomatiques (France)

Source Type - Archival Material

Data Type - Unstructured

Data Area Commission de Récupération Artistique (CRA) Office des biens et intérêts privés (OBIP) Claimant related files and post-war research and restitutions made to the French Government Specialist departments.

'Reliable' Data? - No - fractured archival materials, uncontextualised archival materials

Source Status: Processed within the Looted Art Claims Project >sourced, structured, tested, contextualised and secured data is now reliable and verifiable.

updated 01 January 2025

Deutsches Historisches Museum (DHM) Databases

Source Type - Online Database

Data Type - Partially structured

Data Area Munich and Wiesbaden Collecting Points, Linz Museum Collection & Goering Collection databases, war-time and post-war research.

'Reliable' Data? - No - selective meta-tagging and a disregard for key descriptive areas within archival source materials, uncontextualised data.

Source Status: Processed within the Looted Art Claims Project >sourced, structured, tested, contextualised and secured data is now reliable and verifiable.

updated 01 January 2025

1998 Sacco di Budapest, Laszlo Mravik

Source Type - Publication / Archival Material

Data Type - Unstructured

Data Area 1998 Sacco di Budapest, Laszlo Mravik, Hungarian National Archives, Hungarian National Gallery for the joint restitution committee at the Hungarian Ministry of culture and education; records related to confiscations of private properties, properties with banks and Institutions.

'Reliable' Data? - No - fractured archival materials, uncontextualised archival materials.

Source Status: Processed within the Looted Art Claims Project >sourced, structured, tested, contextualised and secured data is now reliable and verifiable.

updated 01 January 2025

Archives Nationale (France)

Source Type - Archival Material

Data Type - Unstructured

Data Area Voluntary storage of Art collections 1939 in the Louvre, return of art collections, during and post-war, French Government approved Exports of Art 1940-1945.

'Reliable' Data? - No - fractured archival materials, uncontextualised archival materials.

Source Status: Being Processed to the LACP > sourced, structured, undergoing testing, contextualisation so the data is secured reliable and verifiable.

updated 01 January 2025

The Central Registry of Information on Looted Property 1933-45, object database.

Source Type - Online Database

Data Type - Partially structured

Data Area 'The Object Database contains details of over 25,000 objects of all kinds – paintings, drawings, antiquities, Judaica, etc – looted, missing and/or identified from over fifteen countries.'

'Reliable' Data? - No - uncontextualised; references within this database show artworks listed as 'The object has gaps in its provenance between 1933-1945. This does not necessarily mean it is looted.' information does not include any further information, submitted data is not tested. References in many cases have out dated provenance records.

Source Status: Processed within the Looted Art Claims Project >sourced, structured, tested, contextualised and secured data is now reliable and verifiable.

updated 01 January 2025

Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna; Zentral Depot Karterian (ZDK)

Source Type - Online Database

Data Type - Partially structured

Data Area Online card index of the Central Depot for Seized Collections in Vienna.

'Reliable' Data? - No - fractured archival materials, uncontextualised archival materials

Source Status: Processed within the Looted Art Claims Project >sourced, structured, tested, contextualised and secured data is now reliable and verifiable.

updated 01 January 2025

National Archives Washington (NARA) (USA)

Source Type - Archival Material

Data Type - Unstructured

Data Area The Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives Section Unit (MFAA) & The Office of Military Government, United States (OMGUS; German: Amt der Militärregierung für Deutschland (U.S.)) covering post-war claimant data and research.

'Reliable' Data? - No - uncontextualised archival materials, partially digitalised. NARA records are also linked to the www.Fold3.com database, however, when the LACP tested the original references given by Fold3 to source materials held by NARA, many were erroneous, or lead to a broader records group, making the original record difficult to verify and contextually understand. NARA's digitalised files are also scanned backwards, so the start of files is at page 100 and the end of the file is page 1! This added to the trickiness of securely referencing this material is a legally robust way.

Source Status: LACP developed a finding aid to locate areas within NARA that hold vast amounts Claims related materials. Additional Archive material – Being Processed to the LACP > sourced, structured, undergoing testing, contextualisation so the data is secured reliable and verifiable, this so far is about 65% complete.

updated 01 January 2025

Lost Art Foundation

Source Type - Online Database

Data Type - Partially structured

Data Area 'The Lost Art Database documents cultural property expropriated as a result of Nazi persecution, especially from Jewish owners, between 1933 and 1945 (“Nazi-looted art”), or for which such a loss cannot be ruled out. With the help of the publication of so-called Search Requests and Found-Object Reports, former owners or their heirs are to be brought together with current owners and thus support all stakeholders in finding a just and fair solution.'

'Reliable' Data? - No - uncontextualised, unverified data sources in the majority of cases. Data is declared as 'untested'. This means that the data held can be considered 'unsafe,' as it can be submitted by anyone without data safeguarding protocols in place. This means that the data is open to fraudulent claims data being present, that can then be represented within cases as fact.

Source Status: Processed within the Looted Art Claims Project >sourced, structured, tested, contextualised and secured data is now reliable and verifiable. As this is an active database, we continually test the data against the LACP database and assess the data quality of the submissions.

updated 01 January 2025

'List of property removed from France during the war 1939 -1945' Tome II

Source Type - Publication / Archival Material

Data Type - Unstructured

Data Area Commission de Récupération Artistique (CRA) Office des biens et intérêts privés (OBIP) Claimant related post-war research publication released originally at the end of 1947 in Volumes. Tome II / Volume II covers Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture. Supplementary Volume II publications were also released and also included in the LACP assessment.

'Reliable' Data? - No - uncontextualised; The LACP found that many references within this publication were already restituted to claimants at the time of publication.

Source Status: Processed within the Looted Art Claims Project >sourced, structured, tested, contextualised and secured data is now reliable and verifiable.

updated 01 January 2025

Wiedergutmachungs-Datenbank im Landesarchiv Berlin (WGA) & Berlin State Archives (Federal Reimbursement Act/BRüG (Germany)

Source Type - Archival Material / Online database

Data Type - Partially structured

Data Area Berlin Claims Office, Compensation Claims to the German Government under the Bundesrückerstattungsgesetz (BRüG) laws, from 1957. It dealt with the restitution claims against assets of the German Reich and of the National Socialist organisations.

'Reliable' Data? - No - uncontextualised archival materials, LACP detected some fraudulent claims by heirs that had had artworks already restituted to them.

Source Status: Index cards - Processed to the LACP > sourced, structured, tested, contextualised and secured data is now reliable and verifiable Additional Archive material – Being Processed to the LACP > sourced, structured, undergoing testing, contextualisation so the data is secured reliable and verifiable.

updated 01 January 2025

Bundesdenkmalamt-Archiv (BDA) (Austria)

Source Type - Archival Material / Online database

Data Type - Partially structured

Data Area The “Sicherstellung, Beschlagnahme, Verteilung” boxes contain information about seizures, confiscations, the transfer and dispersal of confiscated objects, collecting point information.

'Reliable' Data? - No - fractured archival materials, uncontextualised archival materials

Source Status: Processed within the Looted Art Claims Project >sourced, structured, tested, contextualised and secured data is now reliable and verifiable.

updated 01 January 2025

Bundesarchive (Germany)

Source Type - Archival Material / Online database

Data Type - Unstructured Digitalised Archive Materials

Data Area Treuhandverwaltung von Kulturgut bei der Oberfinanzdirektion München / Trust Administration of Cultural Assets at the Regional Finance Directorate of Munich Records of confiscations and also art dealers complicit in looted art trade with original source documents of various provenance: Reich Chancellery, Reich Leader Martin Bormann, Commissioner and Advisor for the "Special Order Linz", Reich Leader Rosenberg's Task Force, MFA&A Section of the American Military Government and business documents of art lovers.

'Reliable' Data? - No - uncontextualised archival materials

Source Status: Being Processed to the LACP > sourced, structured, undergoing testing, contextualisation so the data is secured reliable and verifiable.

updated 01 January 2025

Contemporary (1933-1950) Publications indicating confiscated artworks

Source Type - Literature

Data Type - Unstructured

Data Area Various, including newspapers and art magazines.

'Reliable' Data? - No - uncontextualised materials.

Source Status: Being Processed to the LACP > sourced, structured, undergoing testing, contextualisation so the data is secured reliable and verifiable.

updated 01 January 2025

Archives de Ville, Paris

Source Type - Archival Material

Data Type - Unstructured

Data Area Records for Claimants that pursued restitutions via the Paris court system post-war.

'Reliable' Data? - No - uncontextualised archival materials

Source Status: Indexes Processed – so they can be Tested against the LACP for verification.

updated 01 January 2025

The Hermann Göring Inventory

Source Type - Archival Material

Data Type - Unstructured

Data Area Confiscated Artworks that were listed on an inventory for Hermann Göring to decide what to do with. The inventory stamps the Artworks within 'H.G', this inventory is distinct from the Göring Collection database (DHM). The Hermann Göring Inventory shows many artworks that were 'exchanged'.

'Reliable' Data? - No - fractured archival materials, uncontextualised archival materials.

Source Status: Inventory Processed – Meta-tagged so can be Tested against the LACP for verification.

updated 01 January 2025

Bundesamt für zentrale Dienste und offene Vermögenfragen / Federal Office for Central Services and Unresolved Property Issues (BADV)

Source Type - Archival Material

Data Type - Unstructured

Data Area The BADV administers the archive of the former Office for the Legal Protection of the Assets of the German Democratic Republic (AfR), the records of the vault administration division of the East German Finance Ministry and the restitution archive, which contains files from the Nazi period (up until 1945) and files from the post-1945 period relating to proceedings under the Federal Restitution Act (Bundesrückerstattungsgesetz).

'Reliable' Data? - No - fractured, uncontextualised archival materials.

Source Status: Being Processed to the LACP > sourced, structured, undergoing testing, contextualisation so the data is secured reliable and verifiable.

updated 01 January 2025

National Archives (UK)

Source Type - Archival Material / Online Digitalised Materials

Data Type - Unstructured digitalised archive materials

Data Area UK based Claimant data and post-war research.

'Reliable' Data? - No - uncontextualised archival materials

Source Status: Being Processed to the LACP > sourced, structured, undergoing testing, contextualisation so the data is secured reliable and verifiable.

updated 01 January 2025

Central State Archive of Supreme Bodies of Power and Government of Ukraine

Source Type - Archival Material / Online Digitalised Materials

Data Type - Unstructured digitalised archive materials

Data Area TsDAVO Relating to Nazi-Era Cultural Property – ERR records relating to private collections (mainly Jewish) in Nazi-occupied North France and Belgium.

'Reliable' Data? - No - uncontextualised archival materials

Source Status: Being Processed to the LACP > sourced, structured, undergoing testing, contextualisation so the data is secured reliable and verifiable.

updated 01 January 2025

Archives générales du Royaume et Archives de l'État dans les Provinces / Algemeen Rijksarchief en Rijksarchief in de Provinciën (National Archives and State Archives in the Provinces)

Source Type - Archival Material / Online Digitalised Materials

Data Type - Unstructured digitalised archive materials

Data Area The war damages files of the Second World War.

'Reliable' Data? - No - uncontextualised archival materials

Source Status: Being Processed to the LACP > sourced, structured, undergoing testing, contextualisation so the data is secured reliable and verifiable.

updated 01 January 2025

Private Claimant Archives

Source Type - Archival Material

Data Type - Unstructured

Data Area Family Records of Claimants Various, ongoing collecting.

'Reliable' Data? - No - uncontextualised archival materials

Source Status:Being Processed to the LACP > sourced, structured, undergoing testing, contextualisation so the data is secured reliable and verifiable.

updated 01 January 2025

Legal Case Restitution / Settlement Records

Source Type - Literature, Online Legal Databases, News media

Data Type - Partially Structured, Unstructured

Data Area Various, ongoing collecting

'Reliable' Data? - Partially, conclusive statements of legal cases at specific points in time.

Source Status: Being Processed to the LACP > sourced, structured, undergoing testing, contextualisation so the data is secured reliable and verifiable.

updated 01 January 2025

Research into additional sources of information is continuous....

Source Type - Literature, Online Databases, Archive Materials, News Media

Data Type - Unstructured / Partially Structured

Data Area Various, including newspapers and art magazines.

Source Status: Being Explored....

updated 01 January 2025

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Last revised 3rd December 2024

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