Photographs |
Collection of Raoul Korty
Author:
Margot Werner
Margot Werner
Provenance Research in the Austrian National Library: Work in Progress
In 2002 and 2003, the Austrian National Library (ÖNB) conducted a project to identify books looted during the Nazi period. In accordance with the 1998 Art Restitution Act, the origins of around 450,000 books and collection objects inventoried between 1938 and 1960 were investigated. The result was surprising: over 52,000 objects were deemed to be suspicious. The research results were summarized in 2003 in a comprehensive report and communicated to the Commission for Provenance Research. One case in particular, Raoul Korty’s photo collection, stands out, first on account of the number of seized pictures still stored in the depot where they had been deposited by the Gestapo in 1939, and secondly as an example of the ambivalent approach by the Austrian National Library to its post-war restitution obligations.
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In 2002 and 2003, the Austrian National Library (ÖNB) conducted a project to identify books looted during the Nazi period. In accordance with the 1998 Art Restitution Act, the origins of around 450,000 books and collection objects inventoried between 1938 and 1960 were investigated. The result was surprising: over 52,000 objects were deemed to be suspicious. The research results were summarized in 2003 in a comprehensive report and communicated to the Commission for Provenance Research. One case in particular, Raoul Korty’s photo collection, stands out, first on account of the number of seized pictures still stored in the depot where they had been deposited by the Gestapo in 1939, and secondly as an example of the ambivalent approach by the Austrian National Library to its post-war restitution obligations.
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