AVIVA-BERLIN.de 9/11/5786 - Beitrag vom 13.04.2026


NEW RESEARCH EXPANDS DOCUMENTATION OF JEWISH COLLECTORS PERSECUTED IN NAZI ERA
AVIVA-Redaktion

The Jewish Digital Cultural Recovery Project Foundation (JDCRP) is marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day with the release of a major expansion of its initial list documenting the lives of Jewish collectors persecuted during the Nazi era.

The JDCRP´s "Documentation of Persecuted Jewish Collectors" project seeks to broaden understanding of the significant contributions made by pre-war Jewish collectors to European cultural heritage. Much of the cultural property these individuals collected—paintings, books, Judaica, musical instruments, furniture, and more—was systematically looted by the Nazis, their allies, and collaborators.
"Never before have so many names of persecuted Jewish collectors been brought together in one list," said Rüdiger Mahlo, Chair of the JDCRP Board of Trustees. "This unprecedented documentation provides an overview of the significant cultural contributions Jewish collectors made across Europe—before so many were murdered in the Shoah. It creates a vital foundation for researching European Jewish cultural heritage and will help museums and other institutions identify Nazi-looted art more efficiently."

The expanded list includes approximately 5,650 names of Jewish collectors (previously 3,600) from nineteen European countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, former Czechoslovakia, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Serbia, and Switzerland.

"With each name added to this list, our understanding of the extent of Nazi-era cultural plunder becomes more concrete," said Deidre Berger, Chair of the Executive Board of the JDCRP. "But the work is far from done. These persecuted Jewish collectors had lives, families, and passion for the cultural objects that were stolen from them. The JDCRP is currently working to enrich the list with details that help reconstruct collectors´ legacies beyond the names and geographical data currently included."

To illustrate the human stories behind each listed name, the JDCRP has published case study profiles of persecuted Jewish collectors. Each profile highlights both specific looted property and the persecution faced by the collector.

The four profiles currently available examine:
Books and artworks stolen from the Freud family (including Sigmund and Alexander Freud) in Austria
Paintings stolen from the culturally influential Čelebonović family in Serbia
Musical instruments stolen from composer Hermann Leopoldi in Austria
Artworks and furniture stolen from philanthropist Jenő Vida in Hungary

The JDCRP recently launched Legacy Explorer (https://explorer.rjlegacy.org), an online research platform providing global access to archival records of Nazi-era plunder. In the coming months, the JDCRP will integrate the list documenting persecuted Jewish collectors into Legacy Explorer.

Documentation of Persecuted Jewish Collectors: www.documentation-of-persecuted-jewish-collectors
Case Study Profiles: www.jdcrp.org/profiles-of-european-jewish-art-collections

About the Jewish Digital Cultural Recovery Project Foundation (JDCRP): The JDCRP was founded in Berlin in 2019 by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) and the Commission for Art Recovery (CAR). The Foundation advances archival documentation, research, and education on the looting of Jewish-owned cultural property by the Nazis, their allies, and collaborators.

For more information, visit. www.jdcrp.org



Support by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) for research and development of the list is gratefully acknowledged, as is additional support by the German Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM).