The Challenge for Looted Libraries, a comparative approach to provenance research and restitution (by Antonia Bartoli and Sebastian Finsterwalder to the symposium organized by the CIVS in Paris, on November 15, 2019)

Abstract : Books spoliated during the Occupation do not receive the same attention as artwork. The number of books confiscated in France during the Occupation is nevertheless estimated at five million. Admittedly, most of the stolen works do not have a high financial value. Even so, this type of theft clearly illustrates the exhaustive nature of Nazi crime and determination to annihilate not only the Jewish people, but also their very thoughts, expressions and culture.
During the symposium organized by the CIVS on November 15, 2019, Antonia Bartoli and Sebastian Finsterwalder compared their approaches to Provenance Research and Restitution in Libraries.
Antonia Bartoli is a curator at the British Library, particularly in charge of spoliations.
Sebastian Finsterwalder has worked at the Berlin’s state library since 2006. He has been based at its Provenance Research Department since it opened in 2010, and oversees the documentation and restitution of looted property.