Glossar

A term from Nazi ideology for those belonging to an alleged superior ‘race’. First and foremost, ‘Aryan’ applied to people who did not have Jewish ancestors.

The Nazi term for the systematic expropriation of the property and businesses of, above all, people from a Jewish background. These assets were forcibly transferred, usually far below their market value. In the public sphere, this process was often orchestrated as a voluntary sale.

Those seeking to emigrate had to pay a proportion of their assets to a blocked bank account to which they only had restricted access. In this way, the Nazi state could control and limit the sums taken abroad.

Enacted in the Federal Republic of Germany in 1953, the law regulates financial compensation for the victims of Nazi persecution or their descendants.

After the Second World War, these depots were set up in several German cities in the Western occupied zones. They had the remit of securing and cataloguing looted art objects and, where possible, returning them to their former owners or their families.

Jewish emigrants had to pay this compulsory levy to the Deutsche Golddiskontbank (Gold Discount Bank, abbreviated as ‘Dego’). Only after payment could their assets and, later, personal effects be cleared for export.

A pejorative Nazi term for modern art not aligned with the Nazi ideology and goals. Pilloried and defamed as ‘un-German’ or ‘harmful’, many of these works were removed from museums, sold or destroyed.

A prestigious art museum that Adolf Hitler planned in Linz. Many works earmarked for this museum came from confiscations or forced sales. The planned museum was never built.

The fundamental principle in dealing with Nazi-looted cultural goods and assets. The aim is to reach an equitable solution through restitution or compensation for the justified claims of those persecuted or their heirs.

From 1939, all males defined as Jewish had to add ‘Israel’ as a first or middle name if their given names were not already clearly ‘Jewish’. The equivalent for women and girls was ‘Sara’. This measure facilitated the marginalisation of Jewish people.

A residential building where Jewish people were forced to relocate. This served to segregate them, facilitated their surveillance and later their deportation.

A punitive state tax imposed on all German Jews from 1938. It was introduced under the pretext of being a collective punishment for the assassination of a German Diplomat by a Jew.

Large wooden crates (also ‘liftvans’) for storing and transporting personal effects for removal (‘moving goods’) when emigrating by ship. Many lift vans were seized by the Nazi authorities and never reached their destinations.

Under the Nazi regime’s racial ideology, the term for a marriage between a ‘Jewish’ and ‘non-Jewish’ person. Such couples were discriminated against and put under particular surveillance.

A person with two grandparents defined as Jewish under the Nazi regime’s racial laws. The rights and freedoms of persons classified in this way were curtailed.

A wave of violent attacks against the Jewish population in Germany on 9 and 10 November 1938. Synagogues were destroyed, businesses looted, people arrested, maltreated and murdered. The Nazi term ‘Reichskristallnacht’ (‘Night of Broken Glass’) downplayed the violence.

Art works and cultural goods stolen during the Nazi years in various ways including persecution, expropriation, and sales under duress. Jewish owners were particularly targeted.

Antisemitic and racist laws introduced by the Nazi regime in 1935. They created the legal basis for the systematic discrimination, expropriation, persecution and ultimately murder of the Jewish population.

Passed in 1935, this Nazi law distinguished two categories of citizenship: ‘Reich citizens’ and ‘citizens of the state’. ‘Reich citizens’, who had full rights, could only be people of ‘German or related blood’. ‘Citizens of the state’, including in particular people from a Jewish background, were deprived of all civil rights.

A tax on the assets of emigrants. Under the Nazi regime, this tax was used deliberately to target Jewish citizens.

The Hebrew word for ‘disaster’, ‘catastrophe’ or ‘devastation’. The term is used to describe the systematic persecution and murder of European Jews by the Nazi regime and its allies.

Enacted in 1938, this law largely deprived Jewish people of control over their assets. This facilitated the ‘Aryanisation’, expropriation and forced sales of enterprises and property.

Passed in 1938, this decree barred Jewish people from operating businesses or craft trades.

The exploitation and sale of property seized or expropriated by the Nazi regime. This also included, for instance, forced auctions.

This official register lists and listed art works and other cultural property of particular national significance to prevent them being taken abroad permanently or without permission. Under the Nazi regime, adding art works to the register was a preparatory step in their confiscation.

The Nazi term for a person with at least three grandparents defined as Jews under the racial Nuremberg Laws. The classification, based entirely on descent and not on religious grounds or identifying as Jewish, was decisive in the extent of discrimination and persecution.

A legally non-binding agreement dating from 1998 setting the guidelines for dealing with Nazi-looted art. Germany and other State Parties undertake to identify looted and confiscated cultural goods and research their provenance with the aim of reaching ‘fair and just solutions’ with the former owners or their legal successors.

The restitution actions after 1945 enabled victims of Nazi persecution or their relatives to apply for the return of property or for compensation. The German term ‘Wiedergutmachung’ (lit. ‘making good again’) is regarded as problematic as the injustices cannot be undone.