Universitätsbibliothek der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München / Fachbibliothek Historicum

In the repository of the library of the Historicum at the University Library of Munich, a Judaica collection of about 1.000 volumes (predominantly utility literature of the late 19th and early 20th century) has been preserved. It is a remnant from the library of the "Forschungsabteilung Judenfrage" (Research Department for the Jewish Question) of the "Reichsinstitut für Geschichte des neuen Deutschlands" (Reich Institute for the History of the New Germany), which was founded in Munich in 1936. Julius Streicher, publisher of the anti-Semitic diatribe "Der Stürmer", was among those who supported the establishment of the library (cf. finds reports of the Nuremberg City Library). A large part of the collection, which comprised about 35.000 volumes at the end of the war, came from confiscations or antiquarian purchases.

In 1943, the library collection was moved to Passau (Feste Oberhaus). It is possible that parts of the library, especially manuscripts or older holdings, were given to the Bavarian State Library.

In 1945, about 1.000 volumes came into the possession of the University's Department of History. The remaining stock is considered lost after 238 boxes of books were transferred to the Offenbach Collecting Point in 1947, whereby individual copies with the stamp entry "Forschungsabteilung Judenfrage" (Jewish Question Research Department) were apparently found several times in American university libraries.

The Historicum's Judaica collection was recorded bibliographically in 1970. After indications emerged that several books may have been confiscated due to Nazi persecution, provenance examinations were begun at the end of 2000. An autopsy of the individual volumes revealed several personal and institutional provenance notes that indicate Jewish previous owners. In addition to research in the archives of the Oberfinanzdirektion (Higher Finance Directorate) Berlin on earlier restitution or compensation proceedings of the persons named in the books, the volumes in question are published here. Persons or institutions entitled to claim are requested to contact the German Lost Art Foundation or the University Library of Munich directly.

(cf. also S. Kuttner, Geraubte Bücher ..., in: Bibliotheksdienst, 37/2003, Heft 8/9, p. 1059 ff and S. Kuttner, Geraubter jüdischer Buchbesitz in der Bibliothek des Historicums ..., Ein abschließender Erfahrungsbericht, in: Die Suche nach NS-Raubgut in Bibliotheken, Marburg 2006, S. 32 ff)