Press release: Opening of an exhibition in the SUB Göttingen: "Books under Suspicion"

Nr. 100/2011 - 25.05.2011

Presentation reveals Nazi plunder and loot in the University Library

(pug) The historical backgrounds, the methods and the results of the research project "Detection and restitution of Nazi plunder and loot at the SUB Göttingen” are documented in a new exhibition at the Niedersächsischen Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Göttingen [State Library of Lower Saxony and the University Library of Göttingen] (SUB). The presentation with the title “Bücher unter Verdacht” [“Books under Suspicion”] features information panels, archive documents and books that were acquired between 1933 and 1950 by the University Library of Göttingen. It was opened on Friday, 13th of May 2011 and can be seen until the 10th of July 2011. The exhibition has been developed by librarians and scientists of the SUB and receives financial support from the Universitätsbund Göttingen [University Association of Göttingen].

The Nazi era saw not only the plundering of works of art but also that of books on a large scale. These were often books of banned and dissolved organisations and their supporters as well as those of immigrants and Jewish citizens. Additionally, the Nazi regime’s policy of expansionism resulted in the plundering of numerous “looted” books in the occupied territories – so-called ‘Beuteliteratur’ [‘loot literature’]. Many of these books were destroyed deliberately or went missing in wartime turmoil. However, to this day a proportion of them still remain in the stocks of research libraries, including the Niedersächsischen Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Göttingen. As part of the research project “Detection and restitution of Nazi plunder and loot at the SUB Göttingen” approximately 600 definite cases of plunder and loot literature have been identified so far. A further approximately 400 titles are under suspicion of also having been acquired illegally. The aim is to return these books to their rightful owners or their heirs or legal successors.

The exhibition “Bücher unter Verdacht” was opened on Friday, 13th of May 2011 by the president of the University Prof. Dr. Ulrike Beisiegel and the acting SUB director Dr. Armin Müller-Dreier. Dr. Bernd Reifenberg of the University Library Marburg delivered a speech on the topic “Nazi loot in German libraries”. The event took place in the Großer Seminarraum on the first floor of the SUB at Platz der Göttinger Sieben 1 and begins at 5:30pm. The presentation in the building’s foyer can be visited during library opening hours, Monday to Friday 7am until 1am, and Saturdays and Sundays from 9am until 10pm. Entry is free. The exhibition is closed on the 2nd, 12th and 13th of June.

Information on the research project “Detection and restitution of Nazi plunder and loot at the SUB Göttingen” can be found online at http:// www.sub.uni-goettingen.de/geschichte_raubgut.de.