Looted Art, Restitution, and Cultural Property Disputes in Europe and the U.S. Thursday, 3:30 5: Mercer Street, 7 th Floor, Conference Room

Transcription

1 Prof. Sibylle Quack Center for European and Mediterranean Studies 285 Mercer Street, 7 th Floor New York, NY Phone: msq1@nyu.edu Office hours: Wednesday 1 3 and by appointment Graduate: Number G Cross list G Looted Art, Restitution, and Cultural Property Disputes in Europe and the U.S. Thursday, 3:30 5: Mercer Street, 7 th Floor, Conference Room Fall 2006 This course explores the phenomena of looted art from different perspectives. Historical case studies and questions of international law, restitution policy, and the protection of cultural property during armed conflicts will be on the agenda. We will also discuss current debates dealing with Holocaust related looted art and with mass lootings during wars of our time. Taking World War II as an example, our readings will first examine the different methods the Nazis used to take away paintings, sculptures, library collections, music, jewelry, and other works of art from Jews and from occupied countries. Readings will describe how the systematic plunder of Jewish property, including art, became part of the persecution and murder of European Jews, served as an extension of the Third Reich and was linked to the personal enrichment of Nazi leaders. Hitler s plan to establish his own special museum in Linz, Austria, was never completed; but for that project an enormous amount of art was stolen, pressed, or taken away legally all over Europe. We will explore the restitution policy of the Allies after the war and later of the Federal Republic of Germany, and discuss recent issues and trials relating to lost and misplaced cultural property from the World War II era until today. Readings will focus on the issue of international treaty law specifically on the Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflicts as well as on issues of mass looting in light of international military action taking place in regions as disparate as Bosnia and Iraq. Requirements: serious and consistent class participation, response papers to the readings, class presentations, short paper and term paper. Details will be found in the finalized version of this syllabus before class starts. As textbook, Lynn Nicholas, The Rape of Europa: The Fate of Europe s Treasures in the Third Reich and Second World War, (Paperback, Vintage Books, 1995) should be

2 purchased. It is available at NYU bookstore. All other books for the course as well as background readings are on reserve at Bobst Library. Preliminary Syllabus I. Sept 7: Introduction II. Sept 14: World War II: Nazi looting art organizations: Degenerate Art, Fuehrer Museum in Linz, Einsatzleiter Rosenberg, Ahnenerbe, Collection of Hermann Goering Nicholas, Lynn, The Rape of Europa: The Fate of Europe s Treasures in the Third Reich and Second World War, (Paperback, 1995), pp Petropoulos, Jonathan, Art as Politics in the Third Reich, pp III. Sept 21: World War II: Nazi art looting in the Netherlands, France, Belgium Nicholas, Lynn, The Rape of Europa, pp Petropoulos, Jonathan, Art as Politics in the Third Reich, pp IV. Sept 28: World War II : Nazi art looting in the Soviet Union Nicholas, Lynn, The Rape of Europa, pp; Kennedy Grimstedt, Patricia, Roads to Ratibor: Library and Archival Plunder by the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg, in: Holocaust and Genocide Studies, V 10 N3, Winter 2005, pp V. Oct 5: Responses and restitution (US efforts, spoils of war, issue of Allies stealing art) Nicholas, Lynn, The Rape of Europa,pp ; Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United States and Staff Report, Plunder and Restitution: The U.S. and Holocaust Victim Assets: Findings and Recommendations of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United States and staff report. Chapters V-VII Alford, Kenneth D., The Spoils of World War II: the American Military s Role in Stealing Europe s Treasures, pp. 6-16; Farmer, Walter, The Safekeepers : A Memoir of the Arts at the end of World War II, pp Michael Kurtz, Resolving a Dilemma: The Inheritance of Jewish Property, in: 20 Cardozo, Issue 2, pp Akinsha Konstantin & Kozlov Grigorii with Sylvia Hochfield, Beautiful Loot : the Soviet Plunder of Europe's art treasures, pp ;

3 VI. Oct 12: West and East German restitution policy Henry, Marilyn, Fifty Years of Holocaust Compensation, in: American Jewish Yearbook 2002, Vol. 102, pp Constantin Goschler, The Politics of Restitution for Nazi Victims in Germany West and East ( ), Institute of European Studies, University of California, Berkeley, Occasional Papers, Year 2003, No. 3 VII. Oct 19: Recent issues relating to lost and misplaced cultural property from World War II (Washington Conference 1998, museums and libraries) Constance Lowenthal, Recovering looted Jewish cultural property, in The International Bureau of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (ed.), The Permanent Court of Arbitration/Peace Palace Papers: Resolution of Cultural Property Disputes, pp Michael Franz, Four Levels and a Database: The Work of the Koordinierungsstelle fuer Kulturgutverluste and in The Permanent Court of Arbitration/Peace Palace Papers: Resolution of Cultural Property Disputes, pp Palmer, N.E., Museums and the Holocaust: Law, Principles and Practice, pp , 49-58, Randy Kennedy, Museum s Research on Looting Seen to Lag, New York Times, 25 July, 2006 Marilyn Henry, Stolen Images, Hadassah Magazine, May 2006, pp Alan Riding, Goering, Rembrandt and the Little Black Book, New York Times, 26 March 2006 VIII. Oct 26: International Context of Restitution Negotiations between Germany and Russia: legal issues and the German request for restitution, international discussion of Russian law, Ukraine and Poland Akinsha Konstantin & Kozlov Grigorii with Sylvia Hochfield, Beautiful Loot: the Soviet Plunder of Europe's Art Treasures, pp Kennedy Grimsted, Patricia, Trophies of war and empire : the archival heritage of Ukraine, World War II, and the international politics of restitution, pp, ; pp Spoils of War, International Newsletter, No. 2, , pp. 5; No.4, August 1997, pp. 6-38; No. 5, June 1998, pp. 9-15:No. 7, August 2000, pp. 6-9:No. 8, May 2003, pp Elizabeth Simpson (ed.), The Spoils of War, pp IX. Nov 2: Guest lecture by Marilyn Henry on current case of Holocaust related stolen art Reading Assignments: TBA X. Nov 9: Law: Lieber Code, Hague Convention 1954 and follow up, UNESCO Merryman, John Henry and Albert E. Elsen, Law, Ethics and the Visual Art, pp. 1-68; Elizabeth Simpson (ed.), The Spoils of War, pp , (Appendices)

4 Kaye, Lawrence, Laws in force at the dawn of World War II: international conventions and national laws, in Elizabeth Simpson (ed.), The Spoils of War, pp Kaye, Lawrence, Looted Art: What can and should be done, in: 20 Cardozo, Issue 2, pp XI. Nov 16: War of our times: Bosnia Riedlmayr, Andras, From The Ashes: the Past and Future of Bosnia s Cultural Heritage, in: Maya Shatzmiller (ed.), Islam and Bosnia : Conflict Resolution and Foreign Policy in Multi-ethnic States, pp Jeffrey B. Spurr, Lessons for Assistance to Iraq Libraries Derived from Similar Efforts to Assist Bosnian Libraries after the War, in Middle East Studies Association Bulletin, June 2004 XII. Nov 23: Thanksgiving Recess XIII. Nov 30: War of our times: Iraq Eric Davis, The Museum and the Politics of Social Control in Modern Iraq, in John R. Gillis (ed.), The Politics of National Identity, pp Polk, Milbry and Angela M.H. Schuster (eds), The Looting of the Iraq Museum, pp XIV. Dec 7: Review Select Publications/Readings Alford, Kenneth D., The Spoils of World War II: the American Military s Role in Stealing Europe s Treasures, New York: Carol Publishing Group, 1994 Alford, Kenneth D., Great Treasure Stories of World War II, Cambridge, Mass.: Da Capo Press, Arnold, Bettina, The Past as Propaganda: Totalitarian Archaeology in Nazi Germany, Antiquity, Vol. 64, 1990, p Akinsha Konstantin & Kozlov Grigorii with Sylvia Hochfield, Beautiful Loot : the Soviet Plunder of Europe's art treasures, New York : Random House, c1995. Bazyler, Michael J., Holocaust Justice: the Battle for Restitution in America s Courts, New York: New York University Press, 2003

5 Bazyler, Michael J. and Alford, Roger (ed.), Holocaust Restitution : Perspectives on the Litigation and its Legacy, New York: New York University Press, 2006 (Electronic Access) Farmer, Walter, The Safekeepers : A Memoir of the Arts at the end of World War II / revised and prefaced by Klaus Goldman ; with an introduction by Margaret Farmer Planton. Berlin ; New York : Walter de Gruyter, Henry, Marilyn, Fifty Years of Holocaust Compensation, in: American Jewish Yearbook 2002, Vol. 102, pp International Bureau of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (ed.), International alternative dispute resolution : past, present, and future : the Permanent Court of Arbitration centennial papers, The Hague, The Netherlands ; Cambridge, MA : Kluwer Law International, c2000 Kaye, Lawrence, Looted Art: What can and should be done, in: 20 Cardozo, Issue 2, pp Kennedy Grimstedt, Patricia, Roads to Ratibor: Library and Archival Plunder by the Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg, in: Holocaust and Genocide Studies, V 10 N3, Winter 2005, pp Kennedy Grimsted, Patricia, Trophies of war and empire : the archival heritage of Ukraine, World War II, and the international politics of restitution, Cambridge, MA : Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute : Harvard University Press, 2001 Kostenevich, Albert (ed), Hidden treasures revealed : Impressionist masterpieces and other important French paintings preserved by the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg [translated from the Russian by Elena Kolesnikova... et al.]., Moscow : Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation ; St. Petersburg : The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg ; New York : in association with H.N. Abrams, Kurtz, Michael J., Resolving a Dilemma: The Inheritance of Jewish Property, in: 20 Cardozo, Issue 2, pp Loehr, Hans Christian, Das Braune Haus der Kunst. Hitler und der Sonderauftrag Linz, Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 2005, Merryman, John Henry and Albert E. Elsen, Law, Ethics and the Visual Arts, Third Edition, London-The Hague-Boston: Kluwer Lax International, 1998 Nicholas, Lynn, The Rape of Europa: The Fate of Europe s Treasures in the Third Reich and Second World War, New York: Vintage Paperback, 1995 Palmer, N.E., Museums and the Holocaust: Law, Principles and Practice, London: Institute of Art and Law, 2000

6 Petropoulos, Jonathan, Art as Politics in the Third Reich, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1996 Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United States and Staff Report, Plunder and Restitution: The U.S. and Holocaust Victim Assets: Findings and Recommendations of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the United States and staff report. Washington: DC 2000 (non circulating copy at 6 th floor at Bobst Library) Also on the Internet: Polk, Milbry and Angela M.H. Schuster (eds), The Looting of the Iraq Museum, New York: Henry N. Adams, 2005 Riedlmayr, Andras, From The Ashes: the Past and Future of Bosnia s Cultural Heritage, in: Maya Shatzmiller (ed.), Islam and Bosnia : Conflict Resolution and Foreign Policy in Multi-ethnic States, Montréal : McGill-Queen's University Press, 2002, p Roxan, David, The Rape of Art: the Story of Hitler s Plunder of the Great Masterpieces of Europe, New York: Coward-McCann, 1965 Simpson, Elizabeth, The Spoils of War: World War II and its Aftermath: the Loss, Reappearance, and Recovery of Cultural Property, New York: Harry Abrams, 1997 Toman, Jiri, The Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict: Commentary on the Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its protocol, signed on May 14, 1954 in the Hague and on other instruments of international law concerning such protection, UNESCO, 1996 Various articles, Spoils of War, International Newsletter, Issues No. 0-5 ( Various articles from the New York Times on looted art issues For further readings see also Internet site of (Publications and Links)