The Second World War and After
Second World War
In May 1940 the German invaders ordered the Weigh House
to close. Between 1939 and 1942 the museum staff attempted to
provide a safe haven for the objects by transferring ownership to
the Stedelijk Museum, while the many objects on loan to the museum
were returned to their owners.
Eventually, on 28 April 1943, the collection of over 600 items
that had been given to the Stedelijk Museum was confiscated by the
Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg and transferred to the Institut
zur Erforschung der Judenfrage in Frankfurt.
Return of the collection
After the war, Major D.P.M. Graswinckel of the
Stichting Nederlands Kunstbezit (Dutch Art Heritage Foundation)
discovered the remaining museum objects at Hungen. This is where
the Institut zur Erforschung der Judenfrage had moved after
Frankfurt had been bombed.
Books, documents and objects were brought to the nearby Offenbach
Archival Depot, which had been set up by the American army to
return the cultural heritage to its rightful owners.
The museum objects were sent back to the Netherlands in three
transports. First one section in March 1946 under Graswinckel's
supervision, then in September and November under the watchful eye
of Jewish antique dealer Lion Morpurgo. He had been appointed
civilian officer to help arrange the return of Jewish ceremonial
objects from Germany. After these items were restored Morpurgo
continued to support the Jewish Historical Museum, taking a place
as curator on the new museum board in 1947.
Far fewer items were returned than had been confiscated. Of the c.
835 prewar objects, c. 210 have been identified in the present
museum collection; around 400 items remain missing.
Neglected Witnesses
For the war-history of the collection of the JHM, see also
Julie-Marthe Cohen, 'Theft and Restitution of Judaica in the
Netherlands During and After the Second World War', in Julie-Marthe
Cohen, with Felicitas Heimann-Jelinek (eds), Neglected
Witnesses. The Fate of Jewish Ceremonial Objects
During the Second World War and After (Institute of Art and
Law, in collaboration with the Jewish Historical Museum, Amsterdam,
2011), pp. 199-252.
