Books and Publications:

Report from proceedings of the First International Meeting in Bremen on Cultural Property moved because of the War. A Cultural Legacy of World War II - Documentation and Research of Losses, 1 December 1994

Albania
Laws, Policies and Guidelines
Official Bodies and Reports
Research Resources
Argentina
Official Bodies and Reports
Armenia
Research Resources
Australia
Official Bodies and Reports
Research Resources
Archival Records
Belarus
Official Bodies and Reports
Research Resources
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Official Bodies and Reports
Bulgaria
Official Bodies and Reports
Canada
Art Trade
Museums, Libraries and Archives
Official Bodies and Reports
Croatia
Official Bodies and Reports
Research Resources
Archival Records
Cyprus
Official Bodies and Reports
Denmark
Official Bodies and Reports
Museums, Libraries and Archives
Estonia
Official Bodies and Reports
Research Resources
Finland
Georgia
Research Resources
Greece
Official Bodies and Reports
Research Resources
Archival Records
Korea
Research Resources
Latvia
Official Bodies and Reports
Lithuania
Books and Publications
Official Bodies and Reports
Luxembourg
Official Bodies and Reports
Research Resources
Macedonia
Official Bodies and Reports
Research Resources
Norway
Official Bodies and Reports
Research Resources
Bibliographies
Paraguay
Official Bodies and Reports
Looted Cultural Property, Libraries and Archives
Museums, Libraries and Archives
Museums
Official Bodies and Reports
Research Resources
Portugal
Official Bodies and Reports
Romania
Official Bodies and Reports
Slovakia
Official Bodies and Reports
Slovenia
Laws, Policies and Guidelines
Official Bodies and Reports
Research Resources
Spain
Official Bodies and Reports
Research Resources
Sweden
Turkey
Official Bodies and Reports
Ukraine
Official Body and Reports
Research Resources
Uruguay
Official Bodies and Reports
Yugoslavia
Research Resources

Publication
Report from proceedings of the First International Meeting in Bremen on Cultural Property moved because of the War. A Cultural Legacy of World War II - Documentation and Research of Losses.

Date
1 December 1994

Description
During the Nazi occupation of Belgium, three series of archives were transferred to the State Archive in Dusseldorf (Staatsarchiv Dusseldorf). These were the archives of Eupen-Malmedy (a small German territory annexed by Belgium by virtue of the Versailles Treaty) dating from 1918, archives of Eupen from before 1918, and archives of the Rhineland kept in Belgian archives. In addition, documentary depositories and archival collections relating to military affairs and dated before 1914-1918, together with political and ideological documents identified by the Rosenberg Task Force and the Sicherheitspolizei/Sicherheitsdienst (Sipo-SD) were removed to Germany. Some archives of the Reichskommissar of Belgium are at present kept in the Archives Nationales in Paris.

Part of the Eupen-Malmedy material was recovered after World War II. Belgian missions to Moscow since 1992 confirmed that archives removed to Moscow by the Red Army as war booty contained many Belgian files. The Osoby archives in Moscow contain thirty-five series of Belgian documents totalling 19,934 files. Eighty percent of this material is of official origin and concerns Ministry of Defence matters dating back to World War I and the Ruhr occupation. There are some 200 dossiers from the Belgian public prosecutor. Other material includes files concerning freemasons, socialist and Jewish organisations and papers from the National Institute of Social History. Negotiations for the return of archival material from Moscow were partially successful in March 2001.

Responsibility for the stolen Belgian archives is shared between the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the General Archives of Belgium.

Sources

Dirk Martin, Recovery of Belgian Archives Lost During the Second World War
<http://www.dhh-3.de/biblio/bremen/treasures/contents.html>, first accessed 27 November 2002.  Link updated 17 July 2007

Michel Vermote "Back from Nowhere. The restitution of Belgian looted collections (1991-2001)", Seminar: Russia, Archives and Restitution, International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam, 24 September 2001 <http://www.iisg.nl/archives-and-restitution/>, first accessed 27 November 2002.  Link updated 17 July 2007

© website copyright Central Registry 2024