Möbelaktion: Correspondence and papers

The copy correspondence and papers in this collection document the systematic theft of Jewish property following the ransacking of Jewish lodges, libraries and archives; the subsequent confiscation of all art works in Jewish hands throughout Europe and their dispatch to Germany in special trains; and the plunder of the homes of Jews deported to the East collectively known in Germany as 'Möbelaktion'.

The United Restitution Office was founded in 1948 by an initiative of the Council of Jews from Germany. This organisation persuaded the main representative organisations of Jews in Britain, USA and France to set up offices in their respective countries to deal with claims for restitution from the German government especially from poorer claimants who were without the means to do it alone.

The material was gathered chronologically together in one volume and paginated. The legibility of many of the documents is poor.

Open

United Restitution Office

Description exists to this archive on the Wiener Library's online catalogue www.wienerlibrary.co.uk.

Microfilm

Copies can be made for personal use. Permission must be sought for publication.

A report dated 22 July 1958, filmed at the beginning of the collection, states that the material was gathered under the supervision of J.J. Jacobson of the American Joint Distribution Committee in Paris.

Wiener Collection, Tel Aviv University, Israel.