Annual Conference Topic 16 –17 November 2017 Participants Placing the Irreplaceable – Restitution of Jewish Cultural Property Negotiations, Historical Dimensions, Documentation CONTACT Dr. Elisabeth Gallas Simon Dubnow Institute für Jewish History and Culture Goldschmidtstraße 28, 04103 Leipzig Phone 0341 21735-50 | Fax 0341 21735-55 [email protected] www.dubnow.de | www.dla-marbach.de Cover Illustration: Book-Warehouse Prague, 1942–1944. © Jewish Museum Prague. Prof. Dr. Frieder von Ammon, Leipzig University | Zachary M. Baker, Stanford University Libraries, Palo Alto, Calif. | Michal Bušek, Jewish Museum Prague | Nawojka Cies´lin´ska-Lobkowicz, Warsaw/Munich | Yehuda Dvorkin, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem | Prof. Dr. David E. Fishman, Jewish Theological Seminary of America, New York | Dr. Elisabeth Gallas, Simon Dubnow Institute, Leipzig | PD Dr. Jan Gerber, Simon Dubnow Institute, Leipzig | Dr. Caroline Jessen, German Literature Archive, Marbach am Neckar | Anna Kawałko, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem | Dr. Łukasz Krzyżanowski, Freie Universität Berlin | Dr. Lara Lempertiene ˙, Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania, Vilnius | PD Dr. Marcel Lepper, German Litera- ture Archive, Marbach am Neckar | Dr. Dietmar Müller, Leibniz Institute for the History and Culture of Eastern Europe (GWZO), Leipzig | Dr. Andrea Rehling, Leibniz Institute of European History, Mainz | Bilha Shilo, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem | Dr. Mateˇj Spurný, Imre Kertész Kolleg, Jena/Charles University, Prague | Prof. Dr. Yfaat Weiss, Simon Dubnow Institute, Leipzig/ The Hebrew University of Jerusalem | Prof. Dr. Tanja Zimmermann, Leipzig University The systematic destruction of European Jewish culture during World War II attained unprecedented dimensions; its repercussions can be felt to this day. International events such as the 1998 Washington Conference on Nazi Confiscated Art, resulting in the declaration of the Washington Principles and encouraging initiatives of prov- enance research and restitution worldwide, are testament to an increasing public awareness of related topics. But the ideas driving these initiatives were by no means new: negotiations about placement and restitution of looted Jewish cultural property had already been conducted in the early postwar period. The long history of activities and debates concerning the hand- ling of displaced books, art works, and ritual objects – frag- ments of a disrupted past – reveals important layers of European political and cultural history after 1945. It brings to the surface dissonant perspectives on the future of Jewish life and culture after the war, exposes distinct forms of political and legal principles implemented during the Cold War in relation to property and ownership rights, and shows the different ways of Jewish memory creation in light of the Holocaust. The aim of this conference is to associate two fields of research and activity which, all too often, take separate paths: the historical exploration of actors, institutions, and debates about the protection and restitution of looted Jewish cultural property after 1945 on the one hand, and the realm of provenance investigation, the reconstruction of collections, and the care for related material on the other. We hope to encourage a discussion that combines the actual concerns of finding and preser- ving relevant assets as well as their documentation, with a historical perspective on the significance of related questions for Jewish memory, recognition and belonging in the twentieth century. Registration until 9 November 2017: [email protected]