Links

Bayerisches Landesentschädigungsamt im Historischen Lexikon Bayerns

The entry on „Landesentschädigungsamt (Land compensation office)” in the Historisches Lexikon Bayerns provides information about the Wiedergutmachung procedure in Bavaria.

Entschädigungsakten/Wiedergutmachungsakten in LeoBW

LEO-BW – the regional information system for the Land Baden-Württemberg – provides information on Wiedergutmachung in Baden-Württemberg and on the use of compensation and restitution records.

Entschädigung von NS-Verbrechen

This episode, available on the MrWissen2go Geschichte, Terra X and ZDF channels, provides information on the development of German Wiedergutmachung for injustices committed under National Socialism.

Frankfurt 1933-1945

The "Entschädigung und Wiedergutmachung" section on the "Frankfurt 1933–1945" website, run by the Institute for City History of the City of Frankfurt am Main, provides, amongst other things, an insight into the work of the regional councils as compensation authorities for financial losses incurred during the Nazi era.

Germanhistorydocs

The German-English online collection "German History in Documents and Images" of the German Historical Institute in Washington contains numerous historical documents on German Wiedergutmachung.

Hamburg-Geschichtsbuch

The article „,Chinesenaktion‘ - NS-Verfolgung und keine Wiedergutmachung 1933-1949“ on the „Hamburg-Geschichtsbuch“ website – a collaborative project between Arbeitsstelle für Hamburgische Geschichte, der Behörde für Schule und Berufsbildung, der Körber-Stiftung and der Landeszentrale für politische Bildung.

Hessische Parlamentarismusgeschichte

The digital archive ‘Hessische Parlamentarismusgeschichte’ is a joint project between das Hessische Institut für Landesgeschichte und das Fachgebiet Hessische Landesgeschichte der Philipps-Universität Marburg, and enables comprehensive research into Wiedergutmachung using the sources and materials relating to Hessian parliamentary history.

Jüdisches Leben und Wiedergutmachung in Bayern nach 1945

The Bayerischer Rundfunk website contains information on Jewish life in Bavaria after 1945 and on Wiedergutmachung.

Konrad Kittl – Die Akten

The homepage provides detailed information on the files of the Munich lawyer Konrad Kittl, who handled around 1,500 compensation proceedings. The files are part of the holdings of the Munich Workers' Movement Archive.

Lernen aus der Geschichte

The “Learning from History” platform offers material for historical and civic education and suggests methodological ideas for teachers to impart the subject of Wiedergutmachung.

Norbert Wollheim Memorial

Published by the Wollheim Commission of the Goethe University Frankfurt, the Memorial provides information about Norbert Wollheim (1913-1998) who survived the Monowitz-Buna concentration camp and had to perform forced labor for I.G.Farben. In 1951, he filed a suit against the conglomerate in a test case seeking compensation.

Rückerstattung und Wiedergutmachung am Beispiel Mannheims

The educational platform “History” of the Landesbildungsserver Baden-Württemberg offers teaching material on restitution and compensation in the city of Mannheim.

Spurensuche Bielefeld 1933-1945

The Bielefeld City Archives’ participatory online portal, ‘Spurensuche Bielefeld 1933–1945’, features, amongst other things, biographies of victims of Nazi persecution and their applications for Wiedergutmachung.

Universitäten - Geschichte - Quellen

An article in the blog “Universities - History – Sources” presents three archival documents on the subject of Wiedergutmachung from the Hamburg University Archives.

Visual History Archive an der FU Berlin

The online platform of Freie Universität Berlin provides access to the collection of the Institute for Visual History and Education of the Shoah Foundation at the University of Southern California (USC). It offers more than 55,000 video interviews of Holocaust survivors and provides insight into the transcriptions of 903 German and 47 foreign-language video interviews created at Freie Universität Berlin, some of which also shed light on personal experiences with the German Wiedergutmachung policy.

Webinar „Quellen zur Geschichte der Wiedergutmachung im Staatsarchiv Ludwigsburg“

The webinar by the State Archives of Baden-Württemberg helps to research and use archival records on compensation for National Socialist injustice. It introduces into the history of Wiedergutmachung in Baden-Württemberg and presents selected documents.

Westfälische Geschichte

The ‘Westfälische Geschichte’ web portal, run by the LWL Institute for Westphalian Regional History and the Westfalen-Initiative Foundation, provides materials for a university course on the topic of ‘The Battle over Restitution – Financial Administration and Wiedergutmachung’, including sources and assignment tasks.

Wiedergutmachung und jüdisches Leben in der DDR

The website of the State Archives of Saxony-Anhalt contains information and digitized records on Wiedergutmachung and on Jewish life in Saxony-Anhalt and in the GDR.

YouTube „Als Sintezza verfolgt: Wie Rosa Mettbach um Entschädigung und Anerkennung kämpft“

The episode ‘Persecuted as a Sintezza: How Rosa Mettbach Fights for Compensation and Recognition’ from the Arolsen Archives’ series ‘Forgotten Crimes – What Happened After 1945’, produced as part of the #everynamecounts initiative, tells the story of a young survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp and her struggle with the Wiedergutmachung offices.

Zwangsarbeit 1933–1945 – Erinnern und Geschichte

The online interview collection initiated by the EVZ Foundation in cooperation with Freie Universität Berlin and with the German Historical Museum presents witness accounts on forced labor from 1939-1945 and on the victims’ struggle for compensation.

Zwangsarbeit im NS-Staat

The portal of the Federal Archives provides central access to information on forced labor under the National Socialist regime. It includes, among other things, information on compensation efforts and measures, a directory of places of detention, and information on institutions and companies who employed forced laborers.

Arbeitsgruppe Wiedergutmachungsakten beim Arbeitskreis Provenienzforschung e.V.

The working group on Wiedergutmachung records at the Arbeitskreis Provenienzforschung e.V. addresses the opportunities of using restitution and compensation records for provenance research.

Deutsches Zentrum Kulturgutverluste

Established in Magdeburg in 2015 by the German government, the federal states and the head associations of local authorities, the German Lost Art Foundation serves as a central point of contact in Germany and offers advice and assistance on all questions relating to unlawful confiscation of cultural property.

Deutschlandfunk-Podcast „Hannovers dunkles Erbe“

In its two-part podcast ‘Tatort Kunst’, Deutschlandfunk explores the fascinating story behind a painting by Lovis Corinth, which a Jewish family is reclaiming from the city of Hanover. Part 2

Forschungsdatenbank Proveana

The database comprises the results of all research projects funded by the German Lost Art Foundation.

Jewish Digital Cultural Recovery Project

The digital platform “Jewish Digital Cultural Recovery Project” offers information on Jewish art and cultural assets seized during the National Socialist era with cross-references for archival documentation, research and education.

Lost Art-Datenbank

The database operated by the German Lost Art Foundation documents cultural assets removed, relocated or expropriated as a result of National Socialist persecution or of the Second World War.

Mission de recherche et de restitution des biens culturels spoliés entre 1933 et 1945

The website of the French Ministry of Culture provides information about the “Mission to search for and to restore cultural property looted between 1933 and 1945”, which engages in the research and restitution of cultural assets stolen between 1933 and 1945.

Provenienzdatenbank Bund

The German Federal Arts Administration researches the provenance of artworks of the Federal Republic of Germany originating from former property of the German Reich. The Federal Provenance Database lists all pieces of artwork restituted since 2000, but also objects whose provenance is still unclear.

Provenienzdatenbank Looted Cultural Assets

Within the cooperation “Looted Cultural Assets”, libraries committed to the investigation of Nazi-looted cultural property are researching the provenance of their books. The Looted Cultural Assets database contains more than 32,000 references to former ownership and information on more than 10,000 persons and institutions.

Quellen zu Kulturgutverlagerungen im NS-Kontext 

The Federal Archives’ collections relating to works of art and cultural property unlawfully confiscated during the Nazi era can be searched. This page provides information on the research guides for these sources.

Database of Holocaust Survivor and Victim Names

The database of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum provides information on the names of victims and survivors of the Holocaust.

Datenbank der Arolsen Archives

The Arolsen Archives maintain the world's most comprehensive collection of documents about the victims and survivors of National Socialism - with references to around 17.5 million people.

Gedenkbuch „Opfer der Verfolgung der Juden unter der nationalsozialistischen Gewaltherrschaft in Deutschland 1933-1945“

The Memorial Book of the Federal Archives contains the names of all Jews who were murdered or died in other ways due to persecution between 1933 and 1945, who had voluntarily resided in the German Reich (within its territory as of December 31, 1937) regardless of their nationality.

JewishGen

The extensive website includes several databases and offers numerous search tools on Jewish genealogy. JewishGen is a non-profit organization founded in 1987. Since 2003, it has been an affiliate of the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York.

Lexikon verfolgter Musiker und Musikerinnen der NS-Zeit

The online lexicon of the Institut für Historische Musikwissenschaft at the Universität Hamburg provides information about professional musicians persecuted by the National Socialist regime.

LostLift Datenbank

The database of the German Maritime Museum - Leibniz Institute of Maritime History reconstructs the route of the removal goods confiscated in the ports of Bremen and Hamburg from 1939 onwards and provides information on the fate of the persecuted former owners.

Mapping the Lives

The project of the non-profit organization Tracing the Past e.V. contains over 950,000 entries on people persecuted in Europe from 1933-1945, based on the supplementary cards of the 1939 ‘minority’ census (so-called Residents' List of the Federal Archives) and on other verifiable sources.

Memorial Archives

The Flossenbürg Concentration Camp Memorial provides an online database to research prisoners of the Flossenbürg concentration camp or one of its subcamps.

Opfer der NS-„Euthanasie“

The Federal Archives database contains more than 30,000 names and additional information of euthanasia victims for whom medical records are available in the R 179 fonds.

Sowjetische Kriegsgefangene

The database of the Saxon Memorial Foundation was a result of the project “Soviet and German prisoners of war and internees (2000-2014)” which analyzed documents from German archives and archives of the former USSR.

Stadt Euskirchen

The register "Recognition as a persecuted person and entitlement to Wiedergutmachung" lists names and additional information of victims of National Socialist persecution in the town of Euskirchen.

Yad Vashem - The Central Database of Shoah Victims' Names

The database of the World Holocaust Remembrance Center Yad Vashem contains the names and biographical data of millions of victims and survivors of the systematic persecution of Jews by the National Socialist regime.

Bildungsagenda NS-Unrecht

The website provides information about the projects and approaches of the “Education Agenda NS-Injustice”, a program launched in 2021 by the EVZ Foundation on the initiative and with funding of the German Federal Ministry of Finance. It is part of the follow-up tasks for German Wiedergutmachung policy.

Bildungsportal NS-Zwangsarbeit

Numerous museums, memorials and documentation centres commemorate the 13 million people who were forced to perform hard labour in Germany during the Nazi era. The educational portal provides information on the subject of Nazi forced labour through a range of digital resources. 

„Ewige Zuchthäusler?!“

In cooperation with the Institut für Braunschweigische Regionalgeschichte und Geschichtsvermittlung (IBRG) and the Hogeschool VIVES in Kortrijk/Belgium, the research project at the Wolfenbüttel Prison Memorial investigates and analyzes the experiences regarding compensation for Western European prisoners of Wolfenbüttel during the Nazi period.

HolocaustRemedies

The project “The post-Holocaust Development of Legal Remedies as a Learning Process" at Justus Liebig University Giessen examines the legal framework of compensation law that emerged after 1945 to make amends for crimes committed by the National Socialist regime.

„Kunst, Raub und Rückgabe –
Vergessene Lebensgeschichten“

The project aims to pass on the stories of persecuted people so that the names of those affected are not forgotten. From 2022 to 2024, the website was developed and initial educational outreach activities were carried out in schools and online. In a follow-up project running from 2025 to 2027, the website and educational initiatives will be further expanded.

Landesarchivverwaltung Rheinland-Pfalz

Landesarchivverwaltung Rheinland-Pfalz is indexing and digitizing the files on Wiedergutmachung proceedings that were transferred from the Amt für Wiedergutmachung. The files have already been indexed by the Amt für Wiedergutmachung, but must be reviewed to ensure compliance with the protection periods specified in archival law. This page provides information on the status of the project.

Learning from Files

By use of approximately 1,000 compensation files from the Bavarian regional association of the Association of German Sinti and Roma, the project “Learning from Files” sheds light on the perspective of surviving Sinti and Roma and of the Wiedergutmachung authorities within the German compensation practice after 1945. Aside from the digitization and scientific analysis of the files, the project intends to prepare didactic materials for extracurricular educational programs in universities, memorial sites and authorities.

RegioNet Bildungsportal 

The education portal is a digital teaching and learning resource for historical and political education in Rhineland-Palatinate. The first key topic covered is the history of Wiedegutmachung for injustices committed under National Socialism.

Symposium 2023: Status quo and quo vadis?

The presentations at the symposium "Status quo and quo vadis? New Research on the Recognition and Compensation of Nazi Injustice in Comparative Perspective" will provide an insight into current research projects on questions of Wiedergutmachung. Organized by the Forschungsstelle Antiziganismus at Heidelberg University, the symposium took place at the Heidelberg School of Jewish Studies in March 2023. 

Vergessene Verfolgte 

As part of the City of Münster’s research and remembrance project, residents of Münster who were persecuted during the Nazi era between 1933 and 1945 on account of their sexual orientation or for socio-racist reasons are being brought back from ‘oblivion’. The website details their individual stories in eleven biographies.

Bundesarchiv-Glossar zur Schriftgut- und Informationsverwaltung

The Federal Archives' glossary contains an alphabetical list of the terms and definitions related to records management.

Dictionary of Archives Terminology

The English dictionary of the Society of American Archivists is the foremost reference on the archival lexicon. Its entries primarily draw from the professional literature in the United States and Canada.

EHRI Online Course „Modern Diplomatics of the Holocaust“

The Online Course in Holocaust Studies "Modern Diplomatics of the Holocaust" of the European Holocaust Research Infrastructure Project (EHRI) provides an in-depth introduction to working with German records and sources related to the Holocaust, including a "glossary of archival and diplomatic terms". EHRI intends to bring together and promote international Holocaust research and offers access to research data and information on the institutions holding archival material on the Holocaust.

Interpretive guide to the United Restitution Organization claims files

The Alex Dworkin Canadian Jewish Archives (formerly Canadian Jewish Congress CC National Archives) have developed a guide to help people read and understand Wiedergutmachung documents, such as those found in the records of the United Restitution Organization (URO). Founded in 1948, the URO supported Holocaust survivors in their restitution proceedings and provided legal assistance. An extensive German-English glossary explains the specialized terms, expressions and abbreviations used in the documents.

Kleine Quellenkunde (LA NRW): Rückerstattungsakten und Entschädigungsakten

The State Archives of North Rhine-Westphalia offers a guide to the restitution files of the restitution offices and the compensation files of the district governments.

Multilingual Archival Terminology

Multilingual archival terminology database developed by the International Council on Archives (ICA) and InterPARES Trust, multi-national, interdisciplinary research project exploring issues of trust and trustworthiness of records and data in online environments. The ICA is a network of archivists, archival directorates and institutions and professional associations. 

Terminologie der Archivwissenschaft

Alphabetical glossary by the Archivschule Marburg providing information on the most important archival terms.

Leitfaden: Recherche nach als »Asoziale« oder »Berufsverbrecher« Verfolgten

This guide provides a step-by-step explanation of the methodology for researching the disavowed victims of National Socialism. It was developed by staff members of the project “Traveling Exhibition for the Disavowed Victims of National Socialism” at the “Foundation Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe” and the Flossenbürg Concentration Camp Memorial for the “Verband für das Erinnern an die verleugneten Opfer des Nationalsozialismus e.V.”

Webinar „Quellen zur Geschichte der Wiedergutmachung im Staatsarchiv Ludwigsburg“

The webinar by the State Archives of Baden-Württemberg helps to research and use archival records on compensation for National Socialist injustice.

Arbeitsgemeinschaft Bund der „Euthanasie“-Geschädigten und Zwangssterilisierten

The Arbeitsgemeinschaft Bund der 'Euthanasie'-Geschädigten und Zwangssterilisierten is committed to the rehabilitation of victims of euthanasia or forced sterilization.

Arbeitsgemeinschaft ehemals verfolgter Sozialdemokraten

The Arbeitskreis ehemals verfolgter und inhaftierter Sozialdemokraten (AvS) arose in 2016 from the merger of two working groups concerned with formerly persecuted Social Democrats and political prisoners in the Soviet occupation zone and in the GDR.

Bundesverband Information und Beratung für NS-Verfolgte e.V.

The Bundesverband Information & Beratung für NS-Verfolgte (Federal Association Information and Advice for Survivors of Nazi Persecution) advises victims of National Socialist persecution and their descendants and supports social projects to improve the lives of survivors.

Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, Inc. (Claims Conference)

Founded in 1951 by representatives of various international Jewish organizations, the Claims Conference negotiates for and secures material compensation for Holocaust survivors around the world.

Jüdischen Museums Berlin

The virtual exhibition "Looting and Restitution" at the Jewish Museum Berlin narrates the history of Jewish-owned cultural artifacts from 1933 to the present.

KZ-Gedenkstätte Neuengamme

The virtual tour through the exhibitions of the Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial includes information on compensation for former concentration camp prisoners (see section 8 “Life after Liberation") and some first-hand accounts on Wiedergutmachung in the Federal Republic of Germany and the Soviet Occupation Zone/GDR.

Bundesamt für zentrale Dienste und offene Vermögenfragen

The German Federal Office for Central Services and Unresolved Property Issues (BADV) settles restitution or compensation claims regarding illegal seizures of property on the territory of the new Länder and in East Berlin during the National Socialist period, in the event that compensation was not provided by the GDR. It also implements the federal government guidelines on transitional payments to surviving spouses of victims of National Socialist injustice and on payments in recognition of ghetto work that did not constitute forced labor. The BADV administers the records of the former Office for the Legal Protection of the Assets of the GDR, of the of the vault administration division of the GDR Finance Ministry Treasury, and the restitution archive which contains files from the National Socialist period and from the post-1945 period relating to proceedings under the Federal Restitution Act.

Bundesministerium der Finanzen

Within the Federal Government, the German Federal Ministry of Finance has been in charge of all issues relating to Wiedergutmachung.

Entschädigungsbehörden des Bundes und der Länder

A current list of the still existing compensation offices of the Federal Republic and the Länder is available on the website of the Rhineland-Palatinate Landesamt für Finanzen.