Museums in Saxony conducting audits to verify if artifacts in their possession are linked to Nazi thefts

In museums across Saxony, a significant effort is underway to uncover the hidden past and shed light on the stories of persecuted Jewish families. This endeavour is part of the joint project "Art, Theft, Return - Forgotten Life Stories," a collaborative initiative between the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (SKD) and the State Museums of Berlin.

The Museum Burg Mylau recently discovered two fragments of Hebrew writings, likely looted from Jewish communities in Eastern Europe during the darkest days of World War II. A Wehrmacht soldier delivered at least one of these writings to the museum in 1943. The discovery sets off a chain of events aimed at restoring these valuable artifacts to their rightful owners or their descendants.

Historian Jens Kunze and museum director Markus Doescher have reached out to the descendants of the Ringer family, whose department store was attacked and destroyed during the November pogroms in 1938. Family members were later deported and murdered. The Stadt- und Dampfmaschinenmuseum Werdau, which houses the Ringer family's store sign, donated to the museum in 1966, will now tell a unique story of the family's fate.

The project will not limit itself to case histories from the SKD but will also investigate those with a direct local connection. For instance, historian Mike Huth has been reviewing the inventories, sources, and acquisitions from 1933 onwards in museums such as the Heimatmuseum Wilsdruff, Stadtische Museen Großenhain / Alte Lateinschule, and the Stadtmuseum Döbeln from October 2023 to February 2024.

The Neuberin-Museum in Reichenbach, the Neuberin-Museum in Reichenbach, and the Stadt- und Dampfmaschinenmuseum Werdau conducted initial checks for suspected Nazi-looted art from September 2024 to January 2025. While the Neuberin-Museum found no credible indications of objects removed between 1933 and 1945 due to persecution, the Stadt- und Dampfmaschinenmuseum Werdau identified an object related to the persecuted Jewish Ringer family.

The special exhibition "80 Years Ago. End of the War in Werdau and Surroundings" at the Stadt- und Dampfmaschinenmuseum Werdau will feature the research findings and the Ringer family's store sign. The exhibition is scheduled to run from 9.2.-15.6.2025. A commemorative event in memory of the Ringer family will take place on August 13, 2025, with descendants of the family participating.

The city of Werdau aims for a just and fair solution in line with the Washington Principles regarding the Ringer family's case. The German Center for Lost Cultural Property in Magdeburg is funding these initial projects across Germany, and the State Art Collections Dresden (SKD) have supported and accompanied museums in conducting these checks.

The educational project "Art, Theft, Return - Forgotten Life Stories" is funded by third-party funds and aims to prevent antisemitism in urban and rural areas of the Free State of Saxony. By uncovering the past and sharing these stories, the project seeks to foster understanding and promote a more inclusive society.