The International Research Portal is a collaboration of national and other archival institutions with records that pertain to Nazi-Era cultural property. These archival institutions, along with expert national and international organizations, are working together to extend public access to the widely-dispersed records through this single internet Portal. The Portal enables families to research their losses; provenance researchers to locate important documentation; and historians to study newly accessible materials on the history of this period. This collaborative project was established to fulfill the objectives of the 1998 Washington Conference Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art, the 2000 Vilnius Forum Declaration and the 2009 Terezin Declaration, in particular on the importance of making all such records publicly accessible.
The Portal links researchers to archival materials consisting of descriptions of records and, in many cases, digital images of the records that relate to cultural property that was stolen, looted, seized, forcibly sold, or otherwise lost during the Nazi era. These records, which are in many different languages, include Nazi documentation, governmental records from 1933 onwards, inventories of recovered artworks, post-war claims records and auction house and art dealer records. Cultural property documented in these records covers a broad range from artworks to books and libraries, religious objects, antiquities, archival documents, carvings, silver and more.
Each link below directs users to descriptions of the relevant records available at each participating institution and provides information on accessing the records. Also included are further links to finding aids and digitized records, as available. All descriptions within the Portal are provided in English. As you click through the Portal to affiliated websites, the descriptions are written in the national language of each institution, and in some instances, are available in English, as well.
