The so-called “Silver Levy”

The Nazi regime issued the “Third Decree on the Basis of the Ordinance regarding the Registration of Jewish Assets” on 21 February 1939. In Munich, over 2,000 people were forced to hand in their valuables to the Pawn Office in Augustenstraße. Today, both the Münchner Stadtmuseum and the Bavarian National Museum hold numerous silver objects that originated from the Municipal Pawn Office. Provenance researchers have been working for several years to identify the former owners of these objects. Initially, it was almost impossible to assign the purchase catalogue numbers of the Pawn Office (“Ankaufsverzeichnisnummern”, AV numbers) to the individuals concerned. Only the discovery of files in Munich archives enabled the AV numbers of the objects to be linked to the names. Some restitutions, i.e. returns to the rightful heirs, have already been realised. One such example is described in the Jewish Museum Munich's blog post “Tante Olgas Silberleuchter” (“Aunt Olga's silver chandelier”).

Descendants from all over the world

On 8 November 2024, a first group of descendants of victims of Nazi persecution from Argentina, America, England, Israel, Italy and Germany visited the Bavarian Main State Archives (see the blog post from 17 December 2024: “Munich roots” – Descendants of victims of Nazi persecution visit the Main Bavarian State Archives). Another visit by a group that had also travelled from all over the world, even from Australia, has now taken place. Matthias Weniger, provenance researcher at the Bavarian National Museum, contacted numerous institutions to participate in the programme. A particularly important and emotional part was the installation of “Erinnerungszeichen” (Memorial Signs) commemorating five victims of the Nazi Regime: Hermine Bernheimer, Hermann Binswanger, Erna and Friedrich Sigmund Marx and Minna Hirschberg.

Searching for traces in the Archives

The visiting programme took the families to many sites of the Nazi era in Munich and the surroundings. At the Bavarian Main State Archives, the families learnt more about the historical context and the possibilities for researching their own family history. They were also given a deeper insight into the digitisation project “Transformation of Wiedergutmachung”. Between 2023 and 2030, the State Archives Munich and the Bavarian Main State Archives are digitising documents on “Wiedergutmachung” – i.e. files on compensation and restitution. The digitised documents are published online together with their detailed metadata via the Bavarian State Archives’ finding aid database and in the online collection “Wiedergutmachung for National Socialist Injustice”, insofar as legal requirements permit.

An exhibition with original documents complemented the presentation: It presented a persecution fate from the Nazi era and demonstrated the possibilities of analysing the files for “Wiedergutmachung”.

Encounters and remembrance work

Such moments of encounter are also of great importance for those working in archives and in provenance research. The aim of the project “Transformation of Wiedergutmachung” is to make these important files accessible and to make visible the often drastic content. This not only supports Holocaust education, as the project logo symbolises: “Talking about it instead of forgetting”. At a time when denial and forgetting continue to pose a challenge, it is more important than ever to counter with facts and raise awareness of our history.