Nazi Looted Art and the Fight for Open Data

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In 2000 the American newspaper Chicago Tribune examined the struggle to publish long hidden Holocaust-related art looting archives. 

The article, "KEY TO ART NAZIS STOLE MAY BE LOCKED AWAY"written by journalist and history professor Ron Grossman, recounts the struggle to provide open access to:

 a massive cache of World War II records documenting Nazi looting of works by some of the greatest artists in history 

The context of the article is that a United States government commission on Holocaust reparations is preparing to issue its final report, and there is fear that these crucial archives, which had been marked classified and locked away, will remain inaccessible despite the efforts of the Presidential Commission. The Commission is planning to publish a public database, but there are problems. Additional government funding is needed. A deadline looms.

The Cailleux Project: Norton Simon Museum in Los Angeles, USA

The name "Cailleux" appears in the provenance of at least nine artworks in the Norton Simon Museum:

FOLD3: Red Flag Name Fritz Nathan entered as Fritz Najean

Digital Humanities can help find information if the information is correctly digitized. But if names are misspelled, they will be invisible to a digital search function.

FOLD3, the excellent digital archive associated with NARA, the National Archives, has a problem with the transcriptions of the Art Looting Investigation Unit Red Flag List of Names. And the problem seems to be getting worse, not better.
If one searches the ALIU Final Report for "Nathan" one will find Nathan Katz. The entry for Fritz Nathan will not appear in the search.

If one knows that there is an entry for Fritz Nathan in the Switzerland section of the Art Looting Investigation Unit Red Flag List and goes to the page where it appears, one can see on the image the entry for (*) Nathan, Dr. Fritz. However the list of searchable names on the left side of the screen shows, not Fritz Nathan, but a "Fritz Najean".

There is no such person as Fritz Najean in the actual ALIU Reports. However, if one searches on "Najean" the record will appear.

If, however, one searches on "Nathan", one will only find Nathan, Katz. Not Fritz Nathan.

This kind of data error should be of concern to digital humanities scholars, art historians, provenance researchers, and archivists.

see FOLD3 https://www.fold3.com/image/232006332 for Fritz Nathan aka Najean entry

For other ALIU Reports on Fold3 see:

CIRs: https://www.fold3.com/browse/114/hvMxROzkdWx-J5nVj

DIRs https://www.fold3.com/browse/114/hvMxROzkdSyceieW2

Final (including Red Flag List) https://www.fold3.com/browse/114/hvMxROzkd1ZVdGNv9C7Gz495S


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For more digital transcription errors concerning Fritz Nathan see also:

- National Archives: Holocaust era assets, where Nathan is digitized as "Mathan".

https://www.archives.gov/research/holocaust/finding-aid/military/part-2-notes.html

- Buehrle, Emil entry in the digitized publication of the ALIU Red Flag List, where Nathan is transcribed as "Natman".

https://www.lootedart.com/MVI3RM469661

Switzerland in the Art Looting Investigation Unit Red Flag List of Names

Art Market Network Visualisation for Swiss dealers:  focus Theodor Fischer
source: Art Looting Investigation Unit Final Report

The 1946 ALIU Final Report broke the Red Flag List Name down into ten separate geographical areas:  Germany, France, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Belgium, Italy,  Spain, Portugal, Sweden and Luxembourg. 

The network was International and overlapped But the ALIU tried to identify important actors by country.

In this post, we will look at the ALIU's listings for Switzerland. 

The place where two networks intersect is extremely interesting.
Red Flag Names in the Switzerland section of the 1946 Art Looting Investigation Unit Final Report meet Red Flag Names that mention Linz in the description

So far we have looked at a few individual names and their networks as described in the 1946 report.

In this post we change focus to examine the links to a geographical area: Switzerland.  Note: we are using the ALIU units category "Switzerland" for this analysis.
(An alternative approach would be to include every Red Flag entry that mentions the word "Switzerland" or a city in the country of Switzerland. This second approach would capture individuals not of Swiss nationality who had links to Switzerland which could be useful.)

Map of ALIU Red Flag names from the section on Switzerland, using the location information in the 1946 report.

The original ALIU texts are attached to each red data point.

Zoom on Zurich art dealers (source: ALIU 1946 Final Report)

The only data cleaning was to correct three misspellings discussed in a previous post: Seira==> Skira; Caillier ==> Cailler; and Natman ==>Nathan). Otherwise the texts displayed are exactly as written  in 1946 by the OSS Art Looting Investigation Unit.

The ALIU entry for Tanner, President of the Federation of Swiss Art Dealers. The red marker is automatically located at Zurich, Bahnhofstrasse 29, the location included in the ALIU Final Report.

Above is the Art Looting Investigation Unit 1946 entry for Tanner, President of the Federation of Swiss Art Dealers.
Below is the ALIU 1946 entry for Neupert Galerie.

Galerie Neupert in Zurich "Father and son art dealers, in contact with Hofer, Haberstock, Lohse and Fischer" 
(source: ALIU final Report)

Albert Skira (which had been mistranscribed in the ALIU digital version as Seira) had a very long entry in 1946.

Albert Skira in Geneva: "Owner of publishing firm'Editions d'Art', on British and American Proclaimed Lists
(source: ALIU Final Report)

Below is the ALIU 1946 entry for Dr. Fritz Nathan (elsewhere misspelled as "Natman".)

Dr Fritz Nathan in St Gallen: "Adviser to Buehrle, and intermediary between Fischer, Hofer and Buehrle"
(source: ALIU Fnal Report)

Misspellings such as those for Nathan (Natman), Skira (Seira) and Cailler (Caillier) generate errors in network analysis and have to be corrected before generating intersecting network graphs.

Below is the cluster for Switzerland - that is, Red Flag names that were presented in the "Switzerland" section of the Final Report.

The list of Red Flag Names in the Switzerland section of the ALIU Final Report can be visualised as a network.

Which names to focus on? We can look at the number of mentions in both the ALIU Red Flag list and the Switzerland section of this list for suggestions:

ALIU RED FLAG	MENTIONS		ALIU SWITZERLAND	MENTIONS
schenker	155
hofer	152		hofer	19
err	139		fischer	15
goering	93		wendland	15
muehlmann	90		err	10
bornheim	56		reber	7
haberstock	56		rosenberg	7
lohse	50		buehrle	5
kunstschutz	47		angerer	4
goering’s	40		engel	4
wendland	40		lohse	4
dienststelle	33		matisse	4
wuester	32		stoecklin	4
angerer	25		frey	3
fischer	23		goering	3
schloss	23		neupert	3
dietrich	21		schmidlin	3
rochlitz	20		tanner	3
rosenberg	20		ascona	2
frapier	19		benzion	2
bauer	17		bernheim	2
voss	17		boehler	2
engel	16		buemming	2
posse	16		dreyfus	2
reber	16		haberstock	2
plietzsch	15		hirschland	2
dequoy	14		levy	2
loebl	14		montag	2
heerengracht	13		nathan	2
lange	13		oerlikon	2
mueller	13		raeber	2
martin	12		rochlitz	2
behr	11		skira	2
boehler	11		toepfer	2
charles	11		truessel	2
schmidt	11		veraguth	2
gurlitt	10		versoix	2
inquart	10		wuester	2
katz	10
lefranc	10
paech	10
scholz	10
wildenstein	10
kieslinger	9
bachstitz	8
boitel	8
buehrle	8
goepel	8
goudstikker	8
hamann	8
hermssen	8
petrides	8
poellnitz	8
postma	8
bunjes	7
devisenschutzkommando	7
fabiani	7
gritzbach	7
heinz	7
herbst	7
hitler	7
hoffmann	7
holzapfel	7
kajetan	7
lagrand	7
mandl	7
perdoux	7
poznan	7
weinmueller	7
bernheim	6
brueschwiller	6
friedlander	6
garin	6
gerard	6
jansen	6
kogl	6
leegenhoek	6
lippmann	6
manteau	6
mohnen	6
morandotti	6
rosenthal	6
rothschild	6
wolff	6

ALIU RED FLAG

MENTIONS

ALIU SWITZERLAND

MENTIONS

schenker

155

hofer

152

hofer

19

err

139

fischer

15

goering

93

wendland

15

muehlmann

90

err

10

bornheim

56

reber

7

haberstock

56

rosenberg

7

lohse

50

buehrle

5

kunstschutz

47

angerer

4

goering’s

40

engel

4

wendland

40

lohse

4

dienststelle

33

matisse

4

wuester

32

stoecklin

4

angerer

25

frey

3

fischer

23

goering

3

schloss

23

neupert

3

dietrich

21

schmidlin

3

rochlitz

20

tanner

3

rosenberg

20

ascona

2

frapier

19

benzion

2

bauer

17

bernheim

2

voss

17

boehler

2

engel

16

buemming

2

posse

16

dreyfus

2

reber

16

haberstock

2

plietzsch

15

hirschland

2

dequoy

14

levy

2

loebl

14

montag

2

heerengracht

13

nathan

2

lange

13

oerlikon

2

mueller

13

raeber

2

martin

12

rochlitz

2

behr

11

skira

2

boehler

11

toepfer

2

charles

11

truessel

2

schmidt

11

veraguth

2

gurlitt

10

versoix

2

inquart

10

wuester

2

katz

10

lefranc

10

paech

10

scholz

10

wildenstein

10

kieslinger

9

bachstitz

8

boitel

8

buehrle

8

goepel

8

goudstikker

8

hamann

8

hermssen

8

petrides

8

poellnitz

8

postma

8

bunjes

7

devisenschutzkommando

7

fabiani

7

gritzbach

7

heinz

7

herbst

7

hitler

7

hoffmann

7

holzapfel

7

kajetan

7

lagrand

7

mandl

7

perdoux

7

poznan

7

weinmueller

7

bernheim

6

brueschwiller

6

friedlander

6

garin

6

gerard

6

jansen

6

kogl

6

leegenhoek

6

lippmann

6

manteau

6

mohnen

6

morandotti

6

rosenthal

6

rothschild

6

wolff

6

We will gradually explore the different clusters within the Swiss and other networks in future posts.

For more on analysing art dealing networks, see also:

• Networks of Bruno Lohse
• Networks of Walter Bornheim
• Misspellings in ALIU Red Flag Names: Cailler Caillier Caillek; Skira Seira

Lootedart.com: https://www.lootedart.com/MVI3RM469661

(which obtained its information from NARA http://www.archives.gov/research/holocaust/art/ accessed 4 February 2008