Terms of Art: Understanding the Mechanics of Dispossession During the Nazi Period

Anna Rubin Announcement
Location
New York, United States
Subject Fields
Art, Art History & Visual Studies, European History / Studies, German History / Studies, Holocaust, Genocide, and Memory Studies, Jewish History / Studies

The New York State Department of Financial Services is proud to annouce that for the first time ever its Holocaust Claims Processing Office will be hosting a symposium on May 7-8, 2020 in New York City.

This symposium aims to explore from the historical, art historical and practical perspectives and across practitioner groups, what it means to describe involuntary loss using a specific term. We are seeking papers from practitioners in the field of art restitution that will serve as a basis for discussion of these terms.

The criteria for determining whether objects lost between 1933 and 1945 in a manner that justifies restitution were articulated by the Allied powers in 1943 and then codified in postwar restitution laws. In the modern era of Holocaust-era asset restitution, those standards were replaced by abstract phrases such as Nazi confiscated art, forced sale and sale under duress without any qualifications attached. But what is meant by these terms?

Suggested topics

  • Is a forced sale the same as a sale under duress? If so, why? If not, why not? How do they differ?
  • What constitutes a transaction induced by threats or duress or involving unlawful dispossession? Is such a transaction what we presently term a forced sale or sale under duress?
  • Are looting and theft the same as confiscation, or is confiscation merely one form of theft?
  • Can an institution be the source of coercion or only an individual?
  • What constitutes relinquishment? Is relinquishment the same as a forced sale, sale under duress, or is it more akin to Aryanization? How do export permits and/or licenses relate to relinquishment?
  • Does seizure by measures taken by the NSDAP, its formations or affiliated organizations include the granting or denial of export permits and/or licenses?
  • Does the date of the loss impact the term used to describe the loss?
  • Does the classification of the loss affect the resolution of a restitution claim?

Kindly note the symposium will not address the issue of flight goods (Fluchtgut).

 

Format

Proposals should address terms and concepts as suggested above in 500 words or less.

Please be sure to include your full name, affiliation (if applicable), email address, and a brief bio or CV.

Submitted proposals will be reviewed by a committee of practitioners in the field.                       

Papers can be submitted at: https://www.dfs.ny.gov/form/call-for-papers-submission-form

 

Important dates

The deadline for submitting a proposal is Thursday, October 31, 2019.

Submitters will be informed by Monday, December 2, 2019 whether their proposal was accepted. Please understand that time and space are limited, so not all proposals will be accepted.  If a proposal is accepted, the resulting paper will be presented by the author at the symposium.

Complete papers are due by Friday, May 1, 2020.

Papers will be published and released to the general public on or about September 1, 2020.

Contact Information

Anna B. Rubin

Director

New York Department of Financial Services

Holocaust Claims Processing Office

1 State Street

New York, NY 10004

 

 

Contact Email
termsofart@dfs.ny.gov