Jewish Digital Cultural Recovery Project
The Jewish Digital Cultural Recovery Project’s goal is the creation of a comprehensive listing of all Jewish owned cultural objects plundered by the Nazis and their allies from the time of their spoliation to the present. The project is a joint initiative of the Commission for Art Recovery and the Claims Conference.
Archives of Nazi Records: The Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg
The Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR) was the main Nazi agency responsible for looting Jewish-owned cultural valuables in Nazi-occupied countries as well as plundering libraries, archives and Judaica.
Italy
Italy’s Parliament has advanced Bill C. 2834, which would create Italy’s first formal process for returning Holocaust-era looted art and cultural property taken during the 1933–1945 period, including under Italy’s 1938 Fascist racial laws.
A comprehensive country report, jointly prepared by the IMT Lucca School for Advanced Studies, the Claims Conference, and the WJRO, was formally submitted to the parliamentary record as part of the official testimony.
Hungary
The Claims Conference-WJRO has initiated three major projects aimed at researching the looting of Jewish owned cultural and religious property in Hungary.
Baltics
Since 2025, the Claims Conference has supported research into Nazi-looted cultural- and religious property in the Baltics.
More information to come.
Croatia
The Claims Conference-WJRO published an extensive report that presents a historical analysis and partial list of cultural objects looted from Jews and others by the Croatian fascists – the Ustaše – during the Holocaust and after World War II, that were nationalized by the Communist government and distributed to Croatian state institutions.
Estonia
In April 2023, the Claims Conference-WJRO made available the report “The ERR Looting of the Julius Genss Collection in Estonia.”
Judaica
Facilitating restitution of Judaica plundered during the Holocaust is a priority for the Claims Conference-WJRO.
last updated July 2026
Images:
Screenshot JDCRP website: https://jdcrp.org/documentation-of-persecuted-jewish-artists/
A map showing the activities of the ERR in occupied Europe. Yad Vashem, archival signature: 368.
Adolf Hitler and Benito MussoliniBerchtesgaden, [Bavaria] Germany, Berchtesgaden, [Bavaria] Germany, ca 1941. USHMM, Photograph Number: 80504. [public domain]
ERR sorting books in the Baltic states. Yad Vashem, archival signature: 368.
Racetrack in Budapest. Copyright: Fortepan /Kölcsey Ferenc Dunakeszi Városi Könyvtár / Petanovits fényképek
Jews wearing Jewish badges with the Star of David and the letter Z, Zagreb, Croatia. Yad Vashem, archival signature: 6315/7.
“Julius Genss Library,” painting by Dagmar Bette-Punga, 1938. Courtesy of Julia Gens.
Provenance: S. J. Pomrenze - Display of ritual synagogue textiles confiscated by the Nazis. USHM photograph number: 48738.