CAMERA OBSCURA
A Pictorial History Exposed
A Pictorial History Exposed
THE ELEPHANT IN THE DARKROOM
GLOSSARY
A
ACQUISITION RECORD BOOK
All Museums have them. A brief but often very useful record of each ‘thing’ a museum owns. Not public, but not particularly private either.
ALKA MUSEUM OF SAMOGITIAN HISTORY
See 01 The Elephant in the Darkroom Cheat Sheet,
AUŠROS MUSEUM
See 01 The Elephant in the Darkroom Cheat Sheet,
B
BALTIC PROPAGANDA SQUADRON NO. 3
Not much known at present. Thieves, but nothing solid known.
ALEKSAS BRUNAS
Coming soon.
C
COMMISSION FOR THE LIQUIDATION OF JEWISH PROPERTY
Coming soon.
F
FIRST SOVIET OCCUPATION
Coming soon.
G
PRANAS GENYS
Coming soon.
H
HISTORICAL CONTEXTS
A project-specific breakdown of the six different provenance research periods covered by the investigation.
KLAIPĖDA/MEMEL March 23, 1939-January 28, 1945
According to most historians, Nazi Germany invaded Lithuania on June 22, 1941. The Elephant in the Darkroom considers the date to be much earlier, i.e. March 22, 1939, when the Klaipėda Region/Memel Territory became the last uncontested area of land to be occupied by the Nazis before the outbreak of the Second World War.
WILNO/VILNIUS September 18, 1939-June 15, 1940
One of the more bizarre periods in the history of Lithuania began when the Red Army occupied Wilno/Vilnius on September 18, 1939. See Osvaldas Daugelis and GiedrėJankevičiūtė's Collecting Art in the Turmoil of War for some particularly interesting information on the subject of looting Jewish art and cultural objects in general that took place during the chaotic nine months that followed.
FIRST SOVIET OCCUPATION June 15, 1940-June 22, 1941
The huge nationalisation programme that accompanied the first Soviet occupation of Lithuania saw the mass closure and/or restructuring of both secular and religious Jewish institutions all over Lithuania.
PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT June 22, 1941-August 5, 1941
A relatively short period during which Lithuanian institutions participated unilaterally in the expropriation of Lithuanian Jewish cultural objects. See Heart of Glass and The Curious Case of Mauša Fligelis in cases for more.
GERMAN CIVIL ADMINISTRATION End of July 1941-January 28, 1945
During which various Nazi organisations carried out the majority of their looting operations in Lithuania.
SECOND SOVIET OCCUPATION July 1944/January 28, 1945-March 11, 1990
See The Impossible Museum in cases for more.
I
INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH ON THE JEWISH QUESTION
Coming soon.
J
JEWISH CULTURAL RECONSTRUCTION
An American organisation founded after the Second World War whose purpose was to gather together and redistribute all Jewish cultural property that no longer had an owner and/or whose original; ownership was unknown. Most of the objects in question were books, of which nearly all were redistributed from the Offenbach Offenbach Archival Depot (↓). A large percentage of this literature is now located at the Library of Congress. An interesting article on the subject can be read here.
JEWISH DIGITAL CULTURAL RECOVERY PROJECT
One of the main challenges for anyone with a personal and/or professional interest in researching Nazi-era looting of Jewish cultural property is trying to navigate the fragmented and still very limited amount of useful information available on the subject online. The Jewish Digital Cultural Recovery Project is 'creating a cross-searchable digital platform for archival documentation, research, and education on the looting of Jewish-owned cultural property by the Nazis, their allies, and collaborators.' See the website for more information.
M
M. K. ČIURLIONIS NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ART
Coming soon.
O
OFFENBACH ARCHIVAL DEPOT
Coming soon.
ORPHANED IMAGES
An informal term used to describe surviving photographs whose Lithuanian Jewish owner or owners perished during the Holocaust and that today have no obvious and/or immediate heir or heirs. Examples include the photographs mentioned in Heart of Glass, A Memento for Henke, and The Picture of Selma Vogel (see Cases and Cheat Sheet).
P
THE PAPER BRIGADE
Coming soon.
JOHANNES POHL
Coming soon.
PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT
Coming soon.
R
REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA LAW ON MUSEUMS
Coming soon.
RIGHTEOUS AMONG THE NATIONS
Coming soon.
V
VILNA GAON STATE MUSEUM OF JEWISH HISTORY
Coming soon.
VILNIUS
Coming soon.
W
WASHINGTON PRINCIPLES
Y
YIVO
Z
ZAMLER
One who voluntarily collects things for museums.