The annexation of Luxembourg by Nazi Germany between 1940 and 1944 went hand in hand with the appropriation of the country’s cultural heritage. During this period, the new masters of the country tried to appropriate for themselves not only the wealth and the property, but also art and cultural goods belonging to Jews, to emigrants, to displaced populations etc.

Certain Luxembourgers took advantage of this situation to their personal benefit. This issue, together with that of resistance against the occupier, is one of the truths still to be revealed on the war.

Using the example of Luxembourg for this first global exhibition, it shows the way the robbery was organised, names the profiteers and relates the victims' desperate attempts after the war to get their possessions back.

With these and other questions, the exhibition contributes to two subjects of great topicality: the restitution of looted cultural goods and the investigation research into the provenance of art objects in public collections.

In shedding light on a little known aspect of the persecution the exhibition gives, through the example of Luxembourg, an insight into the reality of life as it was experienced by perpetrators and victims under National Socialism during the Second World War.

 

 

 

Date

11 May > 20 November 2005