© Alina Simmelbauer
Have You Seen This Book? The theft and rescue of a German-Jewish library
The Leo Baeck Institutes in Jerusalem and London and the "Freunde und Förderer des Leo Baeck Instituts" [Friends and Sponsors of the Leo Baeck Institute] are dedicating a digital exhibition to the history of the destroyed library of the Berlin Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums [Higher Institute for Jewish Studies] in Berlin (from 1872 to 1942). Today, the remains of the library are scattered all over the world. As part of a supporting international campaign, the public is invited to help in the search for property stolen by the National Socialists. Decentralized physical installations supplement the online exhibition at the current whereabouts of the books.
The reach of "Have you seen this book?" is international, since it addresses migration, exile as well as the translocation of Jewish cultural property. In particular, the project is aimed at school students and book lovers, at a heterogeneous, non-academic target group, whom we want to encourage to become "book detectives".
The project connects the digital and real world in an innovative way – by means of an online exhibition and physical exhibitions, in the places where books from this library are located today.
"Have you seen this book?" serves as a commemoration of the "Hochschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums" and its liberal heritage, while at the same time motivating visitors: As citizen scientists, they will be integrated as researchers in the quest for the lost books. To achieve this, digital storytelling is important, especially in order to appeal to younger people for our cause.
The project sponsor is the "Freunde und Förderer des Leo Baeck Instituts e.V." association. The "Freunde und Förderer des Leo Baeck Instituts" operates in Frankfurt am Main and Berlin as a non-profit association, and supports the work of the Leo Baeck Institutes. These institutes are self-contained entities in important places of German-Jewish emigration: Jerusalem, London and New York. With their work on German-Jewish history and Jewish life, the three institutes are actively providing important inputs for science, culture and society, on site, but also in Germany – in the form of archival work, research, workshops, multilingual publications, cultural events and exhibitions.
Cooperation partners:
Leo Baeck Institute Jerusalem
Leo Baeck Institute London
Funding countries: Germany, Israel and the UK
Duration: 01.12.2022 until 31.12.2024
Library of Lost Books