Libraries in Dresden and Berlin Return Nazi-Looted Artifacts

The Saxon State Library in Dresden and the Berlin Central and State Library have returned 43 books to the descendants of the Jewish banker Julius Hellmann (1877–1956). The libraries stated that the books were looted during the Nazi era. The books were traced back to their original owner based on ownership notes. 

Hellmann worked as a banker and consul general in Berlin and was persecuted during the Nazi era. He fled to the Netherlands and survived the Holocaust while in hiding. It is not yet known when his extensive library was confiscated. Thirty-seven books were returned from Berlin; another six were found through research in Dresden’s collections and restituted.