April 4



AUSTRIA:

Vienna gives up art expropriated in Nazi Germany


The city of Vienna has set a precedent for the restitution of artworks
expropriated under the Nazi regime by this week giving up a piece that a
German Jewish banker was forced to auction in 1934.

The city council chose to return the artwork to the heirs of Herbert
Gutmann even though the Austrian law for art restitution only covers the
period between 1938, when Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany, and 1945,
when the Third Reich was defeated.

"It was about ... overruling the timeframe of the current restitution law
in view of a moral obligation," said Andreas Mailath-Pokorny, Vienna city
councilor for culture.

Herbert Gutmann was a wealthy Jewish banker, the son of a co-founder of
Dresdner Bank, Eugen Gutmann.

Forced out of the banking world after the Nazis came to power in Germany
in 1933, he sold his art collection and other possessions and fled to
Britain in 1936.

The Museum of Vienna acquired the painting "Pappenheim's Death," by Hans
Makart, from a Danish art dealer in 1968, but this week handed it back to
Gutmann's grandchildren.

"We hope the other pieces once belonging to our grandfather and which we
are currently pursuing will be restored to the family soon," Gutmann's
heirs said in a statement.

The case sets a precedent in Austria, which said last year it wanted to
tighten restitution rules and seek the return of works taken between 1933,
when Hitler first came to power in Germany, and 1945.

The government's move was prompted by criticism from the Austrian Jewish
community that it was not doing enough to guarantee art restitution, and
the law is likely to be amended this year.

"This is a milestone in the history of the restitution process," said
historian Michael Wladika and restitution specialist at the Museum of
Vienna.

"Vienna took special measures given that this was clearly a case of
expropriation."

Property belonging to Jews was confiscated as a matter of course during
Nazi rule in Germany and neighboring countries.

Thousands of art works have been returned to their original owners or
their heirs under Austria's present art restitution law, include five
paintings by art Nouveau master Gustav Klimt.

One of the 5 returned to the Bloch-Bauer family who originally owned
them was sold for $135 million in a private sale, believed to be the
highest price ever paid for a painting.

The remaining four fetched a combined $192.7 million at an auction at
Christie's in November, 2006.

(source: Reuters)





GERMANY:

'Nazi guard' deportation blocked


A US judge has blocked an order to deport an alleged Nazi concentration
camp guard, two days before he was due to be extradited to Germany.

John Demjanjuk, 89, is accused of involvement in the deaths of 29,000 Jews
at a camp in Nazi-occupied Poland.

He denies any involvement and has asked for asylum in the US, arguing that
deportation would constitute torture.

An immigration judge said the block would stay until a decision had been
reached on whether to re-open his case.

Lawyers for Mr Demjanjuk say his health is far too poor for him to make
the journey.

In March, Germany issued an arrest warrant for the Ukraine national over
the deaths of thousands of Jews at the Sobibor camp during World War II.

But Mr Demjanjuk, who migrated to the US in 1952, says he was a prisoner
of war of the Nazis rather than a prison guard.

In 1986, he was extradited to Israel and sentenced to death for war
crimes, after being identified by witnesses as "Ivan the Terrible" - a
notorious prison guard at the Treblinka camp.

But the Israeli Supreme Court overturned his conviction, when new evidence
emerged suggesting he was not the same guard.

He returned to the US but was accused of lying on his immigration
application about working for the Nazis.

In 2002, a US immigration judge ruled that there was enough evidence to
prove Mr Demjanjuk had been a guard at several Nazi death camps and
stripped him of his citizenship.

German authorities now say they have new evidence linking him to the
crimes of which he has been accused.

(source: BBC News)






USA//OKLAHOMA:

Holocaust Exhibition At Museum


"Deadly Medicine"----Here Through July 5


"Deadly Medicine: Creating the Master Race," a Holocaust exhibition, will
be on display at Science Museum Oklahoma (Kirkpatrick Museum, 2100 NE
52nd St.) through July 5.

The exhibit examines how the Nazi leadership, in collaboration with
individuals in professions traditionally charged with healing and the
public good, used science and medicine to help legitimize persecution,
murder and, ultimately, genocide.

"Deadly Medicine" is a traveling exhibition of the United States Holocaust
Memorial Museum.

Oklahoma City has been chosen as one of three international sites for the
2009 tour.

The exhibit has been brought to the state by the Jewish Federation of
Greater Oklahoma City.

"The exhibition reminds us that only 64 years ago, 11 million people were
killed and debased in one of history's most horrific acts of hatred," said
Edie Roodman, executive director of the federation.

"That's approximately the entire population of Oklahoma, Kansas and
Colorado combined," she continued. "This gripping exhibition underscores
the warning signs of he abuse of scientific knowledge and the dangers of
remaining silent in the face of evil."

Nazi Germany's genocide against the Jews, Miss Roodman said, and the
murder and persecution of millions of others was founded upon the
conviction that "inferior" races and individuals must be eliminated from
German society.

"This was believed necessary so that the 'fittest Aryans' could thrive,"
she
explained.

"The Nazi state fully committed itself to implementing a uniquely racist
and anti-Semitic variation of genetic cleansing thought to
'scientifically' build what it considered to be a superior race," the
federation executive director remarked.

Germany adopted "racial hygiene" practices, she said, providing tax
credits to large "valuable" families and sterilization of genetic
"inferiors" to eradicate people of certain races, religious beliefs, the
blind, deaf, children with birth defects and those suffering from mental
illness.

(source: The Black Chronicle)




**********************


USA//PENNSYLVANIA:

U.S. seeks to deport former Nazi guard now in Mercer County


Deportation proceedings have started against a Mercer County man who
served as an SS guard at two Nazi concentration camps during World War II,
the Department of Justice announced Friday.

Anton Geiser, 84, of Sharon had his citizenship revoked in 2006 through a
civil process started by the government. He has not been convicted of any
crime.

In January, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Geiser's appeal. On
Wednesday, the government filed deportation papers with an immigration
court in Philadelphia.

Neither Geiser nor his lawyer could be reached for comment.

Deportation could be complicated because of Geiser's age, poor health and
the fact that his native country, Yugoslavia, no longer exists. His former
hometown now is in Croatia.

Geiser was drafted into the German army in September 1942 and trained in
the Waffen SS to be a prison guard. He was stationed at Sachsenhausen and
Arolsen, a sub-camp of the Buchenwald concentration camp.

The Nazis killed an estimated 6 million Jews during World War II, with
most dying in concentration camps. Geiser said in court records that he
never killed or harmed anyone.

Geiser came to the United States from Austria in 1956 and became a citizen
in 1962. He worked for 31 years at Sharon Steel.

Since 1979, the Justice Department's Office of Special Investigations has
had 107 people de-naturalized or removed from the country for being former
Nazis.

(source: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)




*******************


USA//CALIFORNIA:


Stamps, Coins and Artifacts: Haunting items from the Nazi era grow in
price - even camp uniforms


"If you forget the past, you're doomed to repeat it," or some variation
thereof, is a quote that's been recited ad infinitum for any number of
reasons. I thought about that when I visited France and Germany a few
years ago.

In both countries, I attended various coin and collectible shows. At each
one, dealers offered a variety of historic relics from the 1940s clearly
a significant era for that part of the world. What were most curious were
the coins, currency and relics from the Nazis. On most every one a small
colored paper dot covered some portion of the item. When I inquired, the
dealers revealed that the dot covered any swastikas imprinted on the
objects.

Because both France and Germany were so decimated by the Nazi regime and
campaign, neither wishes to relive the era and has banned the swastika
from being displayed in any form. That includes historic items or
artifacts.

Those restrictions are a far cry from those we have here in the United
States. In the 1960s, the trade in Nazi memorabilia was prolific. Actual
daggers, medals, helmets, etc., changed hands for very little money.
American soldiers had brought many of those items back. Salvers shipped
others to the states from Germany hoping to make a few bucks.

Today, German World War II artifacts are substantially more valuable.
David Kols is certainly aware of that. He is president of Regency Superior
Auctions. Though specializing for years in rare stamps, Kols has expanded
his offerings to include space and aeronautic collectibles, sports
memorabilia and "militaria," focusing primarily on genuine items from the
Nazi era.

In an auction being held April 16-17 in Beverly Hills, many such items
will cross the block. Included in the catalog are pages of items from a
variety of branches of the German armed forces. From the Luftwaffe to the
SS and even Hitler Youth, the offerings include medals, badges, books,
armbands and propaganda posters.

Some of the most telling reflect the horror of the concentration camps.
Several postcards are being sold that were sent into and out of Camp Dora
replete with the censor markings. Naturally, the Germans were careful to
prohibit any information concerning the conditions the prisoners were
forced to endure. A chilling reminder of that is in another lot in the
sale. The item is a prisoner's metal tag from the infamous Dachau camp.
The imprint suggests it was for prisoner No. 785, housed in Block 5.

Along with the tag is an artifact from one of the perpetrators. It is an
SS collar patch once belonging to Obersturmbanfurer Altena recognized as
"one of the worst war criminals in the SS." Kols is one of the leading
sellers of this type of military memorabilia and the largest auction house
offering the most haunting types of artifacts those of actual Holocaust
victims and survivors. A Jew himself, Kols has a special interest in
making these items available. In part it may be because he's committed to
people never forgetting.

In previous auctions, he has sold items with "Jude" imprinted on them that
Jews were forced to display and Star of David insignias from prison camps.

Some of the rarest and most valuable items are the actual uniforms worn by
prisoners. Their substantial value is because so few who survived wanted
to keep what they were forced to wear. The vast majority of those uniforms
were burned or buried just after the war.

The few surviving and authenticated uniforms can sell for over $10,000
apiece. Clearly, there are more such pieces still stored away, especially
in Europe.

"The primary buyers of that type of item are Holocaust museums," said
Kols. "It's important that they be able to exhibit actual items and
artifacts to make sure the story is told."

(source: Peter Rexford, Sacramento Bee)








FRANCE:

Chanel and the Nazis: what Coco Avant Chanel and other films don't tell
you

Why is Coco Chanel getting a free pass on her collaboration with the
Nazis? Her past was deeply compromised


K
As we gear up for cultural Chanel-mania this summer with two hagiographic
films about the designer, a new biography and the sound of slavering from
glossy magazines, it is worth pausing to investigate Coco Chanel's
wholesale - and retail - involvement with the Nazis.

The world's greatest fashionista may have rescued women from the corset,
but she did not have a good war. When shoppers swoon over the iconic
quilted handbag with the CC logo, most are unaware that Chanel once went
to Berlin to plot with Walter Schellenberg, who wore his Waffen SS logo as
Hitler's chief of foreign intelligence.

Perhaps Chanel-lovers also have no idea that she tried to wrest control of
her perfume manufacturing from a Jewish family, taking advantage of
pro-Aryan laws. Or that she was arrested for war crimes - and then
mysteriously released.

Previously, I'd seen it mentioned that Chanel had survived the war rather
comfortably at the Paris Ritz in the arms of a Nazi officer, Hans Gunther
von Dincklage, and then gone into exile in Switzerland with him, but a few
hours spent in the library revealed that she was far more deeply involved
with the Germans than that. There was even a (somewhat ridiculous) Nazi
plot, using Chanel as bait, called Operation Modelhut.

None of this will be discussed, of course, in two upcoming biographical
films: Coco Avant Chanel, starring Audrey Tautou, and Coco Chanel and Igor
Stravinsky, with Anna Mouglalis, about Chanel's relationship with the
Russian composer. Nor was it detailed in a Chanel television mini-series
with Shirley MacLaine last year, or in the 1981 film Chanel Solitaire.
With commercial good sense, all films avoid the German invasion of Paris
and Chanel's collaboration. It's a case of Don't Mention The War!

Time heals, but sometimes it's worth opening the wound again when a
reputation suddenly appears to be sanitised. While Chanel's biographer,
Edmonde Charles-Roux, says her style genius consisted in being
incorruptibly sober and pure, her life was less clean-cut. Paris during
the occupation was a compromising and uncomfortable place for other
artists and writers, who tended to keep their heads down: Oh, I am not
looking for risks to take, said Picasso, her friend, but in a sort of
passive way I do not care to yield to either force or terror.

Edith Piaf sang in nightclubs for the Nazis. Jean-Paul Sartre said:
Everything we did was equivocal. We never quite knew whether we were doing
right or wrong. A subtle poison corrupted even our best actions.

But Chanel was unequivocal. She decided to place herself snugly in the
enemy's bosom, conveniently near to her shop. After the Paris invasion she
fled to the country, but returned a year later to demand back her room at
the Ritz, which had been commandeered by the Germans. There, aged 56, she
shacked up with von Dincklage, a German playboy officer 13 years her
junior, who may have been a spy and was known frivolously as Spatz or
sparrow.

Whatever his role, von Dincklage's coterie brought Chanel into high Nazi
circles, yet she remains inexplicably untarnished, unlike Unity Mitford
and Diana Mosley. It's hard to tell what the intentions of Operation
Modelhut were, but they included the peculiar idea that one of Chanel's
friends, who knew Churchill well, would pass a letter from her suggesting
that there should be secret negotiations to end the war. Chanel - who had
met Churchill once or twice at social events - obviously saw herself as a
heroic figure in this.

Schellenberg was interrogated by the British after the war concerning the
visit in 1943 from Frau Chanel, a French subject and proprietress of the
noted perfume factory. According to the transcript: This woman was
referred to as a person Churchill knew sufficiently to undertake political
negations with him, as an enemy of Russia and as desirous of helping
France and Germany whose destinies she believed to be closely linked
together. Operation Modelhut fell apart, and the mutual friend of
Churchill and Chanel denounced her as a German agent.

It seems to me that Chanel bent to the times, always intent on survival.
The French call this Systme D, or systme dbrouillard, which means getting
round the rules somehow. As Charles-Roux notes, playing refugee was not
her style, hence Chanel's move to the Nazi-infested Ritz. Who else could
afford to buy her perfume? Later, when the law banned Jews from owning
companies, she tried to depose the Wertheimer family who manufactured her
scents. And towards the end of the war, as the Germans looked less than
victorious, Chanel revived her largely imaginary friendship with
Churchill.

After the war, thousands of the collaboratrices horizontales - sexual
collaborators - had their hair shorn in public humiliations, yet Chanel
was arrested and soon released, though no one knows exactly who among the
Allies protected her. Was it her connection with the Duke of Westminster?
There's no proof, except that Chanel and her perfume royalties went into
exile in Switzerland for a decade, because she was most definitely not
wanted at home.

Chanel made a comeback in 1956. The French papers panned her collection as
old hat: she was not forgiven. But across the Atlantic, the Americans just
loved those bags and little black dresses. Sales grew, Chanel was
rehabilitated, and history faded away. Now she is merely a brand in Karl
Lagerfeld's hands.

In his fascinating book, The Shameful Peace, Frederic Spotts notes that
"the occupation was merciless in exposing character." Keep that in mind -
or, if you do go to the Chanel films this summer, turn off your mobile
phones, forget Chanel's compromised past and enjoy the show.

(source: The (London) Times)