Robbery and Restitution: The Conflict over Jewish Property in Europe, Martin Dean, Constantin Goschler, and Philipp Ther, eds. (New York and Oxford: Berghahn Books in association with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 2007), xi + 295 pp., hardcover $85.00, pbk. $34.95

Abstract

Robbery and Restitution adds to the excellent reputation of Berghahn's Studies on War and Genocide series under the general editorship of Omer Bartov. Readers familiar with the series know that it summarizes the most recent research on such topics as “the Massacre in History,” “Nazi Extermination Policies,” and “Genocide and Religion.” One of the latest volumes, Robbery and Restitution is essential reading for all Holocaust scholars. Organizing the anthology into four sections, the editors present sixteen essays by leading American and European scholars. Part One consists of an introductory essay by Constantin Goschler and Philipp Ther establishing the main themes that subsequent essays examine in more detail. Essays in Parts Two and Three investigate the robbery and the restitution of Jewish property, respectively. The late Gerald Feldman wrote the conclusion that constitutes Part Four. Goschler and Ther's introduction argues that scholars must examine expropriation as a political process involving more than German Nazis; as a social process closely linked to local attitudes and actions throughout Axis Europe; and as “a typology” (p. 11) reflecting local variations in the process of “Aryanization.” Several factors limited restitution after the war, and while these factors also varied by country, common obstacles included the sheer number of Jews murdered, the Cold War confrontation between East and West, and the degree of willingness in each country to face the extent of its own people's role in the robbery.