Book looted by Nazis to return to Jewish Museum of Belgium
A book that belonged to the Andriesse family and was looted by the Nazis during the Second World War will soon be returned to the Jewish Museum of Belgium in Brussels.
The book was handed over to the museum for an exhibition and a symbolic ceremony on Thursday. Once the legal agreement has been finalised, the work will join the museum's collections.
The book, Armoede, by Dutch writer Ina Boudier-Bakker, was once owned by Belgian Jewish philanthropists Elisabeth and Hugo Andriesse. The museum said the book had crossed five borders since the war before being returned to its original owners in Belgium.
Temporary exhibition
On Thursday afternoon, a member of the Federal Public Service Economy presented the book to a representative of Elisabeth Andriesse's heirs in the presence of the European Commission's directorate-general for Culture.
The ceremony was accompanied by a temporary exhibition called Stolen Jewish Heritage: The Fate of the Andriesse Collection, which tells the story of the couple's life.
After fleeing Brussels for New York in 1940, the Andriesses' art and textile collection was looted by the Nazi occupation regime in Belgium. Part of the collection is still missing.
Act of justice
Anne Uhrlandt, the curator of the exhibition and researcher at the Jewish Digital Cultural Recovery Project, wanted to highlight the couple's influence on the Belgian cultural scene before the Second World War.
"The Andriesse couple, highly influential and socially respected in Brussels, were known for their donations to various charitable causes, regardless of gender or religion," she said Uhrlandt. "Almost 80 years after the Holocaust, it is time to bring their name and memory back to the city of their birth."
The museum's director, Barbara Cuglietta, said the book was more than just a "recovered object". Its return is "an act of justice for names that deserve to be recognised," she said.
© BELGA PHOTO LOU LAMPAERT
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