The Jewish Restitution Successor Organization Inc. (JRSO, also IRSO) was founded in 1947 in
New York
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by various American and international Jewish organizations. Originally, it was incorporated on May 15, 1947, as the Jewish Restitution Commission, but in 1948 changed its name to the Jewish Restitution Successor Organization at the request of American military authorities.
History
The JRSO founders were twelve of the largest Jewish organizations worldwide: American (
American Jewish Committee
The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is a Jewish advocacy group established on November 11, 1906. It is one of the oldest Jewish advocacy organizations and, according to ''The New York Times'', is "widely regarded as the dean of American Jewish org ...
,
American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, also known as Joint or JDC, is a Jewish relief organization based in New York City. Since 1914 the organisation has supported Jewish people living in Israel and throughout the world. The organization i ...
,
Jewish Cultural Reconstruction), British (
Anglo-Jewish Association
The Anglo-Jewish Association (AJA) is a British organisation. It was formed in 1871 for the 'promotion of social, moral, and intellectual progress among the Jews; and the obtaining of protection for those who may suffer in consequence of being Jew ...
,
Board of Deputies of British Jews
The Board of Deputies of British Jews, commonly referred to as the Board of Deputies, is the largest and second oldest Jewish communal organisation in the United Kingdom, after only the Initiation Society which was founded in 1745. Established ...
,
Central British Fund, Council for the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Jews from Germany), French (
Conseil Représentatif des Institutions juives de France
Conseil représentatif des institutions juives de France (CRIF) ( en, Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions) is an umbrella organization of other groups representing the interests of French Jews.
Overview
It is the official Frenc ...
), Zionist (
Agudas Israel World Organization,
Jewish Agency for Palestine
The Jewish Agency for Israel ( he, הסוכנות היהודית לארץ ישראל, translit=HaSochnut HaYehudit L'Eretz Yisra'el) formerly known as The Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jews, Jewish non-profit organization in the w ...
), an organization representing the interests of the Jewish congregations in the American Zone (''Interessenvertretung Israelitischer Kultusgemeinden in der US Zone'') and an international organization (
World Jewish Congress
The World Jewish Congress (WJC) was founded in Geneva, Switzerland in August 1936 as an international federation of Jewish communities and organizations. According to its mission statement, the World Jewish Congress' main purpose is to act as ...
).
Raushenberger, Katharina. The Restitution of Jewish Cultural Objects and the Activities of Jewish Cultural Reconstruction Inc.
Leo Baeck Institute Yearbook (2008) 53(1): 191-211 doi:10.1093/leobaeck/53.1.191
The goal of the JRSO was to institute proceedings in the American occupation zone
Germany was already de facto occupied by the Allies from the real fall of Nazi Germany in World War II on 8 May 1945 to the establishment of the East Germany on 7 October 1949. The Allies (United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and France ...
for the restitution of heirless property of murdered persons and dissolved organizations that had been pursued on racial grounds under the Nazi regime. The assets obtained in this manner were distributed by the JRSO to Jewish institutions and organizations, primarily in the USA and Israel. In the United States, funds were distributed through various communal organizations, such as the American Federation of Jews from Central Europe.
The parallel organizations in the British and French zones of Germany were the Jewish Trust Corporation The Jewish Trust Corporation (JTC) was established in 1950 in the former British zone of occupation in northwest Germany as a Jewish body to pursue claims for the restitution of heirless property of murdered persons and dissolved organizations that ...
Ltd. (JTC) and the Jewish Trust Corporation Branche Française (JTC BF).
Literature
* Constantin Goschler/Jürgen Lillteicher (Hrsg:): ''"Arisierung" und Restitution. Die Rückerstattung jüdischen Eigentums in Deutschland und Österreich nach 1945 und 1989''. 1. Auflage. Wallstein, Göttingen 2002, .
* Sebastian Panwitz: ''Die Gesellschaft der Freunde 1792-1935. Berliner Juden zwischen Aufklärung und Hochfinanz''. 1. Auflage. Olms, Hildesheim/New York/Zürich 2007, (Haskala, 34).
* Saul Kagan and Ernest H Weismann. Report on the operations of the Jewish Restitution Successor Organization, 1947-1972 (1972).
* Shlomit Steinberg. Orphaned Art: Looted Art from the Holocaust in the Israel Museum, Exhibition Catalogue, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 2008
* Shlomit Steinberg."Provenance Research in Museums: Between History and Methodology", Taking Responsibility, Nazi-looted Art – A Challenge for Museums, Libraries and Archives, Magdeburg, 2009, pp. 307–319
* Shlomit Steinberg, "The Road Paved with Good Intentions: Between Berlin and Jerusalem 1945-1955", Auf der Suche nach einer verlorenen Sammlung, Das Berliner Judisches Museum (1933-1938), Exhibition Catalogue, Berlin, 2011, pp. 48–57
* Shlomit Steinberg, "The Road to recovery: From the Central Collecting Points to a Safe Haven – The J.R.S.O, Dossier". In Schriftenreihe der Kommission fur Provenienzforschurg 3, Christopher Bazil and Eva Blimlinger (eds.). Bohlau Verlag, Wien-Koln–Weimar, 2012, pp. 119–132
*Shlomit Steinberg, "Three stops on the Road to Recovery – Three Restitution cases at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem", In The West Versus the East or The United Europe?", Proceedings of the 5th International Academic Conference, Podebrady, 8–9 October 2013 pp. 84-91
*Shlomit Steinberg, "The Long Way from Wiesbaden to Jerusalem", in The International Forum on Restitution of Holocaust Era Cultural Assets in Israel, Tel Aviv, June 24, 2014, pp. 21–25
* Stephan Templ/Tina Walzer, Unser Wien (Our Vienna)
''Unser Wien'' (''Our Vienna'') is a book co-authored by Stephan Templ and Tina Walzer that details how hundreds of Jewish businesses in Vienna were seized by the Nazis and never given back.
Background
Published in 2001, the book catalogued for t ...
References
External links
Guide to the Papers of the Jewish Restitution Successor Organization
at the Leo Baeck Institute, New York
The Leo Baeck Institute New York (LBI) is a research institute in New York City dedicated to the study of German-Jewish history and culture, founded in 1955. It is one of three independent research centers founded by a group of German-speaking J ...
.
* Israel Museum
The Israel Museum ( he, מוזיאון ישראל, ''Muze'on Yisrael'') is an art and archaeological museum in Jerusalem. It was established in 1965 as Israel's largest and foremost cultural institution, and one of the world’s leading encyclopa ...
, Jerusalem, World War I
Provenance Research Online
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Holocaust charities and reparations
Compensation for victims of crime
Aftermath of the Holocaust
Jewish organizations established in 1947