Karl Haberstock (born 19 June 1878 in

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

; died 6 September 1956 in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

) was a Berlin

art dealer An art dealer is a person or company that buys and sells works of art, or acts as the intermediary between the buyers and sellers of art. An art dealer in contemporary art typically seeks out various artists to represent, and builds relationshi ...

who trafficked in Nazi-looted art. Haberstock's name appears 60 times in the Art Looting Investigation Unit (ALIU) Reports 1945–1946 and ALIU Red Flag Names List and Index.

Aryanization

Among Haberstock's many spoliation activities documented by the ALIU was the

aryanization Aryanization (german: Arisierung) was the Nazi term for the seizure of property from Jews and its transfer to non-Jews, and the forced expulsion of Jews from economic life in Nazi Germany, Axis-aligned states, and their occupied territories. I ...

, with the assistance of Baron von Poellnitz and Roger Louis Adolphe Dequoy, of the Wildenstein firm which then continued to trade. According to historian

Jonathan Petropoulos Jonathan Petropoulos (born January 10, 1961) is an American historian who writes about National Socialism and, in particular, the fate of art looted during World War II. He is John V. Croul Professor of European History at Claremont McKenna Colleg ...

"Haberstock, despite selling works to Göring and other Nazi elite, owed his status to

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...

alone."

Arrest for Nazi art looting

At the end of World War II Haberstock was arrested for his Nazi art looting activities, however he testified against Hermann Göring at the

Nuremberg Trials The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies of World War II, Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany, for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries, and other crimes, in World War II. Between 1939 and 1945 ...

and was subsequently released. In the 1950s he opened a gallery in Munich living in the apartment below that of the director of Göring's art collection, Walter Andreas Hofer. Haberstock's role in trafficking artworks looted from Jews was not generally known until reports that had been classified secret were published at the end of the twentieth century, in particular the ''ALIU Final Report''and the ''ALIU Detailed Interrogation Report (DIR) No. 13 Karl Haberstock May 1946''

Donations to Augburg

Haberstock donated forty paintings to the Augsburg Municipal Art Museum in

. Haberstock's portrait (shown in this entry) hangs prominently in the city's leading art museum, the

Schaezlerpalais The Schaezlerpalais is a baroque palace in Augsburg. The palace extends far back from the street, encompassing dozens of rooms, courtyards and gardens. The gilded mirrored ballroom was built between 1765-1770 and has survives intact. it is widely r ...

, and a minor residential street bears his name. After the declassification of the intelligence reports on Nazi looting, however, the museum was criticized for "glorifying" a notorious Nazi looted art dealer. “What we have here is a museum that glorifies the most notorious Nazi art dealer,” says Elan Steinberg, executive director of the World Jewish Congress, who has demanded that the local cultural authorities strip the galleries of grateful references to the Haberstock Foundation.

References

External links

*http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/hildebrand-gurlitt-and-his-dubious-dealings-with-nazi-looted-art-a-940625.html
1946 Detailed Interrogation Report N° 13 Karl Haberstock - United States War Department Bridges from the Reich: The Importance of Émigré Art Dealers as Reflected in the Case Studies of Curt Valentin and Otto Kallir–NirensteinHermann Goring and the Nazi Art Collection: The Looting of Europe's Art Treasures and Their Dispersal After World War II
German art dealers People of Nazi Germany 1878 births 1956 deaths {{Germany-business-bio-stub

Aryanization

Arrest for Nazi art looting

Donations to Augburg

See also

References

External links