The Vugesta (also VUGESTAP) for “''Vermögens-Umzugsgut von der Gestapo''" ("Property Removed by the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

") was a

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

looting organization in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

that from 1940 to 1945 seized the possessions of 5,000-6,000 Viennese Jews. It was a key player in 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 ...

of Jewish property, redistributing private property stolen from Jewish Austrians to non-Jewish or Aryan Austrians during the Nazi reign in Austria.

Creation

On August 22, 1940, the Reich Minister of Justice issued a decree to the ''Reichsverkehrsgruppe Spedition und Lagerei'' (Reich Transport Group Forwarding and Storage). Jews who fled lost their citizenship and their property was seized and resold. Proceeds went to shipping companies, warehouses and regional tax authorities in Vienna and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. The Vienna Gestapo founded the VUGESTA to auction off Jewish belongings beginning on September 7, 1940. Karl Herber managed the Vugesta, headquartered in the "Reichsverkehrsgruppe Spedition und Lagerei / Ostmark" (formerly Central Association of Freight Forwarders for Austria, Vienna 1, Bauernmarkt 24). A collaboration between Austrian freight forwarders, Austrian warehouses and the Gestapo, the Vugesta employed 12 people.

The Gestapo, the Vugesta and the Dorotheum

In the first few years, the VUGESTA concentrated on property stolen from Jews fleeing Nazi terror or deported to camps. Jews were obliged to hand over their packed removal goods (so-called "lifts") to forwarding agents before they left. After the beginning of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, however, these "lifts" were no longer forwarded, but remained with the freight forwarders or at intermediate stations. Freight forwarders were also obliged to report on Jewish clients. In these cases, the Vugesta and Gestapo confiscated the property. The looted property was auctioned off through the

Dorotheum The Dorotheum () is one of the world's oldest auction houses and is the largest auction house of art items in Continental Europe. Established by Emperor Joseph I in 1707, it has its headquarters in Vienna on the Dorotheergasse and branches in ...

, in Vienna. Vugesta

Nazi party members, soldiers and local authorities could purchase the looted property along with war invalids, and people who had lost their homes. The

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

controlled the seizures and the auctions. By the end of 1943, most of the property looted from Jews had been resold. After that, the Vugesta concentrated on selling off the deported Jews' home furnishings. To this end, the Krummbaumgasse furniture recycling center (headed by Bernhard Witke and Anton Grimm) worked closely with the

Central Office for Jewish Emigration Central Office for Jewish Emigration (german: link=no, Zentralstelle für jüdische Auswanderung) was a designation of Nazi institutions in Vienna, Prague and Amsterdam. Their head office, the Reich Central Office for Jewish Emigration ('), was ba ...

initiated by

Adolf Eichmann Otto Adolf Eichmann ( ,"Eichmann"
''

Führer ( ; , spelled or ''Fuhrer'' when the Umlaut (diacritic), umlaut is not available) is a German word meaning "leader" or "guide". As a political title, it is strongly associated with the Nazi Germany, Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. Nazi Germany ...

reserved them for himself. Hans Posse, the special representative for the Linz Führer Museum, had first pick. Museums had right of first refusal and purchased many artworks looted from Jews. After that, the Vugesta appraisers such as Bernhard Witke or Anton Grimm, had access. Only when Nazi officers, art dealers and other favorites showed no interest were the goods sold to museums, dealers and private individuals via public auctions.

Business volume

Vugesta’s proceeds for the years 1941 and 1944, are estimated at , of which came from the Dorotheum auction house. From the early autumn of 1940 until the end of the war, the Vugesta seized and sold the belongings of around 5,000 to 6,000 Jews and the home furnishings of at least 10,000 Jewish families who fled or were deported for over five million Reichsmarks. In addition, the Vugesta made a further ten million Reichsmarks by selling items through the Dorotheum auction house. The profit from these sales financed the Nazi Reich.

Whitewashing theft

The legal-looking transactions at the prestigious Dorotheum were used to whitewash the Nazi-looting of the objects sold. In 1997, Oliver Rathkolb described the mecanism in ''From 'Legacy of Shame' to the Auction of 'Heirless' Art in Vienna: Coming to Terms 'Austrian Style' with Nazi Artistic War Booty'' in a chapter called "the whitewashing problem" In her study of Nazi looting of art collections in Vienna (''Was einmal war Handbuch der enteigneten Kunstsammlungen Wiens'') Sophie Lillie detailed the mecanism by which theft was disguised as repossesion for repayment of debt. The Art Newspaper summarized this process in a review of her book:

When a Jew applied to emigrate, in theory only 25% of his goods went to the State. An inventory was submitted and the Zentralstelle für Denkmalschutz decided which works of art were of national importance and these were “made secure”, ie; confiscated. It was rare, however, for what was left to be reunited with the owner, who had usually already fled to an unknown destination. Instead, it sat in Nazi-owned warehouses, which sold the goods to pay the “storage charges” that the owner obviously could not cover. A frequent penalty for emigrating was to be stripped of citizenship, and at this point all goods fell to the State, which would sell them as “property of a Jew” through the State-owned auction house, the Dorotheum, or the dealership of VUGESTA, the branch of the Gestapo responsible for the valuation of emigré goods.

Examples of looting by the Vugesta

* The Kraus Family ("When the National Socialist regime deprives all Jews living abroad of their German citizenship, the property of the Kraus family is classified as ‘property of the enemy’. As a result, it is administered by the ‘Verwertungsstelle für jüdisches Umzugsgut der Gestapo’ (Gestapo Agency for Jewish Property, or Vugesta), which auctions the looted objects in the Dorotheum auction house or sells them by exhibiting them in Vienna.") * "144 acquisitions by museums from the Vugesta (the Gestapo office for the disposal of the property of Jewish emigrants) and with regard to more than 200 "aryanised" works acquired by Julius Fargel, the art restorer of the municipal collections and expert assessor of paintings for Vugesta." *

Erich Wolfgang Korngold Erich Wolfgang Korngold (May 29, 1897November 29, 1957) was an Austrian-born American composer and conductor. A child prodigy, he became one of the most important and influential composers in Hollywood history. He was a noted pianist and compo ...

: "The ANL concluded after its investigation that its Korngold holdings had been confiscated and transferred to the ANL by the Vugesta. Among these materials were 2,122 letters to Erich Wolfgang Korngold, and his father Julius, the prominent Viennese music critic; other important Korngold music library materials remain unaccounted for today.
Bruno Jellinek
"The original owner of the painting, the

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

businessman Bruno Jellinek, fled Austria following the "

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...

" in 1938; his art collection was confiscated by the Nazi authorities and sold, partly to private individuals, partly to state collections. The Ostade painting was confiscated by the VUGESTA (Secret State Police Administration Point for Jewish Removals) and brought to the Dorotheum auction house; however, it was sold to the Art History Museum on 2 December 1941 for before its planned sale at auction." *

Bernhard Altmann Bernhard Altmann (1888–1960) was an Austrian textile manufacturer whose business was Aryanized and whose family's art collection was looted by Nazis because of their Jewish origins. He introduced cashmere wool to North America on a mass scale ...

Richard Beer-Hofmann Richard Beer-Hofmann (11 July 1866 in Vienna – 26 September 1945 in New York City) was an Austrian dramatist and poet. Beer-Hofmann was born to Jewish parents. His mother died within a week of his birth and after her death, he was adopted a ...

, Hugo Blitz,

Oscar Bondy Oscar Bondy (born October 19, 1870, in Vienna; died December 3, 1944, in New York) was an Austrian entrepreneur and art collector persecuted by the Nazis because of his Jewish heritage. Life Oscar Bondy, also known as Zucker-Bondy, owned sugar ...

, Caroline Czeczowiczka, Hans Engel, Ernst Egger, Josef Freund, Elsa Gall, Robert Gerngross,

Daisy Hellmann Daisy Hellmann (1890-1977) was a Viennese art patron and collector persecuted by the Nazis because of her Jewish ancestry. Early life Daisy Hellmann (née Steiner b. in Vienna April 22, 1890 - 5 January 5, 1977), was a member of one of the most i ...

, Bruno Jellinek, Siegfried Kantor, Gottlieb Kraus, Klara Mertens, Moriz und Stefan Kuffner,

Stefan Mautner Stefan Mautner, also Stephan Mautner, (born 12 February 1877 in Vienna; died presumably July 1944 in Auschwitz concentration camp) was an Austrian entrepreneur and the eldest son of Isidor Mautner, a major industrialist, and his wife Jenny. Ear ...

Oskar Reichel Oscar Reichel (1869 – 7 May 1943) was an Austrian physician and art collector. His work was confiscated by the Nazis during World War II, leading to claims from his descendants to restore it to them. Early life Reichel was born in 1869 in Vie ...

, Louise Simon oder Siegfried Trebitsch.

Restitution

On 29 April 1999, the Vienna City Council decided that art acquired by questionable means (theft, confiscation, expropriation) during the Nazi era by the city’s museums, libraries, archives and collections should to be returned to their original owners or their legal successors. Vugesta purchases between1940 and1945 was one of the three categories recognised by the Vienna Museum as looted property. The Vienna Museum published
list of artworks it had purchased from the Vugesta
that had been looted from Jews.

References

External links

* {{commonscatinline * List of items a
Vugesta
* kunstrestitution.at

* demokratiezentrum.org

* yadvashem.org

* ''Sophie Lillie, ttp://www.worldcat.org/oclc/231981591 Was einmal war: Handbuch der enteigneten, Kunstsammlungen Wiens(Czernin Verlag, Vienna, 2003) 1,440 pp, 354 b/w ills, €69 (hb), ISBN 3707600491'' 1945 disestablishments 1940 establishments Gestapo Nazi-looted art Persecution of Jews Looting in Europe Austria under National Socialism Holocaust-related organizations