OMGUS Cultural Property Claims Index

Descriptive List of Key Records

OMGUS Claims Files

(a)
Record Group & Series: Records of the U.S. Occupation Headquarters, World War II (RG 260); Office of Military Government, U.S. Zone (Germany) (OMGUS); Property Division; Reparations and Restitution Branch; Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (MFAA) Section; Cultural Property Claim Applications, 1946–1948 (A1, Entry 479).

Description: This series consists of correspondence and administrative material relevant to cultural property claims. Claim files generally contain descriptive lists of property claimed. Arranged roughly by country and thereunder by claim number.

• Name Index
• Country Index

This series is available on NARA Microfilm Publication M1949, Rolls 8–26.

(b)
Record Group & Series: Records of the U.S. Occupation Headquarters, World War II (RG 260); Office of Military Government, U.S. Zone (Germany) (OMGUS); Property Division; Reparations and Restitution Branch; Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (MFAA) Section; Claims of Cultural Property Removed by German Forces, 1946–1948 (A1, Entry 480).

Description: This series consists of declarations of property removed by German forces and some related correspondence. Arranged by OMGUS field office (e.g., Bremen, Greater Hesse) and thereunder roughly by declaration number. Declarations provide declaration number, register number, origin (country), name of originator and address, name of holder and address, date acquired, location, and description of the property.

This series is available on NARA Microfilm Publication M1949, Rolls 26–29.

(c)
Record Group & Series: Records of the U.S. Occupation Headquarters, World War II (RG 260); Office of Military Government, U.S. Zone (Germany) (OMGUS); Property Division; Restitution Control Branch, Karlsruhe; Listing of Restitution Claims Released to the Missions for Restitution of Various Countries, 1947–1948 (A1, Entry 546).

Description: This series consists of ledger books tracking the status of claims for a variety of property types (most are not cultural objects). Box 213 contains two ledgers. The first is a list of claim numbers and release numbers arranged by country and thereunder by date of release (beginning in August 1947) and contains a brief description of the property. The second lists what appear to be claim numbers arranged by country and includes information under headings “Some property located,” “All of property located,” “Each release issued,” “Receipt received,” and “Claim dropped.” The ledger in Box 214 lists claims by country and thereunder by month and year. It notes which claims were “Dropped,” “Released,” or “Satisfied” in a given month.

(d)
Record Group & Series: Records of the United States Occupation Headquarters, World War II (RG 260); Office of Military Government, U.S. Zone (Germany) (OMGUS); Property Division; Central Collecting Points (“Ardelia Hall Collection”); Munich Central Collecting Point; Restitution Claim Records, 1945–1947 (A1, Entry 516).

Description: This series cconsists of correspondence concerning claim cases, indexes to claim cases, and other records relating to claims for the restitution of cultural objects. Most of the records consist of claims case files, which contain records relating to claims made by countries, institutions, or private individuals for the return of objects. This series is arranged in three parts: first, alphabetically by name of country or ethnic group; second, alphabetically by type of record; and third, alphabetically by subject.

This series is available on NARA Microfilm Publication M1946, Rolls 34–70.

(e)
Record Group & Series: RG 260, Records of the U.S. Occupation Headquarters, World War II, Office of the Military Governor, United States (OMGUS), Property Division, Records of Central Collecting Point ("Ardelia Hall Collection"), Records of the Wiesbaden Central Collecting Point, Restitution Claim Records, 1945-1948. (Entry 495)

Description: This series consists of correspondence, memorandums, and reports pertaining to restitution claims. Most of the records originated in the 1945-50 period, although some date as late as 1958, and most consist of individual claim case files, containing records relating to claims made by individuals, institutions, and countries for the return of looted art objects. The terms "external restitutions" and "internal restitutions" are used throughout the records. External restitutions pertained to the return of looted objects to other countries or to citizens or institutions of other countries, while internal restitutions concerned the return of looted objects to German citizens. Arranged alphabetically by country and thereunder by either miscellaneous claims, internal restitutions, and/or alphabetically by claimant.

This series is available on NARA Microfilm Publication M1947, Rolls 41–50.

(f)
Record Group & Series: Records of the United States Occupation Headquarters, World War II (RG 260); Office of Military Government, U.S. Zone (Germany) (OMGUS); Property Division; Property Control and External Assets Branch; Branch Headquarters; Claims; Register of Claims and Releases of Property, 1947–1948 (A1, Entry 450).

Description: This series consists of three legal-size ledger books. First section lists claim number by country and provides a brief description (e.g., French Claim No. 1: Optical Instruments). Arranged by country and thereunder by claim number. Occasionally, a claimant's name is also listed. The second section lists release numbers and the corresponding claim numbers. Arranged by release number.

(g)
Record Group & Series: Records of the U.S. Occupation Headquarters, World War II (RG 260); Office of Military Government, U.S. Zone (Germany) (OMGUS); Property Division; Restitution Control Branch, Karlsruhe; Index to Norwegian, Polish and Yugoslavian Missions for Restitution Claims, 1946–1948 (A1, Entry 545).

Description: This series consists of one ledger book containing the following basic information regarding claims: claim number, “evaluation,” “A,” “R,” and “D.” The meaning of these letter codes is not clear at present.

(h)
Record Group & Series: Records of the U.S. Occupation Headquarters, World War II (RG 260); Office of Military Government, U.S. Zone (Germany) (OMGUS); Property Division; Restitution Control Branch, Karlsruhe; Index to the Hungarian, Austrian, and Luxembourgian Missions for Restitution Claims, 1946–1948 (A1, Entry 544).

Description: This series consists of one ledger book containing basic claim information. Hungarian and Austrian claim entries contain the claim number, a brief description, a status indicator (i.e., pending, satisfied, or dropped), and remarks. Luxemborgian claim entries contain a claim number and the same status indicators. Arranged by country and thereunder by claim number. The majority of these claims are for non-cultural property. Also contains entries for Belgium, Czechoslovakia, French horses, Poland, Roumania, Russia, and Yugoslavia.