Humanizing Provenance Research

Through our work on the SACRe project, we identified a growing gap between the practice of Nazi-era provenance research and its intended impact on generational Holocaust survivors, as well as on present and future culture and society. Provenance research can contribute to a more accurate and inclusive historical narrative by reconnecting the lives and stories of persecuted Jews and their descendants with German society. Our work is enriched and strengthened through collaboration with survivors and heirs. We reviewed existing approaches, practices, and frameworks for provenance research and the treatment of Nazi-looted cultural property, identifying four areas requiring further development: the integration of heirs and generational Holocaust survivors; the separation of objects from the people, families, and stories connected to them; the sociological impact of Nazi-era provenance research; and the role of provenance researchers in relation to Nazi-looted cultural property and remembrance culture.