In 2004, a small album of photos was identified in the German federal archives in Coblenz: probably taken by a German soldier for propaganda reasons, in order to show the efficiency of the looting operations, and reconstituted after the liberation of France by American soldiers responsible for the restitution of pillaged artworks.
These 85 photos show all the places where the objects belonging to Jews were transported, stored and warehoused: Palais de Tokyo, Musée du Louvre, a mansion on the rue Bassano, the Gare du Nord, the Entrepôts et Magasins Généraux d'Aubervilliers. But most of these photos were taken in the Lévitan building.
They show the arrival of crates in removal lorries, the piles of objects, the accumulations of different types of china, clothing, toys. We can see the detainees at work, stacking, classifying, repairing.
It becomes clear that what is referred to as the "looting of Jewish property" did not just concern works of art and valuable paintings but also modest objects of daily life ¬ shoes, light bulbs, saucepans, sheets.
We can see Nazi worthies come to inspect the building and pick out objects for themselves, as if in an ideal shop where the finest pieces of furniture are tastefully displayed to catch the shopper's eye.
We felt that it is important that these photos be exhibited in the very place where they were taken. A kind of divine justice, this return to the starting point, a 'retour sur les lieux'.
Courtesy Bundesarchiv Koblenz
