About the Talk

About twenty years ago, over 9,000 books looted by the infamous Nazi officer Julius Streicher were handed over to the Jewish community in Nuremberg and are now held in the City’s Library. The owners of more than 2,000 of them could be identified. A research project led by Leibl Rosenberg in Nuremberg to identify descendants has resulted in the return of over 1,000 books. Hundreds more await return.

Karen S. Franklin, who worked on many cases over the last decade, recently enlisted the assistance of more than 15 volunteers for the Kalikow Jewish Genealogy Center at the Museum of Jewish Heritage as well as the Leo Baeck Institute, where she is the director of Family Research, to help identify heirs. In months, the descendants of dozens of original owners of books were located and notified. Among them was well-known CBS News Correspondent Martha Teichner.  

The program will feature several cases and how the descendants were located.  Volunteers will join Karen to discuss their research.

 The list of book owners whose heirs are being sought can now be found on JewishGen’s Holocaust Database. Perhaps there is a book that you could claim…

This talk is co-presented by Leo Baeck Institute, New York

About the Speaker

Karen S. Franklin is the Consulting Director of the Peter and Mary Kalikow Jewish Genealogy Center. She is a former Co-chair of the Board of Governors of JewishGen, a past president of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies, and has been an active leader, lecturer, and author in the field of museums, genealogy and looted art.