Conclusion of the blog series on provenance research at the IOS

After three years and 15 episodes, the series Walking into Spiderwebs comes to an end on the IOS blog ostBLOG. In it, historian Daniela Mathuber recounts her experience of searching for Nazi-looted books in the IOS library as part of a project funded by the German Lost Art Foundation and coordinated by Tillmann Tegeler, the head of the library. 

The project was triggered by evidence that key figures in the IOS's predecessor institutions may have acquired Nazi-looted property, a suspicion that the project confirmed in many cases, leading to restitution. Throughout the series, Mathuber highlights the methods she uses to identify the books in question and their rightful owners, even when there is initially little information available. She reveals her criteria, while also describing how she deals with personal doubts. Her posts illustrate the close ties between key figures in research on Eastern and Southeastern Europe and the Nazi regime. 

After three years, the series has now come to an end. In addition to a detailed introductory article, it comprises fifteen thematically separate episodes.