Archive sources documenting handling of books and book collections in Czechoslovakia after 1918

Published 13 April 2017

In the course of the project, much has been written about the results of our research and its progress. Although the research hypothesis was that the National Library’s reserve fonds consist entirely of books confiscated from the enemies of the Nazi regime in neighbouring Germany and elsewhere in occupied Europe, the findings show otherwise; in terms of research of archival sources, the internal process of recording ownership marks and sampling the stories of the original owners.

For clarity, I define four basic thematic areas, which were researched from January 2015 until April 2017:

  • Books of foreign provenance, which towards the end of WWII ended up on the territory of liberated Czechoslovakia;
  • Books and book collections confiscated under the Decrees of the President of the Republic, primarily a property of German population;
  • General mechanisms of putting together public library book collections after 1918;
  • Original owners of the books.

The research itself has been conducted in many archives as part of the ongoing BFB initiatives. It will be concluded by a research visit in Bundesarchive, Germany, or the research of relevant archive fonds of the National Archives.

The following overview of archive files that might be used for the research of the movement of books and book collections is in no way complete. Due to the number of original owners of the books stored in the National Library’s reserve fonds amounting to over two thousand, this would be practically impossible.

Alphabetical classification refers to the names of institutions, not the names of the archive files, and does not respect the numerical representation of the documents relevant to the individual topics. The information on the state of processing and accessibility of the archive files is based on the data from the PEvA register of Ministry of Interior of the Czech Republic. For clarity, "yes" in the overview is given for information about processing even for files that are made only partially available for study. In the majority of cases, it is possible to ask the relevant institution for permission to study the unavailable files.

Institution Archival file Available for study State of processing
1 Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic Archives Basic Library – Central Office for Scientific Information, Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences yes yes
2 Czech National Bank Archives National Restoration Fund yes unprocessed
3 Ostrava Municipal Archives Central National Committee, Ostrava yes unprocessed
4 Ministry of Foreign Affairs Archives Reparations and restitutions yes yes
Central Reparation and Restitution Committee yes yes
5 National Library Archives National and University Library, Prague (1918-1960) no unprocessed
Collection of photographs (1893-2005) no unprocessed
Czechoslovak State Library, Prague (1958-1990) no unprocessed
Public and University Library, Prague (1777-1918) yes yes
6 National Museum Archives RNM – National Museum Library no unprocessed
7 Jewish Museum Archives, Prague Jewish Religious Communities Council no unprocessed
Jewish Museum in Prague yes yes
8 Moravian Provincial Library in Brno Moravian Provincial Library in Brno (1905-1999) yes yes
9 Moravian Provincial Archives in Brno Provincial National Committee Brno yes yes
10 Museum of Český ráj in Turnov Josef Scheybal sr. – personal collection yes yes
11 National Archives National Recovery Fund, Prague yes yes
Ministry of Culture, Prague yes yes
Czechoslovak/Czech Ministry of Culture, Prague yes unprocessed
Ministry of Education and Culture, Prague yes yes
Ministry of Education, Prague yes yes
Ministry of Interior I, Prague yes yes
Ministry of Interior II, Prague yes yes
State Heritage Institute, Prague yes yes
Provincial Office, Prague yes yes
12 State Regional Archives, Plzeň State Research Library, Plzeň no unprocessed
13 State Regional Archives, Třeboň State Research Library, České Budějovice partially yes
14 State Regional Archives, Liberec Regional Research Library in Liberec no unprocessed
German Library Association, Liberec no unprocessed
15 Institute of History of Art of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, v. v. i., Department of Documentation National Cultural Committee (1947-1954) yes yes
Zdeněk Wirth (1878-1961) yes yes
16 Provincial Archives in Opava State Research Library Olomouc no unprocessed
State Research Library Ostrava no unprocessed