A tentative listing of more than 3,500,000 looks and 5,000 rare manuscripts and old prints looted by the Nazis from 430 Jewish libraries, art collections, and archives was released here today by Dr. Salo W. Baron, chairman of the Commission on European Jewish Cultural Reconstruction.
The catalogue, prepared after ten months of work by a staff of scholars, literary experts, and research workers, also lists 273 of the more important collections of Jewish books and art pieces in non-Jewish institutions, which were stolen by the Nazis.
This summer a six-man team headed by Dr. Baron, a professor of Jewish history and literature at Columbia University, will go to Europe in an attempt to locate the books which they have listed and attempt to establish their rightful owners. They will be joined in their task by groups from England and Palestine.
The Commission was set up by the Conference on Jewish Relations in May last year with the aim of advising the United Nations on the restoration of Jewish cultural life in Europe and establishing a trusteeship for the eventual redistribution of religious and cultural properties. It is a non-partisan group made up of scholars and religious leaders from all over the world.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
