About JCR
During World War II, the Nazis stole millions of books, works of art, and cultural items from countless European Jewish cultural centers. At the end of the war, Allied forces discovered vast abandoned storehouses of items looted from countries across the European continent. The Office of Military Government, United States (OMGUS) took on the task of surveying these millions of stolen items to determine their provenance and attempted to repatriate them. However, many books remained with no identifiable or living heir and the Jewish Cultural Reconstruction, Inc. (JCR) was charged with distributing the remaining books to communities of Jewish culture and learning that would value and care for them.
Upon receiving the books, most U.S. libraries integrated them into their general collections or, as appropriate according to the books’ inherent nature (and not their status as repatriated books), into their rare book collections. Libraries also received special JCR bookplates, which they were requested to affix to the inside covers before shelving. However, attaching the bookplates was done inconsistently, and many that were affixed have fallen out. If libraries originally noted the books’ special provenance in their card catalogs, those records have not been transferred to the current online systems. In other words, these books must first be identified in order to be used in Holocaust education.
Learn more about the JCR Books at Towson University
About the Grant
In 2024, Towson University’s Albert S. Cook Library, with Brandeis University Library, Yeshiva University Libraries, the Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary, and University of Denver Libraries received an Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) National Leadership grant titled “Reconstructing an unintentional library: Fueling community discussion and education about the Holocaust using Jewish Cultural Reconstruction Books”. The institutions will implement a community program for education on Holocaust disinformation, supported by Jewish Cultural Reconstruction (JCR) books. The Jewish Cultural Reconstruction organization distributed approximately 160,000 of the over half a million books, periodicals, and ritual objects that had been seized from Jewish communities following World War II. Many, however, remain unidentified due to inconsistent cataloging practices. The grant will develop, test, and share best practices and digital tools for book identification and cataloging, and partner with museums, schools, universities, and other cultural institutions to create Holocaust education programming using these books. Outcomes will include cemented best practices for locating, cataloging, and describing JCR books; a shared catalog or database of JCR materials; guides and best practices for reaching out to community museums, institutions, and partners regarding program participation, including sample marketing materials; and a foundational report summarizing the grant’s results.
Partners
Towson University
- Suzanna Yaukey, Dean of University Libraries
- Dr. Hana Bor, Director of the Sandra R. Berman Center for Humanity, Tolerance, and Holocaust Education
- Elaine Mael, Jewish Studies Librarian
- Dr. Ashley Todd-Diaz, Assistant University Librarian for Special Collections & University Archives
- Joyce Garczynski, Assistant University Librarian of Communication & Digital Scholarship
Brandeis University
- Mark Paris, Associate University Librarian for Scholarly Resources & Discovery
- Lou Hartman, Metadata Coordinator
- Ari Kleinman, Metadata Librarian, Hebrew Specialty
- Dr. Rachel Greenblatt, Judaica Librarian
University of Denver
Yeshiva University
The Jewish Theological Seminary
Deliverables
- Best Practices for JCR Book Identification and Cataloging
- Shared Catalog of JCR Books
- JCR Partnership and Programming Guide
- Grant Implementation Report
Questions?
Please contact Suzanna Yaukey at syaukey@towson.edu
