The Role of Displaced Book Collections in Culture

SHOULDRARE BOOKS TAKEN during times ofwar as “trophies” by the enemy be restored to their original owners? This is a controversial but increasingly important issue for special collections libraries worldwide. Attempted restitution brings about a new set of losses and problems. Any rules or policies for such restitution will, at least for the time being, include complex legal and political considerations. It is important to consider that while the value of an individual book might not be so high, the same book as part of a collection might be very valuable. The German book trade and libraries, and their relation to the Soviet Union after World War 11,is a major case study in the problems surrounding restitution of cultural property-in particular, the lack of bibliographical citations for much of the material. Librarians should consider the creation of a bibliographically sound, allEuropean register of rare books. As strange as it may seem, the problem of cultural valuables displaced as a result of war holds a very low ranking among the cultural issues discussed. Yet, the very roots of this problem are related to basic cultural archetypes, compared to which all legal and political aspects are secondary. Originally, victors treated captured “cultural valuables” (as we call them now) as material valuables and, at the same time, as sacral ones. In modern civilization cultural and sacral values have merged in many ways: the fruits of other people’s spiritual culture are their sacred objects, so to appropriate such objects means, consequently, to defeat the enemy’s spirit. That is why the issue of “trophy” objects of art and books is so important to the tolerant mentality that will not stand either victory or defeat in the spiritual sphere. Ekaterina Genieva, Director General, All-Russia State Library for Foreign Literature, 1 Nickoloyamskaya St., Moscow 109189,Russian Federation. LIBRARY TRENDS, Vol. 52, No. 1, Summer 2003, pp. 151-156