Lost Books Lab launches in Baden-Württemberg

Looted books tell of expropriation, persecution and cultural erasure. This is precisely where the new project "Lost Books Lab - Participatory educational formats on Nazi-looted property in a professional context" comes in, which was launched on May 1. The project is funded by the Baden-Württemberg Foundation as part of the "Education against Anti-Semitism" program. The aim is to develop a transferable educational format that makes anti-Semitism comprehensible using a specific historical object - the book looted under National Socialism.

The "Lost Books Lab Baden-Württemberg" is aimed at trainees and employees of companies in Baden-Württemberg and thus opens up new approaches to anti-Semitism-critical education in a professional context. In cooperation with libraries, the participants take part in three-hour workshops in which they examine historical book collections, research provenance characteristics and follow the traces of former Jewish owners. After an introduction to the history of the systematic looting of Jewish libraries and methods of provenance research, they work independently in groups with historical books, document their findings and reflect on their significance for the present. No previous knowledge is required. The offer is free of charge for participants and companies.

"Looted books show that anti-Semitism was reflected in concrete acts of exclusion, dispossession and cultural erasure. The Lost Books Lab combines historical education with active research and enables participants to make their own contribution to coming to terms with this injustice," says former ambassador Shimon Stein, Chairman of the Board of the Leo Baeck Institute's Friends and Patrons Association.

The project is being carried out by the Heidelberg University of Jewish Studies, the Friends and Sponsors of the Leo Baeck Institute and the Leo Baeck Institute Jerusalem. The Heidelberg University of Jewish Studies is a state-recognized university of the Central Council of Jews in Germany and has expertise in Jewish history, education critical of anti-Semitism and provenance research. The Leo Baeck Institute researches and communicates the history and culture of German-speaking Jews; its public history initiative "Library of Lost Books" has received several awards.

During the 24-month project period until April 2028, workshops in Baden-Württemberg will be developed, tested and implemented together with local partners. In addition, a digital handbook, training courses for multipliers and a modular exhibition will be created.

Further partners in Baden-Württemberg are being sought for the implementation. Libraries, companies, archives, antiquarian bookshops and regional networks that are interested in working together or would like to try out the format at their location are invited to get in touch.