The Centre

Documentation Centre for Property Transfers of the Cultural Assets of WW II Victims, p.b.o. was established on 1 November 2001 on the basis of a decision by the Mixed Working Committee (created by Czech Government Decree no. 773 on 25 November 1998), chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister Pavel Rychetský. The Committee was disbanded on 15 March 2002, and the work begun by its expert team was taken over by the Centre: researching historical and economic issues of the ‘Aryanization’ of Jewish property (mainly art works), and also expanding on the expert team’s activities by carrying out heuristic research in Czech and international archives and in the acquisitions records and inventories of individual museums and galleries (made possible by the Centre’s close cooperation with the Czech Ministry of Culture). On 1 November 2006 the Czech Government issued a resolution (no. 1249) extending the Centre’s activities up to the end of 2011.The Centre’s tasks and mission were set out in in section II.3.5 of the Czech Government resolution no. 87 – “A concept for more effective management of the movable cultural heritage in the Czech Republic for the period 2003–2008 (A concept for the development of museums)”, 22 January 2003.

Up to the end of 2011 the Centre formed part of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.

Government resolution no. 683 (14 September 2011) changed the status of the Centre to that of a ‘public benefit organization’; this came into existence on 6 February 2012 under the official title ‘Documentation Centre for Property Transfers of Cultural Assets of WW II Victims, p.b.o.’ (Centrum pro dokumentaci majetkových převodů kulturních statků obětí II. světové války, o.p.s.).