Detail page - Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz

At a formal ceremony held today at the French Embassy in Berlin, three German cultural institutions presented seven books to the descendants of the French historian Marc Bloch (1886–1944) and his wife Simonne Vidal (1894–1944). Bloch, a member of the Resistance, was executed by the Gestapo on 16 June 1944. The restitution of the books was organised by the Berlin State Library – Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation with the support of the French Commission for the Restitution of Cultural Property and the Compensation of Victims of Anti-Semitic Expropriation (CIVS).

At the request of the community of heirs, all books recovered in Germany will be handed over directly to the Bibliothèque Halphen at the Sorbonne University Paris I in order to preserve the serial nature of Bloch’s library. The Bibliothèque Halphen, which specialises in medieval studies, is tasked with acquiring the works that were expropriated from Marc Bloch during the occupation due to anti-Semitic legislation and have now been identified. 

Minister of State for Culture and Media Wolfram Weimer stated: “The systematic provenance research carried out by Germany’s cultural heritage institutions provides the indispensable basis for today’s return of seven books to the descendants of Marc Bloch and Simonne Vidal. I would like to express my particular thanks to our French partners for their close and trusting cooperation. The restitution to the descendants of Marc Bloch and Simonne Vidal is, not least, an important gesture of recognition of the historical injustice that we owe to the victims of Nazi cultural property looting and their families.”

François Delattre, French Ambassador to Germany, regards this return as an important sign of Franco-German friendship and cooperation in the field of remembrance culture: “As a pioneer of European thought, Marc Bloch shapes our political and diplomatic thinking. More than 80 years after the Second World War, the memory of the darkest chapters of our history continues to form the foundation of the shared destiny that binds our countries through an unshakeable bond. I would like to thank the researchers who identified the books through their outstanding expertise, as well as the German libraries and institutions that decided to return these works in the spirit of Franco-German friendship and the 1998 Washington Principles.” 

Marion Ackermann, President of the SPK, emphasises: “This restitution is a prime example of cooperation between various German cultural institutions in the field of provenance research and an important contribution to redressing the injustices suffered under Nazi rule. I would also like to extend my special thanks to the CIVS for its vital support in implementing the restitution.”

Achim Bonte, Director General of the Berlin State Library, explains: “With this return, the Berlin State Library is fulfilling its responsibility to carefully investigate the provenance of its holdings, particularly where there is suspicion that they entered the collection unlawfully. We have been conducting provenance research as a core task for over twenty years – in close collaboration with other cultural institutions.”

The seven volumes formerly owned by Marc Bloch and Simonne Vidal could be identified thanks to the ownership entries they contained and an ex-libris. Several German libraries were involved in the restitution: four books came from the Berlin State Library, two volumes from the Johann Christian Senckenberg University Library in Frankfurt, and one copy from the State Book and Engraving Collection in Greiz. The findings from the research project “Nazi-looted property after 1945: The role of the Central Office for Scientific Old Collections (ZwA)”, carried out at the State Library, were crucial in identifying the books. In the GDR, the ZwA was the central non-commercial agency responsible for the distribution of library materials such as duplicates. This also included Nazi-looted property, which was redistributed in this way after 1945.

Marc Bloch’s anti-Semitic persecution and expropriation were investigated and researched by the CIVS in collaboration with the Mission for Provenance Research and the Restitution of Expropriated Cultural Property (1933–1945) of the French Ministry of Culture. Following the CIVS’s recommendation of 11 July 2025, the French State recognised the expropriation of Marc Bloch’s household effects in Paris and his library on the basis of anti-Semitic legislation during the Occupation. Through this, and in particular through the search for heirs, the CIVS contributed to the restitution of 28 May. 

Marc Bloch

Marc Léopold Benjamin Bloch, born on 6 July 1886 in Lyon, studied at the École normale supérieure in Paris, and later in Berlin and Leipzig. During the First World War, he served as a front-line soldier in the French army. In 1919, he married Simone Vidal (1894–1944), who supported him in his academic work. The marriage produced six children. Bloch became Professor of Medieval History at the University of Strasbourg in 1921, and was appointed Professor of Economic History at the Sorbonne in Paris in 1936. At the outbreak of the Second World War, he re-enlisted in the army as an officer and fought until France’s defeat in June 1940.

Due to his Jewish heritage, Bloch was barred from teaching during the occupation and was forced into retirement in 1942. He moved to his country house in the south of France, where he joined a Resistance group in 1943. With his organisational skills, he made a significant contribution to the activities of the Resistance. In 1944, Marc Bloch was arrested by the Gestapo and, in June of that year, was shot as a Resistance fighter in an open field near Lyon, along with 27 other prisoners. His wife, who was seriously ill, died shortly afterwards.

Induction into the Panthéon

In November 2024, Emmanuel Macron announced that both Marc Bloch and Simonne Vidal would be inducted into the Panthéon. This is intended to honour their contribution to intellectual life and the struggle for freedom during one of France’s darkest periods.

To mark the occasion, the Centre Marc Bloch in Berlin has organised a series of events, including the conference “Marc Bloch: Comparative History(ies) and Franco-German Engagement”, within the framework of which this restitution is taking place. The descendants of Matis and Alexiane Bloch are also attending the conference. As a Franco-German research centre for the humanities and social sciences, the Centre Marc Bloch sees itself as continuing the approaches embodied by Marc Bloch himself: transcending national frameworks of thought, interdisciplinarity, and a particular focus on supporting young researchers. Since March 2011, the Centre has held the status of an affiliated institute of Humboldt University in Berlin.

Bloch’s library and the paths of books

Marc Bloch owned an extensive library, comprising almost 7,000 volumes in French, German, English and Italian, covering history in general and the history of the Middle Ages in particular, as well as political economy and literature. Following the German occupation of Paris, he initially attempted, together with the historian Louis Halphen and the geographer Jacques Ancel, to place this collection under the protection of the Ministry of Education, a proposal which Ancel rejected. A donation to the university library could not be realised either due to internal differences within the group. The library was confiscated by the German occupiers from Bloch’s Paris apartment in December 1941.

Shortly after the end of the war, Bloch’s family sought the return of the books. Between 1948 and 1950, the children of Marc Bloch and Simonne Vidal received a total of 2,144 volumes back. A further 500 to 700 volumes remained missing.

It has not yet been conclusively established exactly who confiscated the library, or parts of it, in Paris and transported it to Berlin. It is likely that it was stored within the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA), as books belonging to Bloch were found in the Offenbach Archival Depot after the war. The Offenbach Archival Depot (OAD) was one of four central collecting points in the American occupation zone for books, manuscripts, documents and ritual objects, the majority of which had formerly been in Jewish ownership.

The four copies identified at the Berlin State Library as having come from Bloch’s collection are French-language books on history and philosophy, which Bloch himself had signed and dated. Two of the copies bear only the stamp of the Public Scientific Library as a further provenance mark, indicating that they were incorporated into the holdings of what is now the Berlin State Library between 1946 and 1954. The other two volumes were transferred to the then German State Library in the GDR in 1966 and 1979 via the Central Office for Old Scholarly Collections (ZwA).

The two works by Ernst Finder and Augustin Fliche identified in the collection of the Johann Christian Senckenberg University Library in Frankfurt originate from the remaining holdings of the Offenbach Archival Depot that were taken over and were entered in the accession register there in 1949 and 1951 respectively.

The book by Ignazio Silone found in Greiz was transferred by the ZwA to the State Book and Engraving Collection in Greiz on 27 March 1962. As the only copy identified to date with the Bloch provenance, it bears the bookplate of Marc Bloch and Simonne Vidal.

Press photos: https://www.preussischer-kulturbesitz.de/newsroom/presse/pressebilder.html