In the Rijksmuseum print cabinets

Each room centers on one or more Jewish protagonists. Their personal stories show the roles they played in the art world and what happened to their professions - and to them as individuals - under the Nazi regime. All stories are based on research into works on paper from the permanent collection. The roles these people fulfilled range from creator to intermediary, and from collector to custodian of a legacy.

Print cabinet of the 15th and 16th Century: Arthur Feldmann – Traces of a Collector

Arthur Feldmann (1877–1941), a Jewish lawyer from Brno, assembled around 800 Old Master drawings, choosing them not for their famous names but for the quality of the drawings themselves. In 1939, his collection was seized by the Gestapo. Since 1982, his grandson Uri Peled-Feldmann has been tracing the works; two of them are now on display here.

Print Room of the Early 17th Century: Emma Budge – A Stolen Legacy

Emma Budge (1852–1937) was a prominent Jewish art collector from Hamburg, known for her generosity and her collection of decorative arts. After the NSDAP seized power, she amended her will to protect her estate, but after her death her Jewish executors were forced to auction the collection. The proceeds were largely taken by the Nazis, deliberately erasing her legacy.

Print Room of the Late 17th Century: The Lifework of Heinrich Hollstein

Heinrich Hollstein (1888–1957) was forced by Nazi legislation to give up his art dealership and fled in 1937 with his Jewish wife, Margarethe Krieg, and their children to the Netherlands, where he resumed work as an art dealer. During the occupation he began his life’s work: an extensive catalogue of Dutch and later German prints.

Print Room of the 18th Century: Art Dealing and the Houthakker Family

During the Second World War, the Houthakker family was deported. The two teenage sons, Henk and Lodewijk, escaped and went into hiding in the Netherlands. After the war, son Lodewijk (1926-2008) revived the firm, and in the following years the Rijksmuseum acquired hundreds of artworks from their dealership.

Print Room of the 19th Century: Mathilde Cohen Tervaert-Israëls

Mathilde Cohen Tervaert-Israëls (1864–1945) was an influential feminist and politician who advocated for women’s rights, single mothers, sex workers, and full citizenship for women. She also carefully managed the artistic legacy of her father and brother, the renowned painters Jozef and Isaac Israels. Her commitment to both social issues and the preservation of art makes her legacy multifaceted and meaningful.

20th Century Galleries: Photographers and Entrepreneurs Under the Nazi Regime

This section presents the work of four Jewish photographers who all emigrated to or fled to the Netherlands and captured typically Dutch subjects there: Hannah Elkan, Eva Besnyö, Lilly Samuel, and Maria Austria.

Header image: Institut für Stadtgeschichte, Frankfurt am Main, inv no. ISG FFM, S7P, 2062