Stolen Nazi book treasure was recovered after 65 years

Stolen Nazi book treasure was recovered after 65 yearsOslo. Heinrich Himmler. Reichsführer-SS und Chef der Deutschen Polizei. Photo: NTB / Scanpix

Books from the  witch library of SS head Heinrich Himmler have been found in a warehouse outside Prague, among the books are thousands of Norwegian Masonic books that Germans took away from Oslo during the war.
– I myself have helped to identify a number of books. Many of them belonged to the central library of the Free Masons in Oslo, Bjorn Helge Horrisland, Norwegian Masonic historian and repatriation expert, told VG.
Himmler set up a special research group for working on historical documents on witches. From  the start of the project in 1935   14 researchers combed over 260 libraries and archives to find traces of the witch trials of the Middle Ages.
The Archive Foundation, in cooperation with the Czech National Library, will be holding a  conference in Kristiansand on Wednesday about what happened to the literature  during WW2.  As a part of the conference, Horrisland will present his findings.
– In all likelihood, many of these books have been part of Himmler’s so-called witch library. The books were found in a large warehouse belonging to the Czech National Library. The collection has simply been left untouched since the early 50s,  the historian says.
The project has received financial support from Norway and other EEA countries and is the result of collaboration between the Foundation Archives in Kristiansand, National Library and the Czech National Library.
Approximately 6,000 of the 13,000 books belonged to the Norwegian Order of Freemasons.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today