Heinrich Himmler’s Cultural Commissions: Programmed Plunder in Italy and Yugoslavia

279 Pages·2018·2.3 MB·English

by  James Dow

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Heinrich Himmler’s
Cultural Commissions
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HEINRICH
HIMMLER’S
CULTURAL
COMMISSIONS
PROGRAMMED PLUNDER
IN ITALY AND YUGOSLAVIA
JAMES R. DOW
the university of wisconsin press
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The University of Wisconsin Press
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Copyright © 2018 by James R. Dow
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Dow, James R., author.
Title: Heinrich Himmler’s cultural commissions: programmed plunder in
Italy and Yugoslavia / James R. Dow.
Description: Madison, Wisconsin: The University of Wisconsin Press,
[2018] | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017046342 | ISBN 9780299316501 (cloth: alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Kulturkommission Ahnenerbe. | National socialism and
folklore. | Folklorists—Germany—History—20th century. | Germans—
Italy—Trentino-Alto Adige—Folklore. | Germans—Slovenia—
Ko†cevje—Folklore. | Trentino-Alto Adige (Italy)—History—20th
century. | Ko†cevje (Slovenia)—History—20th century.
Classification: LCC GR166 .D69 2018 | DDC 398.092/2—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017046342
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Meinen Freunden
Hannjost Lixfeld (1937–98)
und
Peter Assion (1941–94)
gewidmet
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Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Introduction 3
1 October 21, 1939 10
2 The Intellectual Atmosphere 16
3 Who’s Who? 43
4 Much Ado about Nothing? 112
5 Gottschee 145
6 Then and Now 171
Acknowledgments 201
Appendix 1: Call for Collecting Folktales 205
Appendix 2: Gisela Schmitz-Kahlmann’s Summary of Activities
(German) 207
vii
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viii Contents
Appendix 3: Josef Ringler’s Summary of Activities of Gertrud
Pesendorfer (German) 212
Appendix 4: Handbills Calling for Optanten to Stay Home in Italy 214
Appendix 5: Mussolini Letter Supporting Alcuni documenti 221
Notes 225
Bibliography 251
Index 263
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Illustrations
Typed-in letterhead of the Kulturkommission 12
Hanns Hörbiger’s grave site 20
Walther Wüst delivering a lecture at the University of Munich,
1937 32
Crossed horsehead gables in South Tyrol 36
Church registers in South Tyrol 40
Bronze swastika with horse heads 50
“Ancient Germanic house” 61
Bruno Schweizer conducting fieldwork in Italy 63
Cymbrian woman photographed by Bruno Schweizer 65
Costume design by Gertrud Pesendorfer 85
Margarethe (Gretel) Karacek 85
Gertrud Pesendorfer mannequin in Innsbruck Folk Art Museum 89
Circular mowing in South Tyrol 96
Shaped bread (Gebildbrot) for New Year’s Day 97
Snapping critters (Schnappviecher) in Tramin 101
Wolfram Sievers and Wilhelm Luig in uniform at the Egetmann
festival, 1941 102
Klosn in Stilfs 102
ix