Cabinet

In 2014, the exhibition "Ausplündern & Verwalten - Das Finanzamt Bremen stellt sich seiner NS-Vergangenheit" took place in the Haus des Reichs, the headquarters of the Senator for Finance. The exhibition presented the results of the research project "Judenverfolgung und Wiedergutmachung in Bremen" led by Dr Jaromír Dittmann-Balcar at the Institute of History at the University of Bremen in cooperation with the Senator for Finance. In a letter from the Chief Finance President of Weser-Ems to the bailiff Johannes Rötsch dated 6 February 1942 regarding the auction of the removal goods of Jewish emigrants stored in the port, the latter instructed that ‘objects suitable for furnishing the administration, e.g. desks, bookcases and other office furniture, armchairs, carpets and office machines, especially typewriters, are generally excluded from sale or auction’ (StAB 4.42/3 7). In the subsequent years of the exhibition, various pieces of furniture attracted attention in the tax authorities due to their characteristics.

The cabinet caught the eye of the Bremen tax authorities in the 2010s as it does not look like typical, functional government furniture. Instead, its high quality and style suggest that it is private furniture or a piece of furniture for a prestigious office. There is also a sticker on the back of the cabinet with the name of the user, Finance President Waldemar Mohr. Waldemar Mohr (born 22 October 1883) had previously worked at the state finance offices in Brandenburg, Darmstadt and Nuremberg, moved to Bremen in 1939 and was Finance President at the Bremen Chief Finance President (StAB 4.66 - I. 7567).

At the present time, it is not possible to reconstruct how the cabinet came into the house. There is therefore at least the suspicion that the cupboard could be cultural property confiscated as a result of Nazi persecution.