On Friday 13 June 2025, a book looted during the Second World War was returned to the daughter of August Liebmann Mayer thanks to the joint action of the BnF and the French Ministry of Culture, and in collaboration with the Holocaust Claims Processing Office of the State of New York. This is the first application of the French law of 22 July 2023. It is also paving the way for other restitutions to be made.

The returned book, Vittore Carpaccio: the life and work of the painter, was seized from Hermann Göring’s residence in 1945 and then incorporated into the collections of the BnF. Recent research has led to the discovery of this item, which included the ex_libris of Liebmann Mayer, a Jewish German art historian, professor and chief curator of the Alte Pinakothek born in 1885, who was deported to Auschwitz and murdered in 1944.

Press Release (in French): https://www.culture.gouv.fr/fr/presse/dossiers-de-presse/restitution-a-la-fille-d-august-liebmann-mayer-d-un-livre-spolie-par-les-nazis-rachida-dati-ministre-de-la-culture-salue-cette-premiere-applica