During the Second World War, many artists and art collectors who had fled the Nazi regime in Germany entrusted their art works to the Stedelijk Museum.

Museum director David Röell and curator Willem Sandberg looked after more than 500 collections, stored in a bunker built especially for the purpose in the dunes near Castricum. At the same time, the Stedelijk remained open throughout the war years, surrounded by German bunkers and Nazi-held premises. This book describes a remarkable episode in the museum’s history. It is based on the provenance research performed by the Stedelijk Museum as part of the nation-wide investigation entitled Museum Acquisitions from 1933 onwards. The examination of the museum’s collection and of many archives uncovered a number of poignant histories. It also revealed how the museum, after the war, commemorated the tragic recent events and how it celebrated the regained freedom through the acquisition of modern art.

Published by Uitgeverij Bas Lubberhuizen in collaboration with the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam

Design Studio Ron van Roon, 192 pages, 17 x 23 cm, paperback with flaps, € 29,95, ISBN 978 90 593 7404 1 (English), ISBN 978 90 593 7403 4 (Dutch)