Rigged

Hacked emails have confirmed the suspicions of Senator Bernie Sanders' followers that the powers that be in the Democratic National Committee-- who are supposed to be neutral-- in fact sought to rig the system against him and his campaign.

Collectors, both here and in Germany, already know that feeling.  In the US, the State Department-- which is supposed to be neutral when it comes to deciding whether foreign requests for MOUs meet the criteria in the Convention on Cultural Property Implementation Act-- has never rejected one. Even worse, when a last minute effort to engineer import restrictions on Cypriot coins was turned down by the State Department's own Cultural Property Advisory Committee, the State Department's Bureau of Educational Affairs imposed them anyway and then went so far as to mislead the public and Congress about CPAC's true recommendations.  That, of course, gave the State Department bureaucrats license to do the same with other coins from Bulgaria, China, Greece, and Italy, citing the Cyprus decision as "precedent."

The situation is even worse in Germany.  There almost 50,000 collectors and dealers made their valid concerns known about a draconian new law, but CDU Culture Minister Monika Grutters rammed it through anyway, cheered on only by a small group of mostly authoritarian cultural nationalist countries and the German Archaeological Institute, which is part of Germany's Foreign Ministry.  Again, the desires of connected insiders associated with the archaeological lobby and the bureaucracy seemed to take precedence over the concerns of ordinary people and small businesses. 

Germany's Controversial Cultural Heritage Law Passes Lower House

Germany's controversial cultural heritage law has passed  the lower house of the German Parliament, apparently with opposition parties abstaining from voting on the measure.

The German Government hopes the upper house will take up the measure before recess on July 8th.

While additional regulation was probably inevitable, the assumption that an artifact is "stolen" because a dealer or collector cannot produce an export permit from a postulated "country of origin" where an artifact was made hundreds, if not thousands, of years ago brings back bad memories of Germany's totalitarian past.

So, small wonder the law lacks popular support.  Rather, the restrictions against collecting appear to be a special interest measure being pushed by the the German Federal Foreign Office (which--like our own State Department-- views repatriation as a "soft power" opportunity, domestic interests be damned), the German Archaeological Institute (a Federal Foreign Office entity, whose members depend on excavation permits from source countries to excavate),  and a small group of  countries with cultural nationalist pretensions (mostly undemocratic or even dictatorial regimes that view anything "old" as state property).

Germany's coalition government is already deeply unpopular due to its mishandling of the economy, immigration, and the Greek bail-out. 

Hopefully, Brexit (which was voted on the same day) and what it says about the people's distrust of  government "experts" has scared the politicians enough that at even this late date, Germany's upper house will consider the due process rights of Germans before requiring such non-existent documentation. 

After all, Germany's ancient coin and antiquities trade is not only good for Germany's economy, but it helps encourage people to people contacts and appreciation of other cultures. 

Image:  Monika Grutters, Germany's Cultural Minister, pitching her "soft power" initiative

Still Time to Comment on Proposed German Law

Coins Weekly is again soliciting signatures for a petition raising concerns about Germany's proposed new cultural patrimony law.  Proponents in the archaeological lobby and German cultural bureaucracy originally justified the law as an anti-terrorism measure.  However, as the claim that ISIS was heavily funded with stolen antiquities was exposed as a highly exaggerated fraud, the justification changed and the proposal was instead sold as a "soft power" measure to endear Germany to countries like Greece, Turkey, etc.  (Sounds familiar, doesn't it?)  But German cultural bureaucrats like their State Department counterparts seem to be oblivious to the fact that collecting fosters not only the preservation of artifacts, but also the people to people contacts and cultural understanding that should be encouraged, not condemned.   The problem isn't so much some regulation, but rather some draconian requirements that have been discussed.  (Also sounds familiar, doesn't it?)

From Coins Weekly,

Dear Coin Enthusiasts all over the World,

The final sprint has started! On April 13, 2016, an expert hearing will be held in Berlin, in the context of the new German Law on the Protection of Cultural Heritage, which we would like to take as an opportunity to present the signatures of our petition to the chairman of the Federal Committee for Culture and the Media.
So, if you see any ways to get us some more signatures, please help us. Dear collectors, you have relatives and friends who may sign due to solidarity. Dear coin society presidents, please remind the members of your society that they have relatives and friends. Dear coin dealers, please send a reminder to your customers. We have often seen the second and third reminder bringing in numerous signatures as well. As of today, we have collected an impressive 44,229 signatures. But, according to recent studies, there are currently 7.7 million coin collectors in Germany only, 6.2 million collectors of stamps, 4.1 million collectors of minerals and fossils, and another 3.6 million collectors of antiques. As you can see, we still have some potential for improvement until April 13!
You can support us in Berlin, too. Please attend the expert hearing. Our article tells you how to do that. And please join us when we hand in the signatures. It would be fine if the politicians in Berlin realized that we do care about the new Law on the Protection of Cultural Heritage!

Please find the link to the petition here.

Yours
Ursula Kampmann

ISIS Crisis: Likely Fake Seized Months Ago Used as Justification for New Laws?

The archaeological lobby in both the United States and Germany are joined at the hip with the foreign policy bureaucracies of both countries.  In the US, the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs has worked closely with archaeological groups like the Archaeological Institute of America and the American Schools of Oriental Research for years.  In Germany, the German Archaeological Institute is similarly linked to the German Foreign Ministry.

Moreover, both the US State Department and the German Foreign Ministry have recently decided that repatriation is a "soft power" measure that can further foreign relations with source countries in Southern Europe and the Middle East.  And the archaeological lobby can be counted on to be supportive of even the most authoritarian of regimes as long as excavation permits are assured. So, perhaps it should be no surprise that what appears to knowledgeable antiquities dealers to be a fake seized back in March is now being used months later to again claim that there is an "ISIS Crisis" demanding a change in current law on the importing of antiquities.

Serious questions have been raised as to the wisdom of  the current forms of HR 1493/S.1887 in the United States and a new Cultural Heritage law in Germany, particularly now that dubious claims about ISIS and antiquities have been exposed.  So, perhaps this story that appears to have been planted in the New York Times at the behest of  the State Department and archaeological groups in the US and Germany should be viewed more as part of a desperate effort to overcome legitimate questions about this legislation and the new intrusive bureaucracies that would be created in the US and Germany as much as anything else.

Byzantine

Is a good way to describe the cultural property laws a Greek numismatist must deal with for the private foundation where he works to add Byzantine and other coins to its collection.   At least the politically connected KIKPE Numismatic Collection is designated a "collector" under Greek law. That allows them to do more than merely "possess" the coins they own.

One would hope that efforts to cut down on choking regulation-- which have been discussed in Greece as a much needed remedy to open up its moribund economy to growth-- would carry over to "cultural property issues."  However, the archaeological lobby and the cultural bureaucracy are probably too entrenched to make that possible.

Indeed, it would appear, if anything, based on red tape creating legislative proposals in Germany and the United States that the trend is in the opposite direction.  CPO strongly believes that such added layers of bureaucracy and over regulation do little, or nothing, to protect archaeology as claimed, but much to undercut legitimate cultural exchange and the study and appreciation of coins and other artifacts that comes with it.

Email to CBS News

Margaret Brennan's report on documents seized from a terrorist financier in Syria contains some serious errors. (see http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/isis-records-show-millions-raised-by-antiquities-smuggling/) 

First, the report states that documents seized from Abu Sayyaf prove that ISIS has made $100's of millions of dollars from stolen antiquities. However, the documents themselves only support a far lower number, $1.25 million. (See https://gatesofnineveh.wordpress.com/2015/09/30/new-documents-prove-isis-heavily-involved-in-antiquities-trafficking/) 

Second, the story again suggests that Apamea  has been looted by ISIS.  In fact, the city has been in the hands of the Assad government since the beginning of the conflict. (See http://culturalpropertyobserver.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-perils-of-limited-sourcing.html) 

These errors would be more forgivable if it were not that a CBS producer was on a panel at the MET event where these issues were discussed.

Michael Danti of the State Department/ASOR Cultural Heritage Initiative spoke about Apamea being in Assad's hands at the conference.  In addition, several speakers put far lower values on stolen antiquities. (See http://culturalpropertyobserver.blogspot.com/2015/09/forging-publicprivate-response-to-save.html)

All this begs the question whether facts are being distorted in order to help justify proposed legislation in Germany and the US that would create intrusive new bureaucracies to regulate the longstanding trade in cultural goods.

 
Sincerely, 

Peter Tompa

Forging a Public/Private Response to Save Endangered Patrimony of Iraq and Syria

CPO appreciates being invited to this event.  A few observations.

It was nice to see a recognition that it is important to work with collectors and dealers on these issues. CPO supports efforts to encourage more due diligence, but the level of it must depend on the value  of the object and what information about it is likely available.  The presumption should never be that an artifact is "illicit" merely because of where it was made thousands of years ago.

After hearing Michael Danti speak twice now, CPO has come to the conclusion that Danti is reporting the facts as accurately as he can, but then they are "spun" by others to achieve another purpose.  For example, Danti said point blank that all sides are involved in looting and that Apamea has always been in Assad's hands.  The problem is what Danti says is selectively reported so it makes it sound like ISIS is the only problem in the region.  So, over and over again we have that same picture of all those holes at Apamea which are then by implication attributed to ISIS rather than the Assad regime.

CPO is now even more dubious that looted antiquities are a major ISIS funding source.  Assistant Secretary Keller of the State Department's Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs said that ISIS has probably netted several million dollars from antiquities sales, but he also put all ISIS income at over $1 billion.

This again begs the question whether the value of "conflict antiquities" from Syria really justifies major changes in the law both here and in Germany or whether it's all being purposefully overblown in the effort to justify the creation of intrusive new government bureaucracies in both countries.

Let's Support Our Fellow Collectors in Germany!

As you may have already heard, draconian legislation is to be introduced in Germany that may greatly limit the legal trade in even common ancient and modern coins.  CPO hopes its readers will sign this petition not only to show our solidarity with German collectors, but to demonstrate our own commitment to coin collecting and the people to people contacts and cultural understanding it helps foster:   https://www.openpetition.de/petition/online/fuer-den-erhalt-des-privaten-sammelns

For more background, see here.

 Let's support our fellow collectors in Germany!

Greece Plays Antiquities Card Against Germany

Greece's new leftist government has played its "antiquities card" against Germany in an effort to portray Greece as a victim instead of addressing its serious debt problem with much needed structural changes to the Greek economy  (as difficult as that may be).  According to press reports,

Justice minister Nikos Paraskevopoulos has reportedly called for “war reparations, the repayment of a forced loan and the return of antiquities” from Germany, and said that an old court ruling gave him the power to sanction “the foreclosure of German assets in Greece” as a form of compensation.

More proof, if any were needed, that repatriation has far more to do with "politics" than anything else.

Draconian

Is the only way to describe a proposal Monika Grütters, Germany's Commissioner for Culture, has made at the behest of archaeologists with an axe to grind against collectors and cultural bureaucrats of failed states and/or dictatorships like Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq and Syria. 

According to the report,

Ms. Grütters outlined plans for a new law that would require documented provenance for any object entering or leaving Germany, long among the laxest of regulators of the art market. Among other measures, dealers would be required to show a valid export permit from the source of the piece’s origins when entering Germany.

It's unclear how Grütters believes German dealers and collectors are going to come up with documentation that simply does not exist for artifacts that have been traded legally for generations without such paperwork.

Meanwhile, there was apparently no discussion about simple steps archaeologists can take that will discourage looting like hiring site guards and paying local diggers a living wage.    

Ethical archaeologists are already taking similar steps.  So why not make them a legal requirement for every archaeologist excavating abroad?  It's always better to tackle any problem at the source. 

And, if the point of Grütters' proposals is to ensure Germans appear ethical to the world, shouldn't that start with archaeologists, who after all, have direct contact with the people of source countries?

More Debunking of the $36 million figure

Artnet news, citing German sources, has also debunked the claim that $36 million in antiquities were looted from one area in Syria.   Why is this so important?  - because the figure has been used to justify proposed changes in the law in both Germany and the United States that will impose the "devil's proof" on collectors of common artifacts which have been legally held for generations.

Propoganda

It appears that German collectors and auction houses are now getting "the treatment" from access journalists who make the inflammatory claim that Western collectors are supporting terrorism in Syria and Iraq.

 Even with rudimentary knowledge of German, sophisticated collectors who have seen it all before will recognize the usual cheap tricks—shots of a well-known auction house juxtaposed with scenes of war and looting.  And then there are the interviews with some of the usual suspects—Van Rijn, Muller-Karpe, Bogdanos, etc. who apparently readily agree about a link between terrorism and collecting.   The underlying premise is that that collectors and dealers are funding ISIS and the only way to stop it is to suppress collecting.   

Amusingly, the filmmakers' camera keeps focusing on two solitary lots of early Middle Eastern objects in a German auction—as if all the air time they receive makes up for the lack of hard evidence supporting the filmmaker's thesis.  And, of course, no good propagandist will fail to mention the decade old looting of the Iraq Museum whatever its current relevance.

So what we have is more of a morality play than a true documentary. The heroes, of course, are archaeologists, the Caribinieri (who selflessly help countries like Iraq) and local cops while the villains are terrorists, looters, auction houses, and the shadowy collectors and dealers who support them. 

But this tale is at best incomplete.  Nowhere does anyone pause to consider whether looting is an expression of hatred for the repressive governments that have appropriated the past for their own nationalistic purposes.  And what of the roles of cops and archaeologists in these repressive regimes?Doesn't their unqualified support for nationalistic laws that declare anything "old" to be state property make them partly responsible for the unfolding tragedy?   

Oddly, the filmmakers appear to be operating on much firmer ground in Lebanon than in Germany. Some of the best footage depicts what Lebanese authorities have seized.   Still, CPO can't help wondering if any of the icons that are shown were confiscated from Christian refugees who have escaped with their lives and a few treasured possessions from ISIS.  If so, the filmmakers would be callously adding insult to real injury-- but do they really care given the point they intend to make? 

For what appears to be an English-language short of the same film, see here.

ICE Blackens Reputation of Refugee Lawyer and Nuremberg Prosecutor?

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has issued a press release about parts of a Nazi-Era diary that has been turned over to the Holocaust Museum for preservation and study.

While I’m happy that the “Rosenberg” Diary is going to the U.S. Holocaust Museum rather than being repatriated to Germany as some in the archaeological blogosphere have demanded, I think it’s wrong for ICE to blacken the reputation of a refugee German lawyer and Nuremberg Prosecutor to justify doing so.

Here is what ICE says about the lawyer, Robert Kempner,  who held the diary in his papers:

Robert M.W. Kempner

Dr. Robert M.W. Kempner was a German lawyer who fled Germany for the United States during the war. At the conclusion of the war, Kempner served as the deputy chief counsel and was the chief prosecutor in the "Ministries Case" at the Nuremberg Trials. In this role, Kempner had access to seized Nazi documents in his official capacity as an employee of the U.S. government. At the conclusion of the Nuremberg Trials, Kempner returned to the United States and lived in Lansdowne, Pa. Contrary to law and proper procedure, Kempner removed various documents, including the Rosenberg Diary, from U.S. government facilities in Nuremberg and retained them until his death in 1993.

But the Holocaust Museum’s website tells a different story:

As the Nuremberg trials drew to a close, Kempner received permission from the Office of the Chief of Counsel of War Crimes to retain unclassified documents “for purposes of writing, lecturing and study.” He returned home with an unknown number of documents in his possession.

Why then is ICE claiming Kempner misappropriated the diary?

Let’s keep in mind Kempner preserved it and other Nazi papers for decades before his heirs turned over a major trove of such documents to the Holocaust Museum.   Government procedures of the late 1940’s were likely not as clear as ICE now claims.  Nor is it likely that as much historical significance would be attached to the diary back then as today. 

Under the circumstances, shame on ICE for suggesting that Kempner—who can no longer defend his own reputation-- was a crook rather than a hero in the fight against Nazism. 

One can only hope that the cultural property cops at ICE issue a “clarification” and soon. 

Repatriate all Nazi Artifacts to Germany?

Archaeo-blogger Paul Barford has suggested that Nazi artifacts should be repatriated back to Germany.  Presumably, such a rule could take in a huge amount of material, including many "battlefield souvenirs."  But why does Barford once again only pick on Americans to do the repatriating?  If  he is really serious about this proposal, I think he should press it first in his native Poland. Sure, Poland suffered grievously from Nazi aggression, but should that factor be considered at all as part of the mix?

German High Court Rules Export Permits Not Required for Collectors' Coins in Trade

Germany's highest regulatory court has ruled  that coins in trade will not be treated as archaeological objects requiring an export permit under EU law. The court said that because they are objects created in quantity, they have lost any archaeological value, and to require export permits for them would put an unreasonable restraint on trade. The decision in its entirety can be read here.   

UPDATE 5/4/13:  Not surprisingly, archaeo-blogger Paul Barford is in denial about the implications of Court's ruling and has even implied the court's decision-making was corrupted by "commercial interests."  As to the former, I think a well known numismatist said it best:

Of course Mr. Barford is in denial of the court's actual ruling: “coins coming from Antiquity generally have no archeological value and thus are not archeological objects”. It doesn’t come much clearer than that. Nor is this “the Bavarian judiciary” as Mr. Barford would like to believe; it is the supreme court of Germany for cases involving customs and taxes.

As to the latter, I think Mr. Barford should compare what Transparency International says about Germany and places whose views of cultural property matters he champions, like Greece, Cyprus, Italy and China.

Germany Helps Smuggle Manuscripts to Save Them

Germany has helped smuggle historic manuscripts from Timbuktu to save them from the clutches of Islamic radicals bent on their destruction. Was removing them from their context to save them justified?  Was Germany helping or interfering by supporting the effort?   I'd say an unqualified "yes" to the first question, and "helping" as to the second.  But what of UNESCO and the archaeological fanatics?  Do they support this effort or not?  I wonder.

Return our Rock!

Venezuela’s Leftist Regime has taken up the cause of an indigenous tribe which claims that a German artist stole their sacred rock. The artist in question is devastated because he believes the rock was legally exported with the full consent of the tribe. One suspects that Hugo Chavez’s regime is stirring up the controversy for its own political ends. If the rock is repatriated, it will not only spoil the unity of artist’s vision but divest him of the value of his own efforts to prep the rock for its installation with other rocks from other lands. The rock in question has been on display since 1999 in a Berlin park.

European Commission Funded Campaign to Repatriate Nefertiti to Egypt?

This blog has expressed concern about the US State Department funding groups that support repatriation of artifacts to places like Cyprus and Cambodia. See http://culturalpropertyobserver.blogspot.com/2008/05/cash-and-caari-cyprus-american.html and http://culturalpropertyobserver.blogspot.com/2008/06/state-department-slush-fund-for.html

Now, it also appears that the European Commission was funding a group that wants to send the world famous bust of Nefertiti back to Egypt. See http://www.nofretete-geht-auf-reisen.de/f_pdf/epressrelease_long.pdf and http://www.nofretete-geht-auf-reisen.de/

Though supposedly the Egyptians just want the bust back as a loan, one can easily imagine scenarios where any such "loan" becomes "permanent."

Perhaps, the German Government, presumably one of the European Commission's largest funders, should have demanded an explanation why the European Commission supported such a campaign directed against German interests.

Germany Told to Save Europe

Europeans (and Americans) are looking to Germany to "save Europe" by doing more to prop up the bankrupt Greek economy and the ever more shaky Italian one. See
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d29da7fc-19ee-11e1-b9d7-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1f6othzXp

However, throwing more money at the Greeks and the Italians will only delay the inevitable. What is really needed is to break down the internal barriers in each country that have led to special interests strangling any chance for much needed economic reforms.

But this is a blog about cultural property issues. On that score, isn't it funny that self-righteous archaeologists hold up Italy and Greece as models for all to emulate? Meanwhile, rational systems like those in Germany and the United Kingdom that recognize the importance of collectors and the trade in cultural goods to the appreciation of ancient culture and its ultimate preservation, get little but scorn heaped on them, largely because they don't allow archaeologists to monopolize policy toward cultural property issues.

Archaeologists assume that government control over all cultural artifacts is the answer-- but how can this be, particularly in the current environment where these governments and their economic and cultural systems that favor the connected few are facing default?

Bankrupt Greek Government Seeks More Money From Germany as Greek Cultural Bureaucrats Work With State Department Against German Interests

Go figure. On one hand, the bankrupt Greek Government is begging the German Government for yet another bailout promising "reforms" in return. See
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/27/us-eurozone-germany-greece-idUSTRE78Q1XV20110927

On the other hand, now that the US has agreed to an MOU with Greece, the Greek cultural bureaucracy is likely working with our own State Department bureaucracy to harm the interests of German small buisnesses that export ancient Greek coins to the United States. Of course, the clamp down won't impact the ability of Greek collectors to import such coins, but it will certainly impact the ability of German businesses to ship ancient coins to the US market.

And it's not as if German officials have not raised concerns about this. Indeed, the Bavarian Minister of Economic Affairs, Martin Zeil, has raised concerns about this in a letter to Judith McHale, Undersecretary of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. In his letter, Minister Zeil states,

The proposed restrictions (along for similar ones being considered for Italy) would negatively impact the legitimate numismatic trade between Germany and the United States of America and also people to people contacts between US and German citizens.

Apart from very few exceptions, no licence or permit is needed in Germany, neither for import to Germany nor for export from Germany of coins.

If the import of certain coins into the United States required an export licence granted by authorities of the export country in future, this requirement could not be fulfilled by German retailers. Legal trade would then hardly be possible between Germany and the United States.

In Germany there are around 100 auction houses, more than 500 retailers and estimated more than a half million collectors of old coins. Moreover, a considerable number of them are located in Munich, and are engaged in trade with customers in the United States.

See http://www.accg.us/news/item/Europeans_Oppose_Potential_U_S_State_Department_Import_Restrictions.aspx

Will the Greeks and our own State Department Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs heed these concerns? Or, will they just ignore them along with those of the 70% of the public who expressed opposition to extending import restrictions to Greek coins?