Administrative Information
Provenance
The German Captured Documents Collection consists of material captured by American military forces in Germany after World War II. In 1982 the Library agreed to return all captured German material in the Manuscript Division that the Bundesarchiv of the Federal Republic of Germany wanted for its holdings or for transfer to other German archives. German archivists identified the material to be returned and underwrote the cost of filming by the Library's Photoduplication Service. The collection was filmed in stages over the next few years and the last installment was filmed in 1991. Some original materials remain in the Manuscript Division because they were not wanted by the Bundesarchiv. As each installment was filmed, the originals were sent to the Bundesarchiv in Koblenz. Much material from the Manuscript Division and other Library collections was returned in earlier years. Machinery was established by 1951 to return any collections or individual publications that belonged to legitimate private organizations or governmental agencies. Many collections of books and serials were returned as early as 1948 to individuals, the German government, public and private libraries, and a labor union. All returns were approved by the State Department.
Processing History
The collection was processed beginning with its receipt in the late 1940s. Revisions and additions were made as material was transferred into or out of the collection from other divisions of the Library or other institutions. The current finding aid was produced in 1989 and revised in 2011 and 2013. The finding aid was further revised in 2019 to reflect the material retained in the Manuscript Division.
Transfers
Approximately half of the German material received by the Library of Congress was transferred to other libraries in the United States by 1951. Much of the material retained at the Library consisted of publications that were absorbed into the general collections and thus were ineligible for return.
Related Material
Related captured German documents in the Library include technical reports collected by American and British research teams during and after World War II and organized in the Science, Technology and Business Division as the PB Historical Collection. For information consult Science Reference Services in the Science, Technology and Business Division and http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/trs/trspb.html.
Microfilm
A microfilm edition of the bulk of this collection is available on 508 reels. Consult reference staff in the Manuscript Division concerning availability for purchase or interlibrary loan. To promote preservation of the originals, researchers are required to consult the microfilm edition as available.
Preferred Citation
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container or reel number, German Captured Documents Collection, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.