The synagogue of Trieste, closed and confiscated in January 1944, was used as a depot of tens of thousands books, music sheets, several paintings and pieces of valuable furniture that the Nazis had seized from the Jewish houses. By April 1944, the synagogue was already full of books to be used by the Reich not only to restock German libraries damaged by the war, but also some Carinthian institutions, especially those overseen by Gauleiter Friedrich Rainer. Walter Frodl (1908-1994), head of the Kunst- und Denkmalschutz section of the Supreme Commissioner, thus obtained eighteen crates of books with significant historical and artistic value for the Landesmuseum of Klagenfurt. A further eleven crates of books were selected by Friedrich Zopp (1904-1976), librarian of the newly established Institute for Carinthian Regional Studies of the University of Graz (Institut für Kärntner Landesforschung der Universität Graz) sited in Klagenfurt, a research archive dedicated to the Adriatic Littoral. Many other books were given to German schools and organizations dedicated to the welfare of German troops.

Interior of the synagogue of Trieste with the looted books (photograph taken after the Liberation, 15 May 1945)  © Courtesy of Comunità Ebraica di Trieste

However, Paul Heigl (1887-1945), general director of the Vienna National Library, also played a crucial role in redistributing the seized Jewish-owned books. Heigl was a fervent National Socialist and high-ranking member of the SS. Heigl's assistant Ernst Trenkler (1902-1982), an Oberstaatsbibliothekar, who travelled to Trieste on many occasions, aided him in this redistribution.

Photograph of Paul Heigl, 1943 © Courtesy of Bildarchiv, ÖNB, Vienna

Thanks in part to his friendship with the Supreme Commissioner of the Adriatic Littoral Friedrich Rainer, Heigl enjoyed free rein in managing the synagogue books. They were also coveted by the famous Reichsleiter Rosenberg Taskforce (Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg, ERR), the Nazi Party organization dedicated to appropriating cultural property. According to recent research, besides enriching the Vienna National library and other German institutions, Heigl was also interested in obtaining books for his planned Trieste-based Institute for Research on Jews and Freemasonry (Institut für Judenforschung und Freimaurerei): further evidence of the city's importance and centrality in Nazi cultural policy.