The relationship between people and objectsThe systematic expropriation, extortion and looting of items by theNazi regime not only involved objects of cultural interest or of signif-icant financial value. Museums and other collecting institutions andindividuals had an active interest in the acquisition of all manner ofdifferent items. Indeed, the vast majority of the expropriated itemswere everyday and utility objects, including clothing, householdgoods, furniture and tools. There were millions of such objects; it isimpossible to determine the exact number. The victims of the regimewere left with only a small number of personal effects, and after 1942they were not permitted to own anything at all.Personal effects are not only the means for providing the basicneeds for survival. They contain a plethora of social, symbolic, col-lective and individual significance. They are used for security, under-standing, acceptance and wellbeing; people define themselvesthrough their things, through the relationship of one item to another,and through their relationship to objects. They are the materialexpression, the sensory prompts, of feelings, memories and s­ tatus.The loss of these things threatens not only a person’s practical­survival but also their self-assurance and identity.By appropriating the objects of their victims, the Nazis and theirbeneficiaries not only enriched themselves, but also systematicallydegraded those they acquired them from.KP96