In 1913, Betty Blum married the entrepreneur Noe Blum from Poland, who had a business in Munich dealing in antiques, oil paintings, old and new furniture, gold and silverware. The store where Betty worked as a salesperson was located at Augustenstraße 92. Because of their Jewish origins, the couple were persecuted after the Nazis came to power in Germany. Noe Blum's business permit was withdrawn in October 1933 and the business liquidated. The couple were then expelled from Bavaria in 1934. They emigrated via Prague to Vienna, where Betty leased an antiques shop the same year at Walfischgasse 4 in the 1st district. At the end of November 1938 she applied to the Zentralstelle für Denkmalschutz (Central Monument Protection Authority) for authorization to export art objects, including oil paintings, miniatures and drawings, which was issued with validity to mid-February 1939. Prior to that, five drawings by the Graz artist Carl Meyer had been sold to the Albertina. In 1939 the couple fled via Italy to Britain and from there to Palestine. In 2016, the Art Restitution Advisory Board recommended the restitution of the drawings sold to the Albertina in 1938.
Betty Blum
Publications about the person / institution
Beschluss des Kunstrückgabebeirats, Betty Blum, 5.10.2016, URL: www.provenienzforschung.gv.at/beiratsbeschluesse/Blum_Betty_2016-10-05.pdf (3.12.2020).
Archives
Archiv der Wirtschaftskammer Österreich, Gewerbeakt, Betty Blum.
Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, Landesentschädigungsamt 6921, Entschädigungsakt Betty Blum.
Bayerisches Hauptstaatsarchiv, Landesentschädigungsamt 6949, Entschädigungsakt Noe Blum.
BDA-Ausfuhr, Zl. 8435/38, Betty Blum.
BDA-Ausfuhr, Zl. 4791/39, Noe Blum.
Stadtarchiv München, Polizeidirektion München (Pol. Dir.) 11693, Noe Blum.
WStLA, Historische Wiener Meldeunterlagen, Meldeauskunft Betty Blum.
WStLA, Historische Wiener Meldeunterlagen, Meldeauskunft Noe Blum.