The Third Reich's policy toward Jews envisaged not
only mass murder, but also the total plunder of property, both private and
public. In the first days of the Nazi occupation, high contributions were made
to the Jewish community in Lviv. Judaic objects, artistic, religious and
cultural valuables from synagogues, museums and private homes were exported
en masse to Germany. The story of Maksymilian Goldstein (1880–1942) is tragic; a
famous art critic and collector, he was one of the initiators of the Jewish
Museum in Lviv and was its director in 1939–1940 and a senior researcher after this
museum was merged with the Museum of Art Crafts. Yes, thanks to the efforts of
this art critic and his colleagues, a private collection of Judaica was saved,
but Goldstein himself and his family did not survive the Holocaust.
Goldstein's unique private collection of Judaica was kept
in his apartment at ul. Nowy Świat 15 and was open to visitors. Realizing the
potential danger, in early July 1941, Maksymilian Goldstein and the management
of the Museum of Art Crafts agreed to deposit it. At the same time, it was
decided that the collection would remain in the collector's apartment, and
Goldstein himself would receive the status of its custodian. Ilarion
Sventsitsky, the commissioner for museum affairs in Lviv, wrote very positive references
for Goldstein and sent numerous letters in his defense:
Mr.
Maksymilian Goldstein, ul. Nowy Świat 15, apt. 6, as the owner of a private
collection of Jewish antiquity, is instructed by me to present the general
quantitative composition of the collection by sections within 3 days and a detailed
inventory within 3 months. I take into account that in this very responsible
work he will be assisted by his daughter Irena Goldstein (ЦДІАЛ, Ф. 761, оп. 1, д. 1, л. 47)
Goldstein himself, his daughter and his wife received
certificates confirming their belonging to the museum staff. However, neither petitions
of his colleagues nor the transfer of the collection and the availability of
working documents saved the Goldstein family from forced eviction to the ghetto
in December 1941 (at ul. Panienska 9 (now vul. Zavodska)). Since 1942, no
information about them has been available, and the fate of the eldest daughter,
Lilia, who was in Krakow at the beginning of the Nazi occupation, is also
unknown.
The circumstances of Goldstein's death remain unclear.
His unique collection of Judaica is still stored in the funds of the Lviv
Museum of Ethnography and Art Crafts, but is available for viewing only during
temporary exhibitions.