ca. 260 Abbildungen und über 60 Tabellen und Grafiken; der Aktenband reproduziert mehr als 100 zeithistorische Dokumente. At the end of the Second World War, libraries in both West and East Germany were confronted with large quantities of so-called abandoned literature. At the same time, there was an acute shortage of books and periodicals in many places. The GDR solved this "duplicate problem" in 1953 by founding the "Zentralstelle für wissenschaftliche Altbestände" in Gotha. By 1995, it had "recycled" around 8 million volumes. But where did the books come from? Who were their recipients? What happened to collections that were not used in libraries? How much Nazi-looted property was among them, what "land reform property"? All these questions are explored in this publication, which combines the institutional history of the ZwA with findings on numerous provenances, including Jewish, French and Polish. The main volume contains around 260 illustrations and over 60 tables and diagrams; the file volume reproduces more than 100 contemporary historical documents.