World Jewish Congress to claim artwork looted from Jews

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- A major Jewish advocacy group says it plans to claim thousands of works of art that were looted by the Nazis from U.S. museums, if they cannot prove the works were legitimately acquired.

Elan Steinberg, World Jewish Congress executive director, told Reuters on Wednesday that the group will use the lists of looted paintings, statues, books and other objets d'art that were put together by the U.S. Army after World War II. Those lists will be matched with the ones several U.S. museums have published on the Internet, which have gaps in their provenance during the Holocaust era.

	MESSAGE BOARD
Can museums do more to find rightful art owners?

After the war ended, the U.S. Army, along with its Allies, collected more than half a million art works that the Nazis had confiscated from Jewish victims of the Holocaust. But the art was not returned to Holocaust survivors or their heirs -- instead, the Allies gave the objects back to the countries from which they were taken.

In a number of instances, heirs of Holocaust victims now are struggling to get their works back from their homelands.

"We will first of all seek to reunite the paintings with any heirs or claimants that can be traced; those objects that are without heirs will revert to Jewish successor organizations," Steinberg said.

If museums reject the WJC's claims, it could use its political clout with U.S. officials to push the matter further -- or pursue the matter in court.

"Then we will seek to seek to resolve it (the claim) in an amicable manner and to proceed either politically or legally whichever is appropriate."

The latest salvo from the WJC in its battle to get what it calls moral and material restitution for Holocaust survivors opens the door to so many potential claims partly because it is not uncommon for artwork to have gaps in its provenance or history.

Such gaps might simply mean that more research is needed. But the Jewish advocacy group wants to force museums to prove they did not purchase stolen goods -- instead of waiting for claims.

"In most cases, the claimants themselves are dead and heirs may simply not be aware of what was taken from their family," Steinberg said.

The Art Institute of Chicago has published one of the largest lists of art works "for which links in the chain of ownership for the years 1933-1945 are still unclear or not yet fully documented." Its Internet site lists more than 500 paintings and sculpture in this category.

Boston's Museum of Fine Arts has published one of the smallest lists: seven works appear. Steinberg called on the museum to publish more of its paintings that have gaps in their provenance. "This defeats the whole purpose."

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Judge dismisses U.S. lawsuit over Nazi-looted painting
July 20, 2000
German museum fends off Nazi art accusations
May 10, 2000
U.S. galleries probe art the Nazis may have stolen
March 10, 2000
Holocaust conference ends with global agreement on returning Nazi-looted art
December 3, 1998
France publishes catalogue of looted Nazi art
November 10, 1998

World Jewish Congress
Art Institute of Chicago
Boston Museum of Fine Arts

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.