Israel – Groups Calls on Israel Museum to Hand Over Paintings Taken by Nazis

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    Israel – Four hundred paintings taken by the Nazis, discovered by U.S. troops and turned over to Israel are at the center of a dispute between Israel’s national museum and a group entrusted with finding the lost property of Holocaust victims.
    The artwork, currently in the storerooms and galleries of the Israel Museum, found by American soldiers in Nazi art caches after WWII, they were eventually given to the museum.

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    No survivors or heirs of victims have ever claimed them.
    But last year, Israel’s parliament passed a law requiring anyone in Israel holding property that belonged to Holocaust victims to turn it over to a new organization known as the Company for Retrieving Assets of Holocaust Victims. The company, controlled by Holocaust survivor’s groups and other Jewish organizations, is required to look for heirs. If none are found, it must sell the property and distribute the money to needy survivors.

    The museum declined, saying it is holding the artwork as a national institution of Israel. “The State of Israel gave the artwork to the museum to take care of, so that it would remain for the coming generations,” a statement from the museum said. “If someone comes and says, this belonged to my grandmother or grandfather, of course we will return it to them according to law.”


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