[MSN] WWII art: looted, but from whom? The Netherlands still searching for pre-World War II owners of artworks.

Fri Dec 1 10:36:37 CET 2006

WWII art: looted, but from whom?
The Netherlands still searching for pre-World War II owners of artworks

Philip Smet*

30-11-2006

More than 60 years on from the end of Second World War, the Netherlands is
still looking for the rightful owners of works of art stolen and removed to
Germany by the country's former Nazi occupiers.

Although the items themselves were brought back to the Netherlands after the
war, some 4,700 of them have never been returned to their owners. Now, with
the use of considerable publicity, a website and a special exhibition, the
Dutch government hopes it might as yet succeed in finding those to whom
these objects rightfully belong.

The Hollandsche Schouwburg (literally: Dutch Theatre) in Amsterdam, now a
monument to the Jews who were taken from this building for deportation
during World War II, is currently home to a glass pavilion where some 40
paintings can be seen and dozens of exceptional items of pottery and
silverware. The special exhibition's contents represent around one percent
of the total amount of the items for which a special investigative
commission is seeking the owners. These artworks all returned to the
Netherlands after the war, having been purchased (usually under coercion and
for ridiculously low prices), confiscated or simply stolen by the Nazis.

 To view some of the items in the exhibition:
http://www.radionetherlands.nl/currentaffairs/ned061130mc

Looted, but from whom? 
see the slideshow below:
http://www.radionetherlands.nl/currentaffairs/ned061130mc

Hitler's museum 
Germany's then dictator, Adolf Hitler, wanted to create a mammoth museum in
his place of birth, the Austrian city of Linz, and fill it with artworks
taken from all the countries which formed part of or were occupied by his
Third Reich. In the case of the Netherlands, this mainly involved taking
works from the country's Jewish art dealers, although many items from
private collections also found their way to Germany.

Thanks to the thorough records kept by the Germans, the Allies were able to
return the artworks to their ' home' countries once the conflict was over.
By then, however, many of the original owners were dead or they, or their
surviving relatives, found it difficult to prove their ownership. In the
period 1945-1952, many ownership claims were rejected and ultimately around
4,700 items remained. Since then they have been treated as a separate
national collection. 

Unfair, incorrect 
During the 1990s, there was a growing awareness in the Netherlands that the
procedures followed immediately after the war had not been fair or correct.
Meanwhile, there were still families who wanted to have the artworks
returned to their possession, sometimes because of their financial value,
but often because of their emotional value to the people concerned. 
The Dutch government then created a special body - the Origins Unknown
Commission (Commissie Herkomst Gezocht) chaired by leading art historian and
expert Rudi Ekkart. This commission re-examined the paintings and other
works of art in order to help trace the rightful owners. People with a claim
were given the opportunity to file them with the commission even in cases
where a decision about the question of ownership had been taken in the
immediate post-war period. 

Conscientious
These arrangements will continue officially for another five months, but
claims will still be dealt with after 2007. So far, owners have been found
for almost 500 items. Commission chairman Rudi Ekkart expects that over 200
more - possibly another 500 - will follow.

There are still some claims waiting to be dealt with by another commission
which takes its final decisions on the basis of Mr Ekkart's recommendations.
This 'restitution commission' can be regarded as a kind of independent
tribunal and - according to Mr Ekkart - one that's extremely conscientious
about its work. 

Last attempt 
With just a few months to go be the commission's work ends officially, it's
making a last attempt to find as many rightful owners as possible. All the
unclaimed items, and the available information relating to them, can be
found on the website www.herkomstgezocht.nl. The same information can be
found on a special CD-Rom which has been sent to Dutch embassies across the
globe.

The special exhibition at the Hollandsche Schouwburg - entitled Looted, but
from whom? - also includes a few items whose owners have already been
traced. One of them is a silver cup, with inscriptions in Hebrew, which was
a gift to a Jewish man from the town of Oud Beijerland, marking his 80th
birthday at the end of the 19th century. A careful translation of the
inscriptions was made, and this finally led to his relatives being able to
regain ownership of the cup.

This exhibition closes at the end of February 2007, by which time Rudi
Ekkart hopes that even more of the items will have found a new home.

(* RNW Internet translation: tpf)

Items in the slideshow (by frame number)

1) D. Neher - Woman's head (bronze 1920-1940)
2) W. Verschuur I - Stable interior with horse and dog (19th century)
3) S. Luttichuys - Still life with oysters and peeled lemon (17th century)
4) P.A. patel II - Landscape with classical ruins (1695)
5) C. Bega - Farmhouse interior (17th century)
6) J. Janson - Swanenburg House in Halfweg (1769)
7) H. Ronner-Knip - Cat with five kittens (19th century)
8) J.H. Tischbein I - Friedrich II - 1720-1785 (18th century)
9) A. Schelfhout - Fishing boats on the beach (1831)
10) J.F.A. Tischbein - Portrait of an officer (18th century)

Related articles: 

Artworks to be restored to Goudstikker heirs 
Looted art returned 
External Links: 

Origins unknown 
Looted, but from whom? 
Tentoonstelling: Geroofd, maar van wie? 
www.herkomstgezocht.nl 
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