Nazi stolen artwork returned to Jewish family after 80 years
Nine works of art were returned to descendants of a Jewish couple on Monday, more than 80 years after they were stolen by the Nazis
By EMMA MCAVOYA woman walks past artworks at the exhibition "Gurlitt: Status Report. An Art Dealer in Nazi Germany" during a media preview at Martin-Gropius Bau in Berlin, Germany, September 13, 2018(photo credit: REUTERS/FABRIZIO BENSCH)
Nine works of art were returned to descendants of a Jewish couple on Monday, more than 80 years after Nazis stole the paintings, casts and engravings, according to a report by Deutsche Welle. The return ceremony took place at the Bavarian National Museum in Munich, where Art Minister Bernd Sibler handed over the pieces with the Director General of the museum, Frank Matthias Kammel, and the Deputy Director, Kurt Zeitler.The art consisted of five paintings, three 19th century color casts and a wooden panel with ivory. All were confiscated from Julius and Semaya Franziska Davidsohn in Munich in 1938.The couple’s persecution by Nazis caused them to lose their precious works of art.According to the report, Art Minister Sibler confirmed in an interview that there was great difficulty in finding the rightful heirs to the works in spite of the documented confiscation in 1938. “Because of the Holocaust, there were no children, and then it was a question of who is entitled to inherit the art. These were difficult legal disputes," he said.
