Visitors to the Leopold Museum in Vienna view paintings by Austrian expressionist painter Egon Schiele on February 2nd. Several works by Austrian painter Egon Schiele looted by the Nazis have recently been returned to the heirs of their Jewish owners, drawing attention. The collection of Austria’s most prestigious museum. The descendants of Austrian-Jewish cabaret singer Fritz Grüenbaum, who was murdered during the Holocaust, are pursuing 12 works by Schiele that are housed in a Vienna museum. Joe Cramer—AFP/Getty Images
During their brutal rule in Europe, the Nazis systematically looted and destroyed art and other cultural property in order to erase Jewish culture as part of their extermination of the Jewish people. While the horrifying experience of the Holocaust stands alone in its barbarity and enormity, today’s looting and destruction of art throughout occupied Ukraine by Russian forces stands as a means of erasing Ukrainian culture and identity. It has become. It took nearly 50 years to pave the way to help the heirs of Holocaust victims recover their looted art, and vindicating their rights required intense legal battles and future challenges. was also necessary. Ukraine is likely to face similar challenges in recovering looted art, and the lessons learned from the successful recovery of Nazi-looted art will be an invaluable aid in these efforts. It will be.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Russian forces have systematically looted and destroyed art and other cultural property. Approximately 10,000 items were reportedly looted from the Kherson Regional Museum alone. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) confirmed damage to more than 342 cultural symbols, including religious sites, museums, historical buildings and monuments. This is not an accident of war, but a concerted effort by Russia to eliminate Ukraine’s cultural identity.
For Jewish heirs seeking to recover art stolen from their families during the Holocaust, it was not until the extent of Nazi looting in Europe was widely recognized and documented that steps were taken to assist in the recovery of looted works. Several decades have passed. The Washington Principles on Nazi Confiscated Art, adopted by 44 countries at the 1998 Washington Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets, were an important turning point, acknowledging the existence of vast amounts of Nazi-looted art and clarifying that: It became a formal international treaty. Means must be developed to ensure that the original owners of such property are given the opportunity to recover it.
Ukraine will face difficult obstacles in its efforts to recover looted artifacts. For example, it will be difficult to locate looted art. Moreover, even if the war does not escalate, the seized property is simply “spoils of war” that cannot be recovered, especially if Russia continues to deny that Ukraine is a rebel group in Ukraine. Claims brought directly against Russia will likely prove impossible to succeed, as Russia is likely to argue that it is. an independent and sovereign nation.
But there are other ways for Ukraine to seek return, for example if the property is found outside Russia. The most successful action would be to investigate and target looted art that has found its way into private collections and public repositories such as museums, and to sue to recover them. Support from the countries where these works of art were discovered will be essential. The U.S. government is committed to preventing the importation of such stolen works into the United States, confiscating them, and returning them to Ukraine. Most recently, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, through the Department of Homeland Security, returned to President Zelenskiy 10 items of stolen property seized by authorities at JFK Airport.
It took decades, but international conferences and successful lawsuits have led museums and private collectors to assess the provenance of their collections to ensure they are not in possession of art looted by the Nazis. I became more cautious. The same criteria developed for the return of art looted by the Nazis and antiquities looted from the state in other circumstances should also be applied in the case of looted Ukrainian cultural property. be.
We urge the international community to convene a conference similar to the Washington conference to instruct countries and art market players to avoid acquiring Ukrainian cultural property and to be wary of returning their possessions. request.
Ukraine would face the same obstacles faced by sovereign states and families of Holocaust victims, including tracing the origin of property to Ukraine. But with the help of researchers and the goodwill of governments and the arts community around the world, these challenges can once again be overcome.
Howard N. Spiegler and Lawrence M. Kay are art attorneys in New York City.
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