The shameful campaign to downplay the Holocaust and keep Nazi-looted art

The Hill

22-05-2025

Among the millions of Jews murdered by the Nazis was the prominent Jewish Viennese cabaret performer Fritz Grünbaum. He was murdered at the Dachau concentration camp in 1941. Prior to his murder, the Nazis forced him to sign over his prized collection of more than 400 works of art.
Decades after the Nazis killed Grünbaum, one of his stolen pieces surfaced for sale on the international art market. When his family brought a legal action to recover their ancestor's stolen property, a federal court inexplicably ruled that Grünbaum's family could not prove that the art had been 'transferred under duress.'
Grünbaum's story is one of countless examples of the Nazis' widespread theft of Jewish-owned property, including hundreds of thousands of works of art, worth tens of billions of dollars. Despite efforts by the U.S. and Allies to return Nazi-looted art after World War II, and renewed efforts since the late 1990s, over 100,000 works of art still have not been returned to their rightful owners.
Grünbaum is just another victim of the Holocaust whom deniers would prefer we forget.
When survivors and their families seek justice through the courts, they face a litany of absurd and shocking defenses by museums, art dealers, private owners and foreign governments that insist on holding on to art stolen by the Nazis. These institutions claim the owners sold the art 'voluntarily,' at a 'fair' market price, even though these families were fleeing Nazi persecution and desperate to raise funds to escape Europe.
Others go so far as to argue that these families waited too long to bring the case, even though it was many years before the owners or heirs discovered their family's art had survived the war. Institutions claim that current holders of stolen paintings acquired a 'good title' after having held onto it for a few years before the true owner even discovered its location, as often the art had been hidden from public view.
In other words, 'finders keepers.'
At best, these claims disregard the property rights of families and dishonor the memory of Holocaust victims. At worst, they are tantamount to Holocaust denial, denying the context, coercion and clear theft that occurred under a genocidal regime.
In 2016, Congress unanimously passed the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery (HEAR) Act to enable Holocaust survivors and heirs to access U.S. courts and have their claims decided on the true facts and merits.
Congress found the 'unique and horrific circumstances of the Holocaust' imposed extraordinary obstacles on families to locate and recover stolen art. It mandated a six-year statute of limitations that begins only when the owner actually discovers the location of the stolen artwork, and precluded defenses based on the passage of time.
Despite Congress's clear intent in the HEAR Act for claims to be decided on the merits, courts have continued to deny survivors' and heirs' claims based on opaque, discretionary, court-created doctrines. With the act due to sunset in less than two years, time is quickly running out to extend the law, strengthen it, and clarify its intent so that survivors and their families have a fair chance of recovering what is rightfully theirs.
Bipartisan legislation must be enacted soon to address these issues. To that end, Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) are introducing legislation to extend the HEAR Act and address those parts of the act that need repair.
First and foremost, the Jan. 1, 2027, sunset provision of the HEAR Act is self-defeating and must be repealed. Museums and others that know they only need to run out the clock have no incentive to identify and return stolen paintings.
Furthermore, the act must clarify that as long as rightful owners file suit within six years of the date they actually discover the work's location, all other defenses related to the passage of time are precluded. In many cases, courts have applied the defense of 'laches' to dismiss claims based on their subjective determination that the owners 'should have' discovered the artworks sooner, effectively nullifying the six-year window from actual discovery guaranteed by the HEAR Act.
Another alarming development is the narrowing of jurisdiction in Nazi-looted art cases, contrary to Congress's intent.
In 2021's Federal Republic of Germany v. Philipp, the Supreme Court held that Hermann Göring's coerced purchase of a priceless Jewish art collection in 1935 did not violate international law. Despite the overwhelming evidence that such sales were part of the Nazis' genocidal campaign, the court ruled this constituted a 'domestic taking' rather than a violation of international norms.
Such a ruling directly contradicts Congress's intent in passing the HEAR Act.
Congress should not accept the notion that the HEAR Act considers that the Nazis' persecution and robbery of the Jews was a mere 'internal' German, Hungarian, Austrian, Dutch or French affair, beyond the reach of our court system, when the museums or governments holding the art engage in commercial activities in the United States.
Museum boards of directors must publicly support this legislation and take an active role in its passage. Directors have a fiduciary and ethical obligation to ensure their institutions are doing all they can to identify and return looted art.
Silence or neutrality is not acceptable. By failing to act, museums become complicit in the continued injustice. It is time for museums' leadership to stand on the right side of history and advocate for clear, enforceable laws that support restitution.
As the number of living survivors dwindles and Holocaust denial is on the rise, the U.S. has a moral and legal responsibility to restore Nazi-looted property to its rightful owners. We need to send a clear message that we will never allow the passage of time to excuse or forgive the crimes of the Holocaust.
Joel Greenberg is the president of Art Ashes, a nonprofit dedicated to assisting families in the recovery of Nazi looted art. He is also a founder of Susquehanna International Group.