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.
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.
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To view some of the items in the exhibition |
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)
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Items in the slideshow (by frame number) 1) D. Neher - Woman's head (bronze 1920-1940) |
Tags: art, Ekkart, Germany, Hitler, Hollandsche Schouwburg, Jewish, looted, Nazis, Netherlands, origins, owners, ownership, paintings, porcelain, pottery, Rudi, silverware, stolen, unknown, WWII