Upon the invitation of the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic we the representatives of 46 states listed below met this day, June 30, 2009 in Terezin, where thousands of European Jews and other victims of Nazi persecution died or were sent to death camps during World War II. We participated in the Prague Holocaust Era Assets Conference organized by the Czech Republic and its partners in Prague and Terezin from 26-30 June 2009, discussed together with experts and non-governmental organization (NGO) representatives important issues such as Welfare of Holocaust (Shoah) Survivors and other Victims of Nazi Persecution, Immovable Property, Jewish Cemeteries and Burial Sites, Nazi-Confiscated and Looted Art, Judaica and Jewish Cultural Property, Archival Materials, and Education, Remembrance, Research and Memorial Sites.
Nazi Looted Art in U.S. Museums: Amb. Stuart Eizenstat’s Call for a US Commission
This article is cross-posted (see Copyright Litigation Blog by Raymond Dowd)
![eizenstat eizenstat](http://artstolenfromfritzgrunbaum.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/eizenstat.jpg)
Check out http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/blog/2009/07/conversation-stuart-eizenstat.html
For the full text of what came out of the Prague Conference, known as the Terezin Declaration, click here
Nazi Looted Art at Oberlin College and Other U.S. Museums: Prague Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets
This article is cross-posted (see Copyright Litigation Blog by Raymond Dowd)
In late June I was invited to speak on a panel of legal experts on artwork looted by the Nazis. My topic was legal obstacles to the recovery of stolen artworks.
The image you see here is of an artwork by the artist Egon Schiele called Girl with Black Hair. Every major Schiele expert in the world – Jane Kallir, Eberhard Kornfeld and Rudolph Leopold – has said that this artwork came from Fritz Grunbaum’s collection. Yet Oberlin College refuses to return it – or even to share their research or conclusions about where they believe it came from. Oberlin’s website shows that the work mysteriously surfaced in Switzerland in 1956 – and stops there.
U.S. museums and liberal arts institutions concealing the origins of their artworks is one of the biggest obstacles to researchers being able to restitute artworks to the Jews and other Nazi persecutees from whom they were stolen. As Holocaust victims and their descendants die, U.S. museums simply wait, knowing that they have stolen artworks in their collections. In his 2006 testimony to Congress, AAMD Director James Cuno estimated the number of potentially Nazi-looted works in U.S. museums at “tens of thousands”.
It is astonishing that U.S. museums can engage in this Holocaust denial and feel no backlash. Shame on Oberlin College. Its Dean should be tossed out on his ear.
Amb. Stuart Eizenstat supports a U.S. Art Restitution Commission. Good for him, and not a moment too soon.
You can find my full speech in Prague at the link below.
Disclosure: I represent the heirs of Fritz Grunbaum, a Jewish cabaret performer who was murdered by the Nazis at Auschwitz.
Speech from Ray Dowd at the International Holocaust Conference, Czech Republic
2009 06 16 Presentation documents for Holocaust Conference
International Holocaust Conference
26 – 30 June 2009, Prague, Terezín, Czech Republic
The Holocaust Era Assets Conference will be held in Prague and Terezín, Czech Republic, on 26-30 June 2009, hosted by the Government of the Czech Republic in co-operation with the Forum 2000 Foundation, Documentation Centre of Property Transfers of Cultural Assets of WW II Victims, Federation of Jewish Communities in the Czech Republic, Jewish Museum in Prague, Terezín Memorial, and Institute of Jewish Studies at the Hussite Theological Faculty of Charles University in Prague.
A number of thematic topics selected by the specialised working groups will be discussed by professional experts: settlement of property claims (movable and immovable assets), provenance of stolen works of art, Judaica and Jewish cultural property, and education, remembrance and research about the Holocaust.
Panel 1: Legal Issues
Chair:
- Charles A. Goldstein (United States, Commission for Art Recovery)
Speakers:
- Olaf S. Ossmann (Germany, IAJLJ) – One Collection, One Persecution, One Deseizin – but Different ideas of ” Just and Fair Solutions” Hurdles in Different National Processes for Heirs of Art Collections
- Raymond J. Dowd (United States, Dunnington Bartholow and Miller LLP) – Fritz Grunbaum’s Stolen Art Collection: Legal Obstacles To Recovery
- Marc-André Renold (Switzerland, The University of Geneva) – The Renewal of the Restitution Process: Alternative Dispute Resolution Methods
- Stephen Knerly Jr. (United States, Association of Art Museum Directors) – Selected Issues for American Art Museums Regarding Holocaust Looted Art
- Norman Palmer (United Kingdom, Spoliation Advisory Panel) – Integrity, Transparency and Pertinacity in the Treatment of Holocaust-Related Art Claims
For more information, please visit the conference websites at
1938 04 27 Property Declarations by Fritz and Lilly Grünbaum
The Asset declarations (VA) were collected by the Jewish Property Declaration Office (VVSt.)
Jewish Property Declaration Lilly und Fritz Grünbaum (german).pdf
Jewish Property Declaration (translated).pdf
Fritz Grunbaums Jewish Property Declarations were filed by Lily Grunbaum under power of attorney. Six declarations were filed from July, 1938 through June 30, 1939.
The last time the art collection was declared had been June 30, 1939 – almost a year after Mathilde Lukacs left Vienna
When Lilly Grünbaum died in December 1942, nothing was left.