Lawsuits filed over Nazi-looted art displayed in museums in Los Angeles, Auschwitz
Summary
Jewish heirs of Holocaust victims have filed two lawsuits in California to reclaim paintings stolen by Nazis during World War II that are currently displayed in museums in Los Angeles and Auschwitz. The lawsuits follow new laws aimed at helping recover art taken by the Nazis from Jewish families.Key Facts
- Two lawsuits were filed in Los Angeles on the same day by Jewish heirs and their representatives.
- One lawsuit targets the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena for the return of the paintings "Adam and Eve" by Lucas Cranach the Elder from 1530.
- The other lawsuit demands watercolors painted by Dinah Gottliebova Babbitt, a Holocaust survivor forced to paint for Nazi doctor Josef Mengele, returned from a museum in Auschwitz.
- Both museums say they legally own the artworks and plan to keep them on display.
- The lawsuits are the first under new California and U.S. laws that support claims to Nazi-looted art.
- From 1933 to 1945, Nazis stole more than 600,000 artworks from Jewish owners across Europe.
- The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles is involved in one lawsuit and plans to use money from recovered art to help Holocaust survivors living in the area.
- California Assembly Bill 2867, signed in 2024, strengthens the rights of Holocaust victims and their heirs to recover stolen art in state courts.
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