Holocaust Art Recovery Initiative Aims to Spread Awareness of the Hear Act
Grouping of lawyers helps survivors and their heirs recover artwork stolen past the Nazis.
By Esther Allweiss Ingber, Contributing Author
Jonathan H. Schwartz is leading a local attempt by the Jewish Bar Association (JBAM) to right a historic wrong that's existed for more than 70 years every bit, he says, "role of the Nazis' effort to wipe out our Jewish identity."
JBAM, co-founded in 2022 by Schwartz, a partner at Jaffe Raitt Heuer & Weiss P.C. in Southfield, recently launched the Holocaust Art Recovery Initiative, a partnership with the Arts, Communications, Entertainment and Sports (ACES) Department of the State Bar of Michigan. It's a response to passage of a federal police that allows more than time — until Jan. ane, 2027 — for Holocaust victims and/or their descendants to file for the return of valuable artwork stolen from their families during the Nazi era (1933-1945).
Under the new law, the time period for making such legal claims begins when a family discovers the artwork's loss, not when the theft actually took identify in Europe.
Restitution of Jewish-endemic art has been on the radar of the U.S. government since efforts began in 1945 to assistance recover the and then-estimated 650,000 works of art stolen by the Nazis.
In 1998, a U.South. State Department-hosted Washington Conference on Holocaust Era Assets established principles for dealing with restitution claims. More recently, Ambassador Ronald South. Lauder, the cosmetics billionaire who chairs both the Committee for Art Recovery and Council of the World Jewish Restitution Organization, provided leadership to Congress on the restitution issue. He urged members to introduce the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery (HEAR) Act, a bipartisan nib President Barack Obama signed into police on Dec. sixteen, 2016.
"For also long, governments, museums, auction houses and unscrupulous collectors allowed this egregious theft of culture and heritage to continue, imposing legal barriers like arbitrary statutes of limitations to deny families prized possessions stolen from them by the Nazis," Lauder said at the signing.
"Denying the render of identified Jewish artwork stolen during the Holocaust is outrageous; we cannot exist silent when the clock is ticking for recovery nether U.Due south. law."
— Jonathan Schwartz
The difficulty was dramatized in the popular 2022 film, Woman in Gold. British extra Helen Mirren portrayed real-life Holocaust survivor Maria Altmann, who sets in motion a long legal challenge to recover her family'due south cherished Gustav Klimt painting, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I — as well known equally The Woman in Gilded — from the Austrian government.
"This artwork, some of it by famous Jewish artists, is part of our Jewish identity, as much equally Jewish humor, literature and nutrient. Denying the render of identified Jewish artwork stolen during the Holocaust is outrageous, and we cannot be silent when the clock is ticking for recovery nether U.South. law," said Schwartz, JBAM president and the immediate former chairperson of ACES.
National Archives and Records/Public Domain
Recovery Plan
With major fine art recovery cases currently being litigated in New York and California, Schwartz said he wants to achieve success stories like Altmann's for survivor families living in Metro Detroit.
Schwartz, who has an entertainment practice and more than a decade of experience in fine art law, explained the local Holocaust Art Recovery Initiative through the acronym "Fine art."
"The 'A' is for Awareness of the scope and continuing nature of the problem," Schwartz said. "A one thousand thousand pieces of art were confiscated from the Jewish people and nigh a third of information technology — 300,000 missing pieces — take still non been returned to the rightful owners and their descendants. Many people practise not realize that this is the largest displacement of art in human being history."
He too wants to bring awareness that the HEAR Deed "makes it possible for descendants to get to court to recover art and holding lost to the Nazis during the World War II menses."
"The HEAR Act helps those who know that certain works were taken from their family in Europe during the Holocaust and non returned, and addresses some of the statutes of limitation that prevented families from getting their works back," he said.
JBAM and its partners volition aid potential claimants by connecting them with scholars and researchers. The latter tin help piece together "provenance," or proof of art ownership, for the rightful heirs. JBAM members and other volunteers are prepared to litigate buying claims in Michigan federal courts, relying upon the HEAR Human action. This must happen prior to the "sunset provision" of Jan. 1, 2027, the deadline to file such lawsuits under the law.
"The letter 'R' is for Research," Schwartz continued. Establishing provenance is the style for tracing a family unit'due south art merits. It'southward however possible for experts to recover looted artwork because of documentation kept past Nazis and others during the war.
"A lot of evidence remains to exist waded through in unlike repositories, including at the Holocaust Memorial Centre in Farmington Hills," said Schwartz, who speaks publicly and writes about the trouble of looted art.
"We want to assistance people who had art stolen or their descendants. Nosotros put them in touch with genealogists, art experts and others to go as much evidence and documentation as possible to help people with their art claims," Schwartz said. He noted that in add-on to individual families, "nosotros are exploring new means to assistance much larger groups of Holocaust victims and their descendants."
As part of the local effort to assistance descendants seeking recovery of looted art, Schwartz said they'll be looking for "T,'" as in Triable cases. Questions for attorneys to consider will include: Where is the artwork? Is it with private parties, displayed on museum walls or sitting in vaults? Exercise nosotros accept the proof to seek recovery? Tin can we establish a concatenation of buying? What is our litigation procedure? How well have we done earlier seeking artwork from certain governments, museums and institutions?
"We must go on putting pressure on foreign countries belongings the stolen artwork. It's an international trouble," said Schwartz, noting that "the Hungarian government has been particularly recalcitrant in returning art."
A pending instance, now in appeals, deals with the Herzog Collection that Hungary is refusing to render.
"Russia is another difficult land for getting cooperation," he said, explaining that it regards the looted Jewish-owned artwork equally beingness "spoils of state of war.'' Poland, Spain and Italy have also been slow to address the problem of unreturned Nazi-looted artwork within their borders.
Seeking the render of important artwork goes beyond the dollars they're worth.
"This is an alarm bong for the global Jewish community," Schwartz said. "Nosotros must put force per unit area on countries that turn down to disclose bear witness or turn over artwork, who stand up in our way of recovering our Jewish cultural identity.
"Nosotros should not be tranquillity about it. We can't recover all 300,000 pieces that are missing, but we accept the resource available to brand significant progress if people are aware and resolve to pursue their family unit claims, and the global Jewish community speaks with a united vocalism."
Schwartz is glad that the U.S. decided to "polish a spotlight on this issue past passing the HEAR Act but acknowledged that there is much that should be done.
He encourages others to join in the effort with JBAM. "Our goal is helping to recover as many pieces of artwork every bit possible. This is and then important for a variety of reasons, and at that place's limited time."
Jonathan Schwartz is available to further discuss this initiative and how the Michigan legal community is prepared to help and share insight into how people can reach out and receive assistance. He tin be reached at jschwartz@jaffelaw.com or (248) 727-1497.
Source: https://thejewishnews.com/2019/01/24/jonathan-schwartz-leads-holocaust-art-recovery-initiative/
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