Julius Klausner and Robert Graetz, German Jewish industrialists, defied the odds to build their economic empires from scratch. In 2016, a letter listing looted artworks from WWII brings their two grandchildren on a poignant journey to reclaim their lost art. Their lawyer, Fritz Enderlein, is an 88-year-old German lawyer who fought in the Wehrmacht and now works tirelessly to restore looted works of art to their rightful owners, decades after they were taken. Together, they navigate a complex web of bureaucracy, concealment, and denial as they delve deeper into the world of art.
Tag: looted art
In the News: Chicago Magazin, The Drawing the Art Institute Won’t Give Back
The heirs of a famous Jewish entertainer killed in the Holocaust want the museum to return a work they say was stolen by the Nazis. But was it really?
20240514 - Chicagomag_The Drawing the Art Institute Won’t Give BackFind the German Translation below:
20240514 - Chicagomag_The Drawing the Art Institute Won’t Give Back_deIn the News: New York Times – Investigators Say Chicago’s Art Institute Is Holding onto ‘Looted Art’
Eberhard W. Kornfeld died
LIVE STREAMING – Nazi Looted Art – Litigation and Dispute Resolution
THIS EVENT WILL BE LIVE-STREAMED
January 20, 2023 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM ET
Please register here at “New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers ” to attend the event.
Today, more than 75 years after the end of WWII, cases to recover artwork looted by the Nazis are being litigated across the USA. This program will discuss recent developments in the law affecting such artwork, including a new law that took effect in New York State on August 10, 2022 and the expiration of the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act’s extension of statutes of limitations for certain claims known prior to December 16, 2016. Hear from lawyers and a client who have successfully pursued claims for restitution of artwork, and learn from a lawyer/international business director for one of the world’s preeminent auction houses, about the law, the history and the ethical considerations involved in the still-unfolding cases resulting from one of history’s greatest thefts.
Presented By:
Hon. Timothy M. Reif, Esq.
Eileen Brankovic
Raymond J. Dowd, Esq.
Claudia G. Jaffe, Esq.
Samuel A. Blaustein, Esq.
The dream of Café Grünbaum in Hitler’s birthplace
This column was published on April 20, 2022 in the Austrian daily newspaper Salzburger Nachrichten
Diese Kolumne erschien am 20.04.2022 in der österreichischen Tageszeitung Salzburger Nachrichten
Der Traum vom Café Grünbaum in Hitlers Geburtshaus
NY Appeals Court Explains Why Nazi-Stolen Paintings Belong With Gruenbaum’s Heirs
In a deeply researched opinion that it appears could embolden legal efforts by Jewish heirs to reclaim Nazi-stolen art worldwide, a state appeals court Tuesday ruled that two highly valued early 20th century paintings looted by the Nazis belong to the heirs of the Austrian Jewish entertainer who first collected them.
NY Appeals Court Explains Why Nazi-Stolen Paintings Belong With Jewish Collector's Heirs _ New York Law JournalJonathan Petropoulos Rebuttal Report
Jonathan Petropoulos research and scholarship from 2008 to the present reaffirms that Fritz Grünbaum lost his art collection, including the Artworks, due to Nazispoliation. Historical records show that both Fritz Grünbaum’s property and the property of his wife and widow, Elisabeth Grünbaum (“Elisabeth”), were under the control of “Aryan” trustee Ludwig Rochlitzer who was appointed by the Nazis to liquidate their property in January 1939 pursuant to the 3 December 1938 Aryan Trustee Act.
In his striking report he summerizes and discusses the direct evidence showing Nazi control of Fritz Grünbaum’s art collection in 1939 through his death in 1941.
Jonathan Petropoulos Rebuttal ReportThe evidence that the Nazis had custody of Fritz Grünbaum (imprisoned in the Buchenwald and Dachau concentration camps) and his artworks (stored and “blocked” in a Schenker & Co. warehouse, an entity utilized by the Nazis to despoil property) is overwhelming, reliable, and uncontroverted.
New Article @ Princeton Alumni Weekly
A Small Victory in Pursuit of Looted Art
By Louis Jacobson ’92
Published in the May 13, 2015, issue
[scribd id=265172140 key=key-3SRUhjs5BETN20NdvcaD mode=scroll]
20140512 Princeton Alumni Weekly_ A Small Victory in Pursuit of Looted Art
(Not) On Display in London: Artworks Stolen From Fritz Gruenbaum
Update:
Soon after writing this blog entry an e-mail arrived:
Dear Mr Dowd,
It has been brought to my attention that an item concerning loans to The Courtauld Gallery’s forthcoming Egon Schiele exhibition has been placed on a website for which you are listed as one of the contacts. On that basis I am writing to you to let you know that the three works mentioned there are not due to form part of the exhibition in London.
Yours sincerely,
Ernst Vegelin
Ernst Vegelin van Claerbergen
Head of The Courtauld Gallery
The heirs of Fritz Grünbaum would like to thank Mr. Vegelin very much for promptness and proficiency in handling this matter.
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