Category: Downloadable Documents

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.

https://www.law.com/newyorklawjournal/2019/07/09/ny-appeals-court-explains-why-nazi-stolen-paintings-belong-with-jewish-collectors-heirs/

NY Appeals Court Explains Why Nazi-Stolen Paintings Belong With Jewish Collector's Heirs _ New York Law Journal

Austria – Great shift of paradigm in Restitution

It is extraordinarily gratifying that the Advisory Board of the Commission for Provenance Research in the Gertrude Felsoevanyi case has come up with a paradigm shift in the return of looted art which is in possession of the Republic of Austria.

Until now, a formal confiscation had to be proved, but now the German view of restitution is shared, namely that the loss due to persecution is decisive for restitution.

This view is taken with a delay of 25 years, but nevertheless …Chapeau!

It is also noteworthy that the decision is a revision of an earlier decision and that this revision is not based on previously unknown evidence, but on a different view from that taken 18 years ago.

It now remains to be seen to what extent the Commission for Provenance Research will revise and, if necessary, correct its own earlier decisions.

As there is no right of application, the Commission for Provenance Research must take action of its own – hopefully it will!

English Translation is added in the end of the document
Felsoevanyi_Gertrude_2019-04-12 EN und Deutsch

 

Documents that show the robbery of the property of Fritz Grünbaum

Finden Sie hier, aufgrund der intensiven Diskussion in den Kommentaren folgender beiden Artikel der Tageszeitung „derStandard“,

29.11.2015 – http://derstandard.at/2000026537231/Die-Gruenbaum-Falle

2.12.2015 – http://derstandard.at/2000026844977/Kampf-an-der-Gruenbaum-Front-eroeffnet

die drei zentralen Dokumente um den Raub des Vermögens von Fritz Grünbaum:

  1. Verzeichnis des Vermögens von Juden von Fritz und Lilly Grünbaum
  2. die unter Zwang von Fritz Grünbaum im Konzentrationslager Dachau erteilte Vollmacht an seine Frau Lilly
  3. das Schreiben des von der Devisenstelle Wien beauftragte Verwalter für das Vermögen von Fritz und Elisabeth Grünbaum Rechtsanwalt Dr. Ludwig Rochlitzer vom 31. Jänner 1939, in welchem er ihr mitgeteilt dass er an Honorar das 3-fache eines damaligen durchschnittlichen Jahresentgelt  aus dem  Vermögen der Grünbaums entnimmt. Siehe http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durchschnittsentgelt

Find here, following the intense discussion at the comments at following articles in Austrian daily newspaper DerStandard

29.11.2015 – http://derstandard.at/2000026537231/Die-Gruenbaum-Falle

2.12.2015 – http://derstandard.at/2000026844977/Kampf-an-der-Gruenbaum-Front-eroeffnet

the three most important documents, which show the robbery of the property of Fritz an Lilly Grünbaum through NS authorities.

  1. the Jewish Property Declaration by Fritz and Lilly Grünbaum
  2. the POA in favour of Lilly Grünbaum signed forced by Fritz Grünbaum in KZ Dachau
  3. and the letter of Att. Ludwig Rochlitzer, the administrator appointed by the  exchange control office Vienna, where he billed fee in an amount three times higher than an average income of a year in 1939. Further information to the average income you can find at http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Durchschnittsentgelt (in German only)

 

Downloads:

downloadJewish property declaration file / Verzeichnis des Vermögens von Juden von Fritz und Lilly Grünbaum

downloadPOA Fritz Grünbaum / Vollmacht Fritz Grünbaum

download

Rochlitzer letter / Brief von Rochlitzer

Gruenbaum-Schieles saved and blocked in New York

The heirs of Fritz Grunbaum persuaded a Manhattan judge Tuesday to block the sale and transport of two works by Egon Schiele that belong to Mr. Grunbaum’s collection.  The works were featured by Richard Nagy of Richard Nagy, Ltd. at the Salon + Design fair held at the Park Avenue Armory, New York.

Tuesday, Justice Ramos of the New York Supreme Court entered a temporary restraining order (“TRO”) providing that Woman in a Black Pinafore and Woman Hiding Her Face, shall not be transferred or otherwise removed from  New York by any person or entity.

A hearing is scheduled for December, 1st in Manhattan.

download

201511 16 Summons

20151117 Order to show cause with temporary restraining order

 

Can A Jewish Man Imprisoned In Dachau Concentration Camp Transfer Valid Legal Title To A Schiele Painting?

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Egon Schiele’s Seated Woman With Bent Left Leg (1917)

On October 31, the family of Fritz Grunbaum gathered at the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial To The Holocaust to thank former District Attorney Robert Morgenthau for his efforts to recover Egon Schiele’s Dead City III, an artwork he seized on behalf of Grunbaum’s family at the MoMA in 1998.

Mr. Morgenthau, referring to the above drawing, read the following from a concurrence written by Judge Edward Korman when he sat by designation on  a case called Bakalar v. Vavra at the Second Circuit Court of Appeals:

Grunbaum was arrested while attempting to flee from the Nazis. After his arrest, he never again had physical possession of any of his artwork, including the Drawing. The power of attorney, which he was forced to execute while in the Dachau concentration camp, divested him of his legal control over the Drawing. Such an involuntary divestiture of possession and legal control rendered any subsequent transfer void.
Bakalar v. Vavra, 619 F.3d 136, 148 (2d. Cir. 2010)(concurrence)

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Erwiderung zur Presseaussendung der Sammlung Leopold

Am 01.11. erschien eine Presseaussendung des Leopold Museum:

Leopold Museum-Privatstiftung (ver)wehrt sich gegen Raubkunst-Vorwürfe

Darin behauptet das Museum, die Restitutionsforschung des BMUKK hätte eindeutig festgestellt, das die Sammlung Grünbaum nicht als Raubkunst zu bezeichnen sei.

Dies ist die Sicht des Leopold Museums, doch was sagen andere Stellen dazu? Read more