July 28, 2006

 Pryce’s Subcommittee Examines the Repatriation of Holocaust-Era Art

Washington, DC – Today, Chairman Deborah Pryce’s (R-Columbus) Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade and Technology (DIMP) held a hearing on the efforts to determine the provenance of Holocaust-era art within the U.S. The hearing, entitled "A Review of the Repatriation of Holocaust Art Assets in the United States," seeks to measure America’s progress in returning art looted by the Nazis to their original owners or their heirs.

Said Pryce, “Today’s hearing is critically important in identifying the progress made by museums and other institutions in returning pilfered Jewish art to their rightful owners. Beyond the legal and proprietary considerations, countless Jewish families are denied an opportunity to connect with their heritage and past -- another lingering legacy of one of our planet’s darkest hours.”

“While the repatriation of stolen art is everyone’s shared goal,” Pryce added, “it is also important to understand the challenges involved in documenting original ownership, tracing art transactions over many decades, and identifying an authority to arbitrate claims for artwork. Despite meticulous and good faith efforts to determine the origin of some pieces, there are often insurmountable factors preventing museums from doing so. Today’s hearing helped illuminate those challenges and should elicit accolades to institutions that have made painstaking efforts to reunite owners with their lost possessions.”

From 1933 through the end of World War II, countless pieces of art were looted by the Nazis throughout Europe, some of which were ultimately funneled into both private and museum collections in the United States. Between 1997 and 2000, the House held a series of similar hearings into the matter, and today’s forum sought to identify the progress made since the conclusion of those hearings.

Among those testifying before the Subcommittee were:

  • Mr. Stuart Eizenstat, Former Commissioner for the Presidential Advisory Commission on Holocaust Assets in the U.S.
  • Mr. Gideon Taylor, Executive Vice President for the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany
  • Mr. Edward Able, President and CEP of the American Association of Museums
  • Mr. Gilbert Edelson, Administrative Vice President and Counsel of the Art Dealers Association of America
  • Mr. Jim Cuno, President and Director of the Art Institute of Chicago, and representing the Association of Art Museum Directors.
  • Mr. Timothy Rub, Director of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  • Ms. Catherine Lillie, Director of the Holocaust Claims Processing Office in the New York State Banking Department

 

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