A case in the Nazi era ends up in front of the criminal court

Grunbaum, a well -known art collector, had an extensive collection of modern works, including over 80 pieces by Schiele. He was arrested in 1938 by the Nazis authorities and forced to transfer assets to his wife Elisabeth from Dachau, where he died in 1941. Was illegally taken by the Nazis and later traded by art dealers after the Second World War, including in New York City -based Otto Kallir. They argue that according to New York law, the title for stolen property cannot be transferred legally.

The two sides in the case present very different stories about the fate of the art collection. After Grünbaum's death, Elisabeth was forced to liquidate her assets under compulsion before it was deported to the Maly Trostinec concentration camp, where she was murdered. The work of art, together with other pieces, reappeared for decades and went through various dealers before it was acquired by the AIC in 1966. The case, submitted in the southern district of New York, depends on the origin of the work of art and whether AIC is a reasonable implementation of AIC's investigation of its history before the acquisition. The plaintiffs cite historical records, expert statements and previous court decisions, including a decision by New York from 2018, in which the invalidity of compulsory transfer under Nazis was confirmed. The antique trade of the district prosecutor in Manhattan brought the case, confiscated similar works of art from Grünbaum's collection and brought them back to the heirs. AIC counters that the artwork was legally acquired and argued that Elisabeth's sister Mathilde Lukacs sold the play in the 1950s, long after the Nazis era. They claim that the claims of the plaintiffs are unfounded and that the museum has a clear title of the drawing.

This case underlines the continuing challenges in determining the origin, especially for works of art with complex stories that contain forced transactions and post -war trade. If it is successful, the case could determine a precedent for similar claims, which reinforces the principle that stolen property cannot be stored legally regardless of subsequent transactions. The court's decision will not only affect the lawful property of the Russian prisoner of war. It also reflects a broader movement to promote research, transparency and late justice for Holocaust victims and their families. Updates of the case can be requested here by the New York court.

This article is written by Isabelle Monyak, a doctoral student of the student assistant, ethics of the Center for Art Collection

Main picture: Egon Schiele, Russian prisoner of warPresent 1916, watercolor and graphite, Art Institute of Chicago.