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November 12, 2013

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Germany speeds up probe of looted art

The German government said yesterday it plans to speed up research into the rightful ownership of recently unearthed artworks looted by the Nazis, amid mounting calls for a full online list.

Federal and regional authorities involved in shedding light on the vast trove of artworks, including masterpieces by Picasso and Matisse, held talks on Friday, the government’s spokesman said.

Representatives from the culture and finance ministries and the southern state of Bavaria agreed they “want to advance considerably faster the research into the origins of the artworks from this collection”, Steffen Seibert said.

The head of the World Jewish Congress yesterday added his voice to calls for an inventory of the artworks to be published on the Internet.

Ronald S. Lauder told Die Welt daily that time was of the essence with possible heirs now elderly and that “injustice” would continue as long as clarity was lacking.

“The German government must show these pictures,” he told the newspaper. “Valuable time has been wasted. Neither the possible claimants nor possible witnesses in the return process are getting any younger,” Lauder said.

Despite international calls, German prosecutors have refused to publish a full inventory of the works, citing a need for more time to fully catalogue them and for discretion.

 




 

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