The Nazis are estimated to have confiscated around 600,000 works of art during the Second World War. Today, 100,000 of them are still missing. Only a fraction of the identified works have returned to their rightful owners.

Often, it takes a lengthy process to recover the stolen artwork. So far, responsibility has been on the Jewish art collectors and their heirs to get through the difficult-to-navigate bureaucracy. The German government has often been criticized for slowing down the return work.

- Victims of the Nazis' looting of art objects and their heirs have long sought expert help in their search for the family's cultural property, says Gilbert Lupfer, director of the Lost Art Foundation to Artnet.

Will help Jewish art owners

The new office is funded by the Ministry of Culture and is run by the state-run organization Lost Art Foundation. An organization tasked with reviewing all matters relating to the return of art stolen by the Nazis.

Art historian Susanne Meyer-Abichs leads the work. Her job is to guide victims of the Nazi regime and their descendants, many of whom live abroad, through the bureaucratic process.

"Victims and survivors who suffered unimaginable suffering in the hands of the Nazis should receive assistance, not have to endure bureaucratic hassle," she tells Artnet.

The work is part of fulfilling the so-called Washington principles declared in 1998. The principles involve a moral commitment to identifying and publicly announcing works of art that have been confiscated by the Nazis. This is so that the original owners of the artwork can claim them.