After more than seventy-five years, a family found works of art stolen by the Nazis during the war. The restitution took place Saturday at the Federal Chancellery in Berlin and was organized by the German Minister of Culture, Monika Grütters.
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Dating from the 18th century, the four drawings and engravings were given to the descendants of Georgette Deutsch de la Meurthe whose mansion, located in Paris, had been requisitioned by the Wehrmacht during the Occupation.
"Jede Restitution, jede gerechte und do Lösung nach den Washingtoner Prinzipien zählt!" - Kulturstaatsministerin Monika # Grütters hat heute vier als NS-Raubkunst identifizierte Zeichnungen, die zuletzt in Privatbesitz waren, an der Erken der früheren Eigentümer zurückgegeben. pic.twitter.com/al9exbsDGo
- BKM Kultur & Medien (@BundesKultur) September 27, 2019"I totally fell from the clouds, it's a wonderful story," said Diego Gradis, grandson of Georgette Deutsch de la Meurthe. Eighteen months ago, he was unaware of this legacy until a specialized foundation in Germany made contact with him. "They had identified four works of art that could have belonged to my grandmother before the war," he says.
The family survivor had already tried to recover these works
Georgette Deutsch de la Meurthe, the only survivor of this Jewish family who had left the French capital in 1940, had without speaking started official steps to try to recover its property looted by the Nazis. But it was mainly thanks to a private German collector who held the paintings until 2012, that the family was able to recover them.
"On his own initiative, he contacted this foundation, the German Lost Art Foundation, saying: 'If I have paintings that do not belong to me, I do not want'," says Diego Gradis, who promises to "write to him soon to thank him".
In the future, the family wants the works to be loaned to museums to testify to the spoliation of Jewish property but also the repair work done by Germany.