12 January 24 • 2019
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real-life Holocaust survivor Maria 
Altmann, who sets in motion a long legal 
challenge to recover her family’
s cher-
ished Gustav Klimt painting, Portrait 
of Adele Bloch-Bauer I — also known 
as The Woman in Gold — from the 
Austrian government.
“This artwork, some of it by famous 
Jewish artists, is part of our Jewish iden-
tity, as much as Jewish humor, literature 
and food. Denying the return of iden-
tified Jewish artwork stolen during the 
Holocaust is outrageous, and we cannot 
be silent when the clock is ticking for 
recovery under U.S. law,
” said Schwartz, 
JBAM president and the immediate for-
mer chairperson of ACES. 

RECOVERY PLAN
With major art recovery cases cur-
rently being litigated in New York and 
California, Schwartz said he wants to 
achieve success stories like Altmann’
s for 
survivor families living in Metro Detroit.
Schwartz, who has an entertainment 
practice and more than a decade of 
experience in art law, explained the 
local Holocaust Art Recovery Initiative 
through the acronym “
ART.
” 
“The ‘
A
’
 is for Awareness of the scope 
and continuing nature of the problem,
” 
Schwartz said. “
A million pieces of art 
were confiscated from the Jewish people 
and about a third of it — 300,000 miss-
ing pieces — have still not been returned 
to the rightful owners and their descen-
dants. Many people do not realize that 
this is the largest displacement of art in 
human history.
”
He also wants to bring awareness that 
the HEAR Act “makes it possible for 
descendants to go to court to recover art 
and property lost to the Nazis during the 
World War II period.
”
“The HEAR Act helps those who 
know that certain works were taken 
from their family in Europe during 
the Holocaust and not returned, and 
addresses some of the statutes of limita-
tion that prevented families from getting 
their works back,
” he said. 
JBAM and its partners will help poten-
tial claimants by connecting them with 
scholars and researchers. The latter can 
help piece together “provenance,
” or 
proof of art ownership, for the rightful 
heirs. JBAM members and other vol-
unteers are prepared to litigate owner-
ship claims in Michigan federal courts, 
relying upon the HEAR Act. This must 
happen prior to the “sunset provision” 
of Jan. 1, 2027, the deadline to file such 
lawsuits under the law. 
“The letter ‘
R’
 is for Research,
” 
Schwartz continued. Establishing prov-
enance is the way for tracing a family’
s 
art claim. It’
s still possible for experts 
to recover looted artwork because of 
documentation kept by Nazis and others 
during the war. 
“
A lot of evidence remains to be waded 
through in different repositories, includ-
ing at the Holocaust Memorial Center in 
Farmington Hills,
” said Schwartz, who 
speaks publicly and writes about the 
problem of looted art.
“We want to help people who had 
art stolen or their descendants. We 
put them in touch with genealogists, 
art experts and others to get as much 
evidence and documentation as pos-

sible to help people with their art 
claims,” Schwartz said. He noted that 
in addition to individual families, “we 
are exploring new ways to help much 
larger groups of Holocaust victims and 
their descendants.” 
As part of the local effort to help 
descendants seeking recovery of 
looted art, Schwartz said they’
ll be 
looking for “T,’
” as in Triable cases. 
Questions for attorneys to consider 
will include: Where is the artwork? Is 
it with private parties, displayed on 
museum walls or sitting in vaults? Do 
we have the proof to seek recovery? 
Can we establish a chain of owner-
ship? What is our litigation process? 
How well have we done before seek-
ing artwork from certain govern-
ments, museums and institutions? 
“We must keep putting pressure on 
foreign countries holding the stolen art-
work. It’
s an international problem,
” said 
Schwartz, noting that “the Hungarian 
government has been particularly recal-
citrant in returning art.
” 
A pending case, now in appeals, deals 
with the Herzog Collection that Hungary 
is refusing to return. 
“Russia is another difficult country for 
getting cooperation,
” he said, explaining 
that it regards the looted Jewish-owned 
artwork as being “spoils of war.
’
’
 Poland, 
Spain and Italy have also been slow to 
address the problem of unreturned Nazi-
looted artwork within their borders.
Seeking the return of important art-
work goes beyond the dollars they’
re 
worth.
“This is an alarm bell for the global 
Jewish community,
” Schwartz said. “We 
must put pressure on countries that 
refuse to disclose evidence or turn over 
artwork, who stand in our way of recov-
ering our Jewish cultural identity. 
“We should not be quiet about it. 
We can’
t recover all 300,000 pieces that 
are missing, but we have the resources 
available to make significant progress if 
people are aware and resolve to pursue 
their family claims, and the global Jewish 
community speaks with a united voice.
”
Schwartz is glad that the U.S. decid-
ed to “shine a spotlight on this issue by 
passing the HEAR Act but acknowl-
edged that there is much that should 
be done. 
He encourages others to join in 
the effort with JBAM. “Our goal is 
helping to recover as many pieces of 
artwork as possible. This is so import-
ant for a variety of reasons, and there’
s 
limited time.” ■

“Denying the return of identifi
 ed Jewish 
artwork stolen during the Holocaust is 
outrageous; we cannot be silent when the 
clock is ticking for recovery under U.S. law.”

— JONATHAN SCHWARTZ

details
Jonathan Schwartz is available to 
further discuss this initiative, how 
the Michigan legal community is 
prepared to help and share insight 
into how people can reach out 
and receive assistance. He can be 
reached at jschwartz@jaffelaw.
com or (248) 727-1497.

ABOVE: Dwight D. Eisenhower, 

right, inspects stolen artwork in 

a salt mine in Merkers, accompa-

nied by Gen. Omar Bradley, left, 

and Gen. George S. Patton, center. 

continued from page 10

NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS/PUBLIC DOMAIN

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