New Lawsuits Revive Decades-Long Fight Over Looted Nazi Art in Los Angeles

The long-standing dispute over artwork looted during the Holocaust has resurfaced in Los Angeles, with heirs of Jewish victims filing new lawsuits to reclaim pieces held by prominent museums and at Auschwitz. These legal actions follow recent amendments to California and federal law, which have bolstered the ability to pursue claims for artwork confiscated from Jewish families during World War II.

One of the new lawsuits, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, targets the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena over "Adam and Eve," a pair of 1530 oil-on-panel paintings by Lucas Cranach the Elder. The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles and its board are renewing a dispute concerning these artworks.

Concurrently, a separate lawsuit was filed in federal court in Los Angeles by the daughters of Dinah Gottliebova Babbitt, a Holocaust survivor and animator who was imprisoned at Auschwitz. Babbitt was compelled to create watercolors of fellow prisoners for Josef Mengele, the Nazi physician notorious as the "Angel of Death." Her daughters are seeking the return of these watercolors.

Neither lawsuit specifies the monetary value of the artworks in question. Representatives for the museums assert that their institutions possess legal title to the artworks and intend to keep them on public display.

The Norton Simon Museum referenced a 2018 federal court decision that affirmed the museum's ownership of the Cranach paintings. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the case in May 2019, upholding the lower court's rulings. The museum states that the paintings were originally owned by the Russian noble Stroganov family before being sold by the Soviet Union at an auction in Berlin in 1931. After a complex ownership transfer, a descendant of the Stroganovs sold the paintings to the Norton Simon Museum, which subsequently restored and preserved them.

"For nearly 50 years, they have been on view at the Norton Simon Museum and will continue to be accessible to the public for years to come," a museum spokesperson stated.

These cases are part of a broader, often intricate, effort to recover art stolen by the Nazis. Between 1933 and 1945, the Nazi regime seized an estimated 600,000 works of art across Europe from Jewish families, collectors, and institutions, an event often described as the largest art theft in history. Decades later, a significant portion of this looted art remains in major museums worldwide, sparking legal and ethical debates between families seeking restitution and institutions that claim legitimate acquisition and a duty to preserve and exhibit the works.

California lawmakers have also acted to influence how these disputes are addressed legally. Assembly Bill 2867, authored by Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel (D-Woodland Hills) and signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September 2024, mandates the application of California law in lawsuits filed by state residents or their heirs seeking the recovery of artwork taken during the Holocaust or other acts of persecution. Gabriel introduced the bill following a federal court decision that permitted the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum in Madrid to retain a valuable Impressionist painting by Camille Pissarro.