This is truly amazing. It has been reported that works of art returned to the Bavarian State at the end of World War II were not returned to their rightful owners. Instead, they were either added to the Bavarian State Painting Collection or sold to families of high ranking Nazis.’
As the Americans withdrew from Germany, the so-called Monuments Men left 10,600 works with the Bavarian State Government with the clear mandate to try to return them to the people they were stolen from.
‘But the museums and public authorities divided the treasure among themselves divided,’ according to the report. One rare Canaletto copy from Hitler’s private collection ended up of the German Parliamentary Association premises in Bonn.
‘Many works had been auctioned off. Others had been repurchased by descendants of the Nazis,’ added the newspaper.
What makes this even more shocking is that between 1961 and 1998 about 500 works were sold, rather than being returned to the families of the rightful owners. These wrongs need to be righted!
Source: Looted art returned to Germany after Second World War sold to Nazis
