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Podcasts Take Two
Holocaust survivor sues Germany for delay in returning stolen art
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Mar 11, 2014
Listen • 5:01
Holocaust survivor sues Germany for delay in returning stolen art
David Toren, a Holocaust survivor, claims that Germany has been too slow to recognize the painting belongs to him, after it was discovered two years ago in a Munich apartment that was full of looted art.
An exterior view of the apartment buildings containing the residence of Cornelius Gurlitt, where according to media reports customs agents seized 1,500 paintings that had been confiscated by the Nazis in the 1930s and 40s, on November 4, 2013 in Munich, Germany. Gurlitt's father Hildebrand Gurlitt was an art dealer who oversaw the confiscations of what the Nazis termed "degenerate art", and the son, now in his 80s, reportedly hoarded the works, which include paintings by Henri Matisse, Emil Nolde and Max Liebermann. The works are now at a customs warehouse outside Munich and have an estimated value of EUR one billion.
An exterior view of the apartment buildings containing the residence of Cornelius Gurlitt, where according to media reports customs agents seized 1,500 paintings that had been confiscated by the Nazis in the 1930s and 40s, on November 4, 2013 in Munich, Germany. Gurlitt's father Hildebrand Gurlitt was an art dealer who oversaw the confiscations of what the Nazis termed "degenerate art", and the son, now in his 80s, reportedly hoarded the works, which include paintings by Henri Matisse, Emil Nolde and Max Liebermann. The works are now at a customs warehouse outside Munich and have an estimated value of EUR one billion.
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Lennart Preiss/Getty Images
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David Toren, a Holocaust survivor, claims that Germany has been too slow to recognize the painting belongs to him, after it was discovered two years ago in a Munich apartment that was full of looted art.

Yesterday, an 88-year-old New York man sued the country of Germany in U.S. court to try to get back a piece of art stolen from his family by the Nazis. 

David Toren, a Holocaust survivor, claims that Germany has been too slow to recognize the painting belongs to him, after it was discovered two years ago in a Munich apartment that was full of looted art.

Here to tell us more is Anne Webber, chair for the Commission For Looted Art in Europe.