The heirs of a Jewish banker sued the Hungarian government demanding the return of artwork valued at $100 million that allegedly was confiscated during World War II.
The heirs of Hungarian banker Baron Mór Lipót Herzog are seeking the return of more than 40 works by masters such as El Greco, Lucas Cranach the Elder, Zurbarán, van Dyck, Velazquez and Monet, the New York Times reported last week. The paper called it the world’s largest unresolved Holocaust art claim.
The suit was filed July 27 in the U.S. District Court in Washington against the government of Hungary and several museums it oversees.
Herzog’s heirs have been petitioning the Hungarian government for more than two decades to return the art, most of which has been hanging in Hungarian museums after being left there for safekeeping during World War II, according to the Times.
The requests have been rebuffed, as have appeals to the government from current and former senators over the years, including Chris Dodd, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Edward Kennedy. — jta