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Activities
by Country The Commission for
Art Recovery held its first meeting in Poland with government officials
in the Office of the President in March, 2000. Although the Polish government
passed legislation in 1997 providing for the return of Jewish communal
property, no legislation has been enacted mandating the return of stolen
art. Government officials have indicated that it might take two years
or more for additional restitution legislation to become law. On May 30, 2001, Ambassador
Ronald S. Lauder, the Chairman of the Commission of Art Recovery, wrote
to Professor Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, the Foreign Minister of Poland. In
his letter, Ambassador Lauder stated that, under international law, Poland
may not assert ownership interests in art and cultural objects looted
from Jews during the Holocaust. Ambassador Lauder also stated that there
is good reason to believe that art looted from Jews is now located outside
Poland and that, since Poland is the nation that first bore the brunt
of Nazi aggression and the nation whose Jewish population suffered the
worst degradation during the Holocaust, Poland should be actively leading
efforts to identify and recover art and cultural objects removed from
Poland during the Holocaust. Ambassador Lauder also informed the Foreign
Minister that the Commission for Art Recovery would welcome the opportunity
to assist the government of Poland in an effort to recover art and other
cultural objects looted from Jews during the Holocaust. The Commission’s
offer of assistance is, of course, available to the government of Leszek
Miller that was elected on September 23, 2001. In this letter,
(note:
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Lauder stated that Polish museums and other state-owned or sponsored entities
are currently holding art and cultural objects looted from Jews during
the Holocaust and that under international law, Poland may not assert
ownership of these items and, indeed, is obligated to both identity and
return them. Ambassador Lauder included with his letter
(note:
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memorandum that summarized Poland’s obligations under international
law with respect to Holocaust-looted art. (i) all works of art
that were taken from Polish citizens of Jewish origin during the period
1939-1945 either by the occupation forces of the German Third Reich or
by Polish or German civil authorities, or otherwise looted by military
or civilian authorities or unknown persons when the owners fled Nazi armed
forces or were murdered or sent to concentration camps before hostilities
ended, and that are currently in the custody or possession of the Republic
of Poland or any entities or organizations controlled or subject to regulation
by the Republic of Poland, shall be returned to their rightful owners,
and (ii) no legal impediments,
such as statutes of limitations, preclusion periods or postwar global
settlements shall be allowed to prevent the return of this art, which
includes, but is not limited to, art forcibly taken from Jewish owners,
art that Jewish owners were forced to sell at distress sales, art sold
at "Jew auctions" and art that Jewish owners were prompted to
relinquish. 2. The government
of the Republic of Poland will take an active role, in cooperation with
the Commission for Art Recovery of the World Jewish Congress, in order
to locate heirs of Holocaust victims or other rightful owners of art in
Polish custody having incomplete or dubious provenance during the years
of 1939 - 1945. A list of such works will be prepared and updated as necessary.
The list will be published (in Polish and English) on an Internet site
to enable potential claimants to locate their works of art. This Internet
site will illustrate each artwork and provide, for each item, the name
of the artist, its title and, to the extent known, its dimensions and
provenance. In addition, the Internet site will include "user-friendly"
search mechanisms. The availability of the Internet site will be widely
advertised internationally by the Republic of Poland in leading newspapers,
media and on the Internet. The Internet site also will be regularly updated
with additional information as it becomes available. 3. The government
of the Republic of Poland will facilitate and coordinate the return of
the art currently held or controlled by the government and government-controlled
or regulated organizations. A "Claims Office" will be designated
as the central clearinghouse for the receipt of all inquiries by claimants
for art, in effect, a "one-stop shop." The office will coordinate
a review of archives, records and other materials that may have any bearing
on any inquiry or claim. To further assist claimants in the claims process,
a "Guide to the Art Claims Process" will be published and widely
distributed in print and on the Internet. The guide will explain in detail
the claims process and provide the addresses, telephone and facsimile
numbers and email addresses for the contact persons in the Claims Office.
The Guide will also detail examples of the documentation or other evidence
that will be required to substantiate a claim for art; but it will also
make clear that such examples will not be exclusive and that other evidence
will also be considered. Each claimant will receive a written response
from the Claims Office within three weeks of receipt of the claim. The
response will either acknowledge the validity of the claim and request
the claimant to contact the Claims Office to arrange for the return of
the art or will, clearly and in detail, explain what type of further documentation
to substantiate the claim may be needed. The response will include the
name of an official to contact to resolve any issues concerning the claim.
Art that is confirmed as belonging to a claimant will be promptly returned
to the claimant. 4. After the completion
of the claims process, art that is not claimed after a reasonable period
of time shall be deemed to be held, in trust, on indefinite loan, until
such art shall be claimed by true owners in accordance with the foregoing
procedures. 5. The Republic of
Poland may acquire any art that is not claimed after a reasonable period
of time by payment of fair market prices approved by the Commission for
Art Recovery. As a matter of historic soundness, the Jewish provenance
of such art, as well as its acquisition by the Republic of Poland, will
be noted in an appropriate form (e.g., plaques, etc.) if such art is publicly
displayed in museums, government offices or other public institutions. 6. The Republic of
Poland will prepare periodic (but at least semi annual) reports for the
public on the progress of the return of the art. These reports will be
published in print form and will be made available on the Internet. 7. In order to provide
for the protection of claimants who reside in the United States, procedures
will be adopted to ensure that the return of any art to any claimants
will comply with tax–exemption provisions of applicable treaties
and laws, if any. 8. The Republic of Poland believes that the art taken out of the country by the Soviet occupation forces as the result of World War II and the post-war Communist regime may include works of art looted by the Nazis from Jews during the period 1939 - 1945. The effort of the Republic of Poland to recover this art is an integral part of the program to restitute art to rightful Jewish owners. To the extent that any of this art is returned to Poland, the Republic of Poland will handle this art in accordance with the principles set out in this plan, and, in particular, paragraphs 2, 3 and 4.
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