Immediately after the Second World War, thousands of works of art which had been looted from the Netherlands or had been unlawfully transported to Germany were repatriated from the Art Collecting Points in occupied territory. Repatriation took place in close cooperation with the Allied Forces of the United States, France and the United Kingdom through special units and in accordance with the regulations drawn up jointly by the allied powers, for example In the Inter Allied Declaration Issued in London on 5 January 1943. In order to establish which works of art should go to which claimant state, documents were gathered from a range of sources in the countries in which looting had taken place and were forwarded to the Art Collecting Points In Germany. The states in question were enjoined by the Inter Allied Declaration to find the original owners of looted and stolen works of art.

In the Netherlands, the task of gathering documents was entrusted to the Public Art Collections Institute. In doing so, it collected information not only from the original owners, but also from the records of the occupying forces, as well as from lists compiled by the haulage firms which had transported works of art to Germany and from the records of dealers and auction houses which had sold works of art to the Nazis. The Institute was also given the task of finding the original owners of works of art that had been looted or removed to Germany. Though it endeavoured to trace a11 the original owners of their heirs, its efforts were not always successful since essential documents (i.e. insurance policies, inventories. etc) had often disappeared during the War. Moreover, in those difficult times, when many Jewish survivors of the Holocaust were trying to rebuild their lives, not all the original owners filed claims for works of art lost during the war. Nonetheless, of a total of some 3,500 paintings repatriated from Germany, some 600 were returned to their original owners. The remaining works were held in the custody of the Dutch State subject to the provision that whenever an original owner turned up or could be identified, the work would be returned. As a result, several works of art were returned to their owners in the 1950s.

Of all the works of art looted in the Netherlands during the War more then 10,000 are still missing. They sometimes turn up in unexpected places. A portrait by Govert Flinck was discovered in Canada two years ago and has since been returned to the Netherlands.

Recent investigation of the State collections

Questions have recently been asked about the works of art that remained in the possession of the State. Might not modern methods of documentation and registration unearth more facts than were known after the war? To test this hypothesis, Aad Nuis, State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science, ordered a thorough investigation of a representative sample of the State collections in question. On the basis of the results of this investigation, which will be available in late April, Mr Nuis will decide whether a similar inquiry should be conducted into every work of art in the State collections with a similar provenance.

In conducting the investigation, the Cultural Heritage lnspectorate is now making a careful examination of a number of sources. These include the records of the Public Art Collections Institute, documents containing information on the victims of the Holocaust, and art history information systems. These same methods are used in responding to the queries of individuals seeking works of art lost during the Second World War. In particular, documentation contres such as the Netherlands Institute for Art History now contain much more information than in the 1940s and 1950s, and it is far easier to access. The American National Archives are also checked for any relevant information. The Cultural Heritage lnspectorate maintains close contact with counterparts in other countries to coordinate findings and investigation methods. The current investigation is being conducted under the supervision of an advisory committee whose members include representatives of the Dutch Jewish community.

Two paintings have already proved to belong to Jewish families that did not file claims after the War. These paintings have now been returned to their rightful owners, and any paintings whose original owners can be found will likewise be returned.

Recent Investigations of museum collections

At the same time, the Dutch museums, acting under the aegis of the Dutch Museums Association, have decided to examine the origins of the works of art bought either during or shortlv after the Second World War, using the same methods as those adopted in the investigation of the State collections. The purpose is to establish whether any museum bought looted or stolen Jewish property at that time. Several museums launched investigations some months ago.

The museums start by consulting their own records, and the documentation on their collections. Any irregularities can then be checked by the Cultural Heritage Inspectorate in the records and information systems referred to above. A special effort must be made to inform counterparts in other countries of such findings, since they might very well relate to Jewish property looted in other countries.

One painting which proved to have been looted by the Germans from the original French Jewish owners will be returned to the heirs.

The results of the investigations of both the State and museum collections will be published and databases compiled during the investigations will also be accessible to the public.

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