The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) and the World Jewish Restitution Organization initiate and support wide-ranging efforts toward the restitution of Jewish-owned art, Judaica, and other cultural property lost and plundered during the Holocaust.
More information available here.
Examples of Current Efforts
The Claims Conference-WJRO work with governments and relevant Jewish communities to ensure a just, fair, and simple process for claims for looted art and other cultural property in each country and encourage the development of provenance research.
Report on the Extent of Provenance Research Regarding Nazi-looted Cultural and Religious Property in U.S. Museums
On September 25, 2025, the WJRO released the “Report on the Extent of Provenance Research Regarding Nazi-Looted Cultural and Religious Property in U.S. Museums.”
Holocaust-Era Looted Cultural Property: A Current Worldwide Overview
The WJRO-Claims Conference report was released on the occasion of the event “25th Anniversary of the Washington Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art: Best Practices & The Way Forward,” at which U.S. Secretary of State also unveiled the historic endorsement of a document on Best Practices in art and cultural property restitution by 22 countries.
Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery (HEAR) Act Signed into U.S. Law
On April 13, 2026, the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery (HEAR) Act of 2026 was signed into law.
last updated September 2026
Images
General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander in the West, accompanied by General Omar Bradley (left), and Lt. General George S. Patton, inspect stolen art treasures hidden in the Merkers salt mine. USHMM Photograph Number: 74574
An American soldier discovers a framed painting that was looted by the Nazi regime in an underground vault. National Archives and Records Administration.
Vilna, Poland, Art exhibits which were saved from destruction by the Germans, in a museum. Yad Vashem, archival signature 3380/59
While serving in the US Army, Metropolitan Museum of Art curator James Rorimer supervises American GIs carrying paintings down the steps of the Neuschwanstein Castle in southern Germany in May of 1945. National Archives, provided by the Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art, Dallas