Full Breakdown
Lawsuits Over Nazi-Looted Art Revived by New California and Federal Laws
By Drooid · · How we work
Core Event
Jewish heirs filed two lawsuits in Los Angeles this week seeking the return of artworks seized by the Nazis. The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, represented by board chair Daniel Gryczman, sued the Norton Simon Museum for the 16th-century oil diptych “Adam and Eve” by Lucas Cranach the Elder. In a separate federal action, the daughters of Holocaust survivor Dinah Gottliebova Babbitt sued the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum for watercolors of Roma victims that Babbitt was forced to paint for Josef Mengele. Both suits rely on a California law enacted in September 2024 and a federal amendment to the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act of 2025 that remove procedural barriers and eliminate expiration dates for claims.
Background & Context
During World War II the Nazi regime confiscated an estimated 600,000 artworks, many from Jewish collectors. Lucas Cranach’s “Adam and Eve” was taken from Dutch dealer Jacques Goudstikker’s collection in 1940, passed through Hermann Göring’s hands, and entered the Norton Simon Museum in 1971 after a series of sales. The watercolors were created under duress in Auschwitz in the early 1940s as part of Mengele’s pseudo-scientific documentation of Roma prisoners. Prior lawsuits were dismissed on procedural grounds; the 2024 California statute (Assembly Bill 2867) and the 2025 federal amendment now allow claimants to refile on the basis of “political persecution.”
Data & Statistics
- The Nazi-looted art thefts total more than 600,000 works worldwide.
- The Norton Simon Museum’s “Adam and Eve” diptych has been on public view for nearly 50 years.
- The Auschwitz Memorial holds a limited set of watercolors documenting Mengele’s experiments; they are among the few surviving visual records of those crimes.
Official Statements & Responses
- Rabbi Noah Farkas, president and CEO of the Los Angeles Jewish Federation, said the federation intends to use most of any net proceeds from recovered art to support impoverished Holocaust survivors in the region.
- Marei von Saher, heir of Jacques Goudstikker, expressed gratitude to the federation for pursuing the case, describing it as a “meaningful step toward justice.”
- The Norton Simon Museum cited a 2018 federal court decision affirming its title to the Cranach paintings and a 2019 Supreme Court denial of review, emphasizing that the works will remain accessible to the public.
- Pawel Sawicki, spokesperson for the Auschwitz Memorial, argued that the watercolors are unique documentary evidence of Mengele’s crimes and should stay in the museum to avoid “irreparable harm” to the memory of victims.
Criticism & Opposition
Museum representatives contend that legal title has already been confirmed and that removing the works would diminish public access and historical education. The Auschwitz spokesperson similarly warned that loss of the watercolors would “blemish” the memorial’s record of the Holocaust.
Verbatim Quotes
- “By pursuing the recovery of the Cranachs, we are seeking to reverse a great injustice perpetrated by the Nazi theft of a Jewish family’s property, and securing the resources that will enable us to provide for the many needs of thousands of impoverished Holocaust survivors in the greater Los Angeles area so they can live in dignity for the remainder of their lives,” — Rabbi Noah Farkas, president and CEO of the Los Angeles federation
What's Next
The California case involving the Norton Simon Museum is slated for a hearing in federal court next month. The federal amendment to the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery Act, signed earlier this year, allows heirs to pursue claims indefinitely, suggesting additional lawsuits may follow.
