Britain to call for stronger efforts for Nazi-looted art to be returned to original owners
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E-mail Xinhua, July 22, 2017
The British government is to call for stronger efforts for Nazi-looted art to be returned to original owners, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said Friday.
The call will be made in London in September when hundreds of experts meet at the first European conference in five years dedicated to World War II looting.
The international conference will attract experts from Britain, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Austria and around the globe.
The conference, "70 Years and Counting: The final opportunity?" aims to strengthen partnerships, build greater cooperation on spoliation and examine how the process of returning stolen artworks can be accelerated.
The conference comes as the government said it wants to extend the Britain's Holocaust (Return of Cultural Objects) Act, which gives national museums powers to return works of art found to be looted during the Adolf Hitler's Third Reich.
John Glen, parliamentary under secretary of state for arts, heritage and tourism, said: "More than 70 years after the end of the Second World War, some families are still waiting for their cultural property to be returned. We want countries from across the continent to help right this historic wrong.
"I hope this conference will raise awareness of this important issue and help to reunite people with their precious heirlooms. We will do everything in our power to return Nazi-looted art to its rightful owners."
DCMS said it was estimated 20 percent of Europe's cultural treasures were stolen or plundered by Nazi Germany, most notably from Jewish families, and over 100,000 of the works are still lost, presumed to be in both private and public collections.
In Britain, 17 national institutions including the British Museum and the National Gallery, have power to return items lost during the Nazi era to their original owners or their heirs.
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