LOOT

Swiss Take Nazi Art Dealer’s Collection

Museum could return stolen art.

A Swiss museum announced Monday it would accept a donation that descends from Hitler’s art dealer. Cornelius Gurlitt, whose father was a Nazi-era art dealer, bequeathed hundreds of pieces from his father’s collection to the Bern Art Museum. There are many concerns that the Gurlitt donation contains pieces that belong to Jewish families that were forced out of their homes or sent to concentration camps during the Holocaust. Gurlitt refused to return the stolen pieces but the museum could now facilitate their return. “I’m giving up nothing voluntarily,” he said in 2013. Museum President Christoph Schaeublin said it would not accept “work suspected of being looted.” Hundreds of pieces will remain in Germany to be overseen by authorities and returned to families, if possible. “The foundation council’s decision was anything but easy and there certainly weren’t emotions of triumph,” said Schaeublin.