Few, who see Picasso's “actor” at the New York Museum Museum, knows its complex history. German Jewish businessman Paul Lefman sold it in 1938. “In order to avoid Nazi, he needed money.”

“Went out.” I asked.

“They have left. And they survived. But not all the family did. “

Zuckerman represents Leifman's heirs, who have fought for painting worth $ 100 million, claiming that it was sold under pressure that they had never sold it, “he said.

However, two American courtes did not agree.

But for other cases, the channel can turn around. The Amsterdam Museum has returned “Odalis” by Henri Matisi, the heirs of Albert and Marie Sterly, saying that it was sold under pressure. Stern have tried to escape, but most of the family died in concentration camps.

And in the shift of historical policy, the French parliament recently approved a law that quickly followed the return of art to families who claim that it was rightly.

The French Ministry of Culture is headed by David Zarmi, the mission of the research and return of the Nazi age. He says that the motivation for such a job is to “recognize what happened and help families to get their jobs.

“We need to know the story, because they must be in the hands of the legal Lord, because they are the last Witnesses for what happened during the war,” said Zive. “These works are like the witnesses of persecution.”

The University of Denver's Professor, Elizabeth Campbell, said. “I think that finally the political will has recognized that this is part of the late justice.”

He wrote about the complicity of French and other European governments to keep what the Nazis stole in his book. “The museum deserves. The robbery of Nazi art in post-war Western Europe. “ Campbell says even more changes can be made by new guidelines agreed by France and other countries, including the United States. “These new guidelines notes that any persecuted person selling the work of art in the Nazi age should take over it as a result,” he said. “So now, it gives you a recognition of coercion blanket in any sales. It's really a dramatic change. “

When the Germans retreated, the allied artists found the stolen paintings everywhere, from caves to castles. More than 60,000 pieces of art have been returned to France. But some 2000 pieces ended in Limbo, which was conducted by the French government without a clear legal owner.

Ines Rotermund-Reynard is a researcher at the newly hired price of “Muse D” Odzay in Paris. His job is to find the truth about a nazi piece of the Nazi past. “It is really a huge desire by France to clarify the situation,” he said. “Somehow you say you're taking a detective and you say:” Look at all the cold things that happened 80 years ago and solve it. ” Every story is important. And it's worth it for every family to make these efforts. “

But the work of Armand Dorvil has closed the French government against his heirs, among them the one who said: “It's a way to find out those pictures.”

Another heir, Rafael Falk, said. “I feel anger when we have a lot of trouble.”

When Dorville died in 1941, his art collection was sold at auction. But due to anti-Jewish laws, the French authorities confiscated the revenues, and family members were later killed in Auschenus later.

Eighty years later, the North Carolina Museum returned to the family of Dorville, and the German museum returned to Impressionist Kamill Pisarro. But the French government refuses to give back more than half a dozen pictures in public museums, saying that the auction was no done under pressure.

Falk said:

The family hired Parisian Lawyer Korne Herchkovich, who spent 30 years restoring art for Jewish families. “All these people who were responsible for the cultural heritage were more concerned about keeping or maintaining all these pictures and works of art,” he said.

I asked. “Do you think that some of these museums are still ashamed of how they got these pictures?”

“I think so, I think. They are ashamed, it is certain, “said Herkkovic.

Dorville heirs believe that they are fighting for their history.

I asked.

“Sewered, never has been deleted,” Falk replied. “Our family members died because of it. It's a way to repair the damage done in my mind. “

Kan said: “It's a family memory. Because it was completely forgotten. And this story wakes up on our shoulders. “

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A story produced by Mikaela Bufano. Editor. Brian Robbins.

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