In what may be seen as a friendly gesture, Croatia recently returned artworks looted during the Holocaust to their Jewish heir. The New York Times (NYT) reported on September 22, 2023 that three museums in the Croatian capital of Zagreb returned those artworks to the grandson of a Jewish businessman who was the actual owner of them. It may be noted that the museums decided to return the artworks to Andy Reichsman, the heir, after a local court resolved a seven-decade-old dispute about the ownership of the artworks. This is the first reported Holocaust-era art restitution in the Balkan nation.
Andy Reichsman confirmed that he received two paintings - André Derain's 'Still Life With a Bottle' and Maurice de Vlaminck's 'Landscape by the Water' - from the National Museum of Modern Art, and lithographs by Pablo Picasso, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Cézanne and Pierre Bonnard from the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts. He told the media: "This seems almost beyond belief. I thought that our chances would be one in a million. They never had any interest in giving anything back to Jews."
The Axis Powers reportedly wiped out Croatia's Jewish community after invading the Balkan region in 1941. Later, they created the Fascist Independent State of Croatia in parts of occupied Yugoslavia. At that period of time, the Fascists evicted the Jews from their homes, prompting them to leave behind all their belongings. For the past seven decades, Croatia deflected claims for artworks looted from Jews during the Holocaust. However, the Government of Prime Minister Andrej Plenković in Zagreb decided to cooperate with the World Jewish Restitution Organisation in 2022 to publish a joint report. The report chronicles the thefts and lists some of the stolen collections, many of which still lie in Croatian museums.
According to Croatian Minister of Culture and Media Nina Obuljen Korzinek, the report mentioned that the government "shares the wish to provide Holocaust survivors and their heirs with a fair measure of justice". Meanwhile, President of the Restitution Organisation Gideon Taylor has welcomed the Plenković Administration's decision to return the artworks to Andy Reichsman, stressing: "This is a positive step in dealing with outstanding Holocaust-era restitution issues in Croatia."
Dane Reichsmann, the grandfather of Andy Reichsman, was the owner of a large departmental store in Zagreb before the Second World War. He took shelter in the US after the Gestapo imprisoned Andy's father, Franz Reichsman, for two months in Vienna in 1938. However, Franz's sister, Danica Svoboda, left for London. Interestingly, Andy continued to stay in Zagreb. Unfortunately, the Gestapo deported his wife, Frieda, to Auschwitz and murdered her. The fascist Ustashe Regime also seized the art collection of his grandfather. Svoboda tried hard for 50 years to recover the looted artworks owned by her father. "She travelled to Zagreb every summer and met gallery directors, government officials and anyone she felt could help her in her attempts to retrieve the art," said Andy Reichsman.
After the demise of Svoboda more than two decades ago, Andy Reichsman continued his aunt's quest. In December 2020, the Zagreb Municipal Court ruled that the artworks had rightfully belonged to Svoboda and the government should return them to her heir Andy Reichsman. Andy Reichsman's lawyer Monja Matic, too, welcomed the government's decision, stating that she was "very glad he (Andy) had so much patience". Andy Reichsman also reclaimed a bronze plaque and a copper tray and bowl from the Zagreb Museum of Arts and Crafts. Currently, his lawyer is trying hard to recover 19 additional objects from the museum, including a porcelain and a silver samovar.
Meanwhile, the National Museum of Modern Art expressed regret on a Facebook post, mentioning that the restitution had taken three generations. At the same time, the National Museum assured people that museums throughout the Balkan country started "working intensively on researching provenance" for artworks with the help of the Ministry of Culture and Media. It admitted that there was "a well-founded suspicion that they were unjustly confiscated during the Second World War".
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