New York has secured over $183 million in compensation for Holocaust victims and their heirs.

The legal rationale is that you can get no better title than the person who transferred it to you had so if there was a theft anywhere in the chain of ownership then the title to the property rests in the last legit owner i.e. the family whose art was pilfered. You would then have to pursue your claim against the person who sold it to you I suppose for your loss. Right now, we are in that window where the last of the WWII era is dying off so a lot of that stuff is going to be showing up on the market for the first time as estates are settled up. I am not sure what I think about the "fairness" of the way it is handled or why they are so selective when it comes to the holocaust victims than it is to everybody, especially when our big museums are filled with pilfered artifacts.

 

I'm still not seeing the connection about how the taxpayers of New York have anything to do with the Holocaust.

Just more liberal logic in action

 

It's hard to think of a scheme that has a greater potential for fraud and abuse.

For example, among the few things I inherited from my grandfather is a highly detailed 16th century Venetian game board with mother of pearl inlay, hand carved ivory chessmen and backgammon pieces. Some of the multi-colored wooden pieces that comprise the designs are no bigger than a match head.
To the best of my knowledge, he bought the game board in Europe in the 1920s - 1930s but any paperwork has long been lost and my grandfather has been dead for 50 years.

My question is to what degree are legitimate antique / art owners protected against dishonest and well connected people who make false claims to their property.

As I noted in previous comments, what Norman Finkelstein calls "The Holocaust Industry" is infamous for fraud, corruption and embezzlement.

Additionally, there seems to be no end to the amount of money and artifacts demanded by the entities comprising the Holocaust Industry.

This same self serving Industry has collected hundreds of billions of dollars from numerous countries, industries, individuals and entities around the world so I don't think that it's unreasonable to ask, "how much is "enough"?

Thanks,

 

Which is also dog ****.

 

I don't know to what degree anyone can protect themselves against false claims but you could probably do it by private sale as opposed to public auction if you wanted to cash out on the item and avoid scrutiny,

 

You're right but I have no interest in selling the piece.

It was a public auction that exposed the writing relationship between young, Jewish Rosa Nienau and Hitler:






I am old enough to remember various "trophies" that US G.I.s picked up during and after WW 2 in Germany and can't help but wonder what else was "liberated" from German homes and museums using flimsy claims if any evidence.

Just as one man's "terrorist" is another man's "Freedom Fighter", the same applies to "trophies" and "plunder".


Thanks,

 

We have a few things floating around the extended family that were brought back from Germany by a now dead great uncle. Who knows how he acquired them. It is actually one of those things where it feels like as long as they weren't from Jews, nobody really cares. I don't have any of them so it really doesn't matter to me much one way or the other.

 

My grandfather was somewhat successful and loved old and elaborate antiques, diamonds, firearms, horses, sailboats etc.
At one of his waterfront hunting & fishing lodges, he owned 5 miles of waterfront on the Potomac River near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.
The walls were covered with old firearms, tapestries, sculpture and paintings but, unfortunately, he was out of the country when a mistake was made in a land transfer and a 2 story warehouse full of Medieval and Elizabethan antiques, diamonds, tapestries, oriental rugs, firearms etc was bulldozed into a pile and burned.
I was only about 8 years old and remember that my mom managed to salvage the game board and a few other pieces that I still have.

Since most of the things were bought in the 1920s throughout Europe, I don't expect agents from the Holocaust Industry to show up on my doorstep anytime soon.

Thanks,