2026-09-19 17:52:53 美东夏令时 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻 / 美联社
大屠杀受害者的犹太继承人及其代表已在加州提起两起诉讼，主张对目前仍悬挂在洛杉矶和奥斯威辛知名博物馆内的纳粹劫掠画作的所有权。
这两起诉讼是加州和美国国会近期通过相关法律后首次提起的诉讼，这些法律强化了美国境内针对二战期间被犹太家庭强行夺走的艺术品的索赔权。
周一，大洛杉矶犹太联合会及其董事会主席丹尼尔·格林奇曼在洛杉矶高等法院提起诉讼，起诉帕萨迪纳的诺顿·西蒙博物馆，要求归还《亚当与夏娃》。这两幅真人大小的木板油画大师作品由老卢卡斯·克拉纳赫于1530年创作。
这张2026年9月18日由诺顿·西蒙艺术基金会提供的未注明日期照片显示，老卢卡斯·克拉纳赫1530年创作的油画《亚当与夏娃》正在加州帕萨迪纳的诺顿·西蒙博物馆展出。热拉尔·维约米耶/诺顿·西蒙艺术基金会/美联社
同一天，已故黛娜·戈特利布娃·巴比特的女儿们在洛杉矶联邦法院提起另一起诉讼。巴比特是大屠杀幸存者、居住在加州的动画师，曾被关押在奥斯威辛。这起诉讼要求归还艺术家被迫为约瑟夫·门格勒绘制的同狱犯人水彩画。门格勒是一名纳粹医生，绰号“死亡天使”。
两家博物馆的发言人都表示，博物馆合法拥有这些作品的所有权，并打算继续向公众公开展出。诉讼未指明这些画作的货币价值。
纳粹劫掠艺术品问题是一个牵动情绪、兼具法律和伦理争议的话题，一边是遭受代际创伤的犹太家庭，另一边则是辩称旨在保存一段痛苦却重要的历史篇章的博物馆。
1933年至1945年间，纳粹政权策划了世界历史上规模最大的艺术品盗窃案，从欧洲各地的犹太家庭、收藏家和博物馆手中夺走了超过60万件艺术品。数十年后，其中许多大师作品收藏在全球各地的知名博物馆中，使得追回这些艺术品的诉求比简单的财产纠纷更为复杂。
拉比诺亚·法卡斯是洛杉矶犹太联合会的主席兼首席执行官，荷兰犹太艺术品经销商雅克·古德施蒂克的唯一继承人玛雷·冯·萨赫尔已将其权利转让给该联合会。古德施蒂克的藏品被希特勒的副手赫尔曼·戈林没收，几经易手后于20世纪60年代被出售给帕萨迪纳现代艺术博物馆，该馆后来以赞助人诺顿·西蒙的名字更名为诺顿·西蒙博物馆。
法卡斯表示，该联合会计划将追回艺术品所得净收益的大部分用于帮助洛杉矶地区约2500名亟需援助的大屠杀幸存者。
“这些极其精美的欧洲大师作品被从犹太家庭偷走，用以 enrich 纳粹党，为针对他们的战争和死亡机器提供资金，”他说。“我们很荣幸能代表社区承担起这一职责，将大部分收益用于帮助这些老年幸存者有尊严、舒适且平静地度过余生——这是他们的家人在大屠杀期间无法享受到的。”
玛雷·冯·萨赫尔在一份声明中表示，她感谢这家犹太组织接手其家族的事业。
“这一努力是朝着大屠杀幸存者和纳粹时代暴行受害者实现正义迈出的重要一步，”她说。
代表洛杉矶伍德兰山社区的加州民主党众议员杰西·加布里埃尔起草了第2867号Assembly法案，并于2024年9月由州长加文·纽森签署生效。该法案要求，加州居民或其继承人提起的、旨在追回大屠杀期间或其他迫害行为中被没收的艺术品的诉讼，必须适用加州法律。作为加州议会犹太核心小组联合主席，加布里埃尔是在一项联邦法院裁决后提出该立法的，该裁决允许马德里国有蒂森-博内米萨国家博物馆保留一幅价值数百万美元的卡米耶·毕沙罗印象派大师作品。
这幅画作于1939年被纳粹从卡西勒家族手中夺走。这起促成新法案出台的案件预计将于下个月在加州联邦法院开庭审理。
2005年5月12日，一名游客在西班牙马德里蒂森-博内米萨博物馆观赏卡米耶·毕沙罗1897年创作的印象派画作《圣奥诺雷街，午后，雨景》。美联社/玛丽安娜·埃利亚诺，资料图
加布里埃尔表示，现在是博物馆“深入反思它们是否想站在历史正确一边”的时候了。
诺顿·西蒙博物馆发表声明指出，2018年一家联邦法院一致裁定该博物馆对克拉纳赫的画作拥有合法所有权。2019年5月，美国最高法院拒绝介入此案，维持了下级法院的裁决。
该博物馆表示，这些原本属于斯特罗加诺夫家族的画作于1931年被苏联在柏林的一场非法拍卖会上出售，古德施蒂克拍下了它们。经过一段复杂的流转过程后，画作被斯特罗加诺夫家族的一名后裔出售给该博物馆。该博物馆后来对其进行了修复和保护。
“近50年来，它们一直在诺顿·西蒙博物馆展出，并将在未来多年继续向公众开放，”声明中写道。
奥斯威辛纪念馆发言人帕维尔·萨维奇表示，戈特利布娃·巴比特被迫为门格勒绘制的罗姆族受害者水彩画，是用于记录他骇人听闻的实验和种族研究的作品，“必须留在纪念馆”，以记录这名医生的罪行。他表示，这些画作不应被描述为“纳粹劫掠艺术品”，因为戈特利布娃·巴比特是作为囚犯被迫作画的，因此并不拥有这些水彩画的所有权。
尽管他理解该家族的情感，萨维奇表示，这些罗姆人和辛提族受害者的肖像门格勒的犯罪实验仅存的少数记录之一，应被视为与奥斯威辛集中营历史相关的独特文献。
“我们充分尊重在此创作部分文献的人们的权利，但我们认为，纪念馆馆藏的任何损失都将造成无法弥补的伤害，”他说。“……哪怕失去最小一部分文献资料，都是无法弥补的损失，也是对奥斯威辛受害者记忆的玷污。”
Lawsuits filed in California over Nazi-looted art displayed in museums in Los Angeles, Auschwitz
2026-09-19 17:52:53 EDT / CBS News / AP
Jewish heirs of Holocaust victims and their representatives have filed two lawsuits in California staking their claims to Nazi-looted paintings that still hang on the walls of prominent museums in Los Angeles and Auschwitz.
The two lawsuits are the first to be filed after the recent passage of laws by California and Congress, which strengthen U.S.-based claims to artworks that were forcibly taken from Jewish families during World War II.
One lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday by the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles and its board chair Daniel Gryczman against Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena for the return of “Adam and Eve.” These are two life-size oil-on-panel masterpieces created by Lucas Cranach the Elder in 1530.
This undated photo provided by the Norton Simon Art Foundation on Sept. 18, 2026, shows two oil paintings, “Adam and Eve,” painted in 1530 by Lucas Cranach the Elder, on display in the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, California. Gerard Vuilleumier/Norton Simon Art Foundation via AP
The other lawsuit was filed in federal court in L.A. the same day by the daughters of the late Dinah Gottliebova Babbitt, a Holocaust survivor and California-based animator who was held in Auschwitz. It demanded the return of watercolors of fellow prisoners that the artist was forced to paint for Josef Mengele, a Nazi physician who had earned the nickname the “Angel of Death.”
Spokespersons for both museums say the museums legally hold titles to the works and intend to continue displaying them to the public. The lawsuits don’t specify the monetary value of the paintings.
The issue of Nazi-looted art is an emotional, legally and ethically charged topic that pits Jewish families that have suffered inter-generational trauma against museums that say they are trying to preserve a painful, yet important, chapter of history.
Between 1933 and 1945, the Nazi regime orchestrated the largest art theft in world history, seizing over 600,000 works of art across Europe from Jewish families, collectors and museums. Decades later, many of these masterpieces reside in prominent museums around the world, making the push for their recovery more complex than a simple property dispute.
Rabbi Noah Farkas is president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles, the organization to which Marei von Saher, sole heir of Dutch Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker, has signed over her rights. The paintings were seized from Goudstikker’s collection by Hermann Göring, Adolf Hitler’s second-in-command, and changed hands several times before being sold in the 1960s to the Pasadena Museum of Modern Art, which was renamed the Norton Simon Museum in honor of its benefactor.
Farkas said the federation plans to use most of the net proceeds from the recovered art to provide much-needed help to the about 2,500 Holocaust survivors living in the L.A. area.
“These are incredibly beautiful European masterpieces stolen from a Jewish family to enrich the Nazi party and fund the war and death machine against the people,” he said. “It’s our honor to take on this role on behalf of the community and use most of the proceeds to help these elderly survivors live out the last years of their lives in dignity, comfort and peace – something their family members were denied during the Holocaust.”
Marei von Saher, in a statement, said she is grateful to the Jewish organization for taking up her family’s cause.
“This effort represents a meaningful step toward justice for Holocaust survivors and victims of Nazi era atrocities,” she said.
Democratic California Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel, who represents the Woodland Hills neighborhood of L.A., wrote Assembly Bill 2867, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September 2024, which requires that the state law must apply in lawsuits brought by California residents or their heirs to recover art seized during the Holocaust or during other acts of persecution. Gabriel, who co-chairs the California Legislative Jewish Caucus, introduced the legislation in response to a federal court ruling, which allowed the state-owned Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum in Madrid to keep a multimillion-dollar Camille Pissarro impressionist masterpiece.
That painting had been taken by the Nazis from the Cassirer family in 1939. This case, which prompted this new law, is expected to be heard in federal court in California next month.
FILE – A visitor views the Impressionist painting, “Rue St.-Honore, Apres-Midi, Effet de Pluie,” painted in 1897 by Camille Pissarro, on display in the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid, Spain, on May 12, 2005. AP Photo/Mariana Eliano, File
Gabriel said it’s time for museums to “do some deep introspection on whether they want to be on the right side of history.”
Norton Simon Museum released a statement pointing out that a federal court in 2018 unanimously determined that the museum had proper title to the Cranach paintings. In May 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to get involved in the case, leaving in place lower court rulings.
They said the Cranach paintings, which originally belonged to the Stroganoff family, were put up for sale in 1931 by the Soviet Union in an illicit auction in Berlin where they were purchased by Goudstikker. After a complicated journey, the paintings were sold to the museum by a Stroganoff family descendant. The museum later restored and preserved the pieces.
“For nearly 50 years, they have been on view at the Norton Simon Museum and will continue to be accessible to the public for years to come,” the statement said.
Pawel Sawicki, a spokesperson for the Auschwitz Memorial, said the watercolors of Roma victims that Gottliebova Babbitt was forced to paint by Mengele to document his horrendous experiments and racial research, “must remain in the Memorial” to document the man’s crimes. He said these paintings must not be mischaracterized as “Nazi-looted art” because Gottliebova Babbitt painted them against her will as a prisoner and therefore didn’t have ownership of the watercolors.
While he understands the family’s sentiments, Sawicki said the portraits of Roma and Sinti victims are among the few remaining documents of Mengele’s criminal experiments and should be treated as unique documents related to the history of the Auschwitz concentration camp.
“While fully respecting the rights of people who created some of the documents here, we are of the opinion that any loss in the collections of the Memorial will constitute irreparable harm,” he said. “… The loss of even the smallest part of the documentation is an irreparable loss and blemish on the memory of the victims of Auschwitz.”
