The descendants of a renowned Parisian art collector are in a dispute with a Norwegian museum over ownership of a valuable, Nazi-looted Matisse painting. Paul Rosenberg purchased “Woman in Blue in Front of Fireplace” in 1937, the same year Henri Matisse painted the work. It was confiscated by Nazi forces in 1941, just one of an estimated 160 pieces—including Picassos, Renoirs and Cezannes—that SS guards were sent to seize from Rosenberg. Rosenberg fled to the US to escape deportation to …More

The American Jewish Committee (AJC) Berlin Office recently expressed frustration that the German government rejected a draft resolution that would have backdated Holocaust pensions to 1997. In 2002, the parliament unanimously approved giving ghetto survivors their payments but 90 percent of applications received were denied by the German social security system. When the pension criterion was revised in 2009, half of the 50,000 applicants were approved but back payments were only awarded for the previous four …More

The White House has postponed an award for an Egyptian woman accused of anti-Semitic tweeting. [Times of Israel] Italian kingmaker's anti-Jewish views are currently under scrutiny. [ABC] A rabbi's warning to locust eaters--they might not be kosher. [Haaretz] Israel's "bromance" bloc hits a skid over gay marriage. [Forward] For the first time, Warsaw says it is ready to seriously discuss the issue of Holocaust restitution. [Times of Israel] More than 190 "lone soldiers" graduate the IDF's training course. …More

Three with Jewish ties vie for LA mayoral spot. [Forward] Survivor's Schindler manuscript set to be published. [Times of Israel] Brooklyn Jews mourn the death of the "miracle" hit and run baby. [Times of Israel] Hebrew University ranked among world's best on education list. [Algemeiner] Israeli windsurfer secures fourth world championship. [Haaretz] Virgin Mary painting returned to heirs of Jewish art dealer. [Bloomberg] Iranian-born Israeli pop star Rita will perform at a UN event. [Haaretz] Are …More

France will return seven Old Master paintings to the Jewish families the pieces were stolen from during Nazi rule. The move is being called “incredibly rare” by insiders, as the pieces are highly valuable, with four of them currently located at the Louvre. The pieces will go to two separate families, descendants of the owners who had the works seized from them during World War II. The paintings were intended to hang in Hitler’s never-realized Fuhrermuseum. “This is incredibly …More

Lawmakers gathered recently to hammer out new Holocaust restitution laws in Europe, during a Prague conference overseen by the World Jewish Restitution Organization. “While progress has taken place since the fall of Communism and subsequent breakup of the Soviet Union, there remains an urgent need to help the tens of thousands of elderly Holocaust victims and their heirs whose property claims remain unsatisfied,” said WJRO President Ronald S. Lauder. WJRO is a sub-group of the World Jewish Congress, …More

A breakdown of what the UN Palestine vote really means. [Tablet] Israel is set to construct 3,000 housing sites in Jerusalem and the West Bank in response to yesterday's vote. [Times of Israel] Nazi-looted Edvard Munich and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner art works will be returned to rightful heirs. [Businessweek] Czech Jewish groups are pressing for new Holocaust restitution laws. [National Law Journal] Movie monsters like the Mummy, Wolf Man, Dracula and Frankenstein share Jewish parentage. [Forward] How …More

A Holocaust group is looking in the US and Canada for the heirs to 60,000 unclaimed assets. Hashava was established by Israel in 2006, as a way to redistribute investment money given to pre-state Israel by donors who would later perish in the Holocaust. The group locates the victims’ living relatives and returns the investment money, which has often multiplied over the decades. Now, the group is looking for heirs in North America to pinpoint potential recipients who might be unaware that the money is …More

Lithuania has agreed to pay out $48 million over the course of 10 years in Holocaust restitution. The money will go to an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 Jews who suffered under the Nazi occupation in Lithuania during World War II. The news was announced by Faina Kukiansky, chairperson of the Foundation for Goodwill Compensations. “Pursuant to the law, we have to do this by the end of 2013, but I hope we will manage much faster. As soon as we have all the data, we will simply divide the sum by the number of …More

A group of Holocaust survivors known as the “Tehran children” was awarded $4.2 million, after a nine-year court battle over restitution. The Tel Aviv district court made the decision Monday, deeming the 217 claimants as entitled to $19,000 each. The ruling came after an attorney filed suit for the group, stating Israel has not fulfilled part of a compensation deal with Germany that took place six decades ago. The 217 are part of a group that fled Nazi Europe as children, traveling through Russia to …More

Germany has agreed to expand its Nazi restitution program, in a deal that will see an additional $300 million paid out to victims of the Holocaust. The move comes as officials prepare to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the original reparations agreement, which takes place this September. The deal was reached Monday in Washington between German representatives and the Claims Conference, a group that works to secure funds for Shoah survivors and their families. The $300 million will mostly go to survivors from …More

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Latvia to return looted properties to the Jewish community, during a diplomatic tour of the Baltic state, Finland and St. Petersburg. The return to Jews of World War II-era sites like synagogues and schools is a point of contention between the US and Latvia, which is recovering from a deep financial crisis and hesitant to hand over any economic generators. "The United States strongly supports restitution or compensation for those whose property was confiscated by either …More