This book offers a clear accessible account of the American litigation over the restitution of
works of art taken from Jewish families during the Holocaust. For the past two decades the
courts of the United States have been an arena of conflict over this issue that has recently
captured widespread public attention. In a series of cases survivors and heirs have come
forward to claim artworks in public and private collections around the world asserting that
they were seized by the Nazis or were sold under duress by owners desperate to escape occupied
countries. Spanning two continents and three-quarters of a century the cases confront the
courts with complex problems of domestic and international law clashes among the laws of
different jurisdictions factual uncertainties about the movements of art during and after the
war and the persistent question whether restitution claims have been extinguished by the
passage of time.Through individual case studies the book examines the legal questions these
conflicts have raised and the answers the courts have given. From the internationally
celebrated Woman in Gold lawsuit against Austria to lesser-known claims against Germany
Hungary Spain and museums and private collections in the United States the book synthesizes
the legal and evidentiary materials and judicial rulings in each case creating a coherent
narrative of proceedings that are often labyrinthine in complexity. Written by a leading
authority on litigation and procedure the book will be of interest to readers in various
fields of the humanities and social sciences as well as law and to anyone interested in the
fate of artworks that have been called the last prisoners of the Second World War.
