THE HAGUE – The Restitutions Committee has advised the Minister for Education, Culture and Science (OCW) Jet Bussemaker to return three ceramic dishes from the National Art Collection to the daughter of the Jewish owner. The Minister has accepted this recommendation.
The recommendation concerns an application for the restitution of three ceramic dishes in the Netherlands Art Property Collection, the collection of art objects brought back from Germany after the Second World War.
The dishes proved to be part of the private collection of Jewish lawyer Gustaaf Hamburger, who went to the United States with his family in 1940, leaving his possessions behind in the Netherlands. During the occupation, the ceramic dishes were seized by the Dienststelle Mühlmann, a German looting organisation.
The Restitutions Committee finds that loss of possession was involuntary because of conditions related to the Nazi regime. Accordingly, it advises Minister Bussemaker to return the objects to Hamburger’s daughter living in Switzerland. The Minister has accepted this recommendation.
The Advisory Committee on the Assessment of Restitution Applications for Items of Cultural Value and the Second World War advises on claims to cultural items lost during the Nazi regime, so-called looted art. Since its establishment in 2002, it has issued 125 recommendations and 138 claims have been submitted to it.
Relevant recommendation: Hamburger
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