A painting looted by the Nazis was found in the family home of a Dutch SS – National commander
A painting stolen from a Jewish art collector by the Nazis during World War II has been found at the home of relatives of Dutch SS collaborator Hendrik Seyffardt and is now in the hands of a Dutch journalist, art investigator Arthur Brand told Global News.
A well-known painting with a title A picture of a little girl by Dutch artist Toon Kelder was part of Goudstikker’s looted collection and is believed to have lived for many years in Seyffardt’s family home, according to Brand, who described the discovery as “the strangest case of my career,” The Guardian reported.
Seyffardt collaborated with the Nazis when Hitler invaded the Netherlands and led a Waffen-SS volunteer unit on the Eastern Front before being killed in 1943.
Seyffardt was given a Nazi funeral in The Hague and received a wreath sent by Hitler.
Jacques Goudstikker, a famous Dutch-Jewish art collector and owner of the painting, died while trying to escape the attack, leaving behind more than 1,000 works.
In 2006, his family recovered 200 items looted by the Nazis from the control of the Dutch government, according to the Contemporary Jewish Museum.
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The case is similar to a discovery last year when a painting looted by the Nazis – also part of the Goudstikker collection – was found at home in Argentina, where thousands of notorious Nazis and war criminals fled after the war.
At the time of the recent Dutch discovery, Brand told Dutch and British media that he was contacted by a man who claimed to be a descendant of Seyffardt and said that the painting was hanging in the hallways of the SS member’s grandson’s house.
According to The Guardian, Seyffardt’s grandson said the painting was “looted Jewish art, stolen from Goudstikker. Not for sale. Don’t tell anyone.”
A family member then hired Brand, a well-known art investigator, who told the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf that they felt ashamed and believed the artwork should be returned to its owners.
According to this newspaper, the Seyffardt family was debating whether to return the item as they said they did not know it had been stolen.
“I got it from my mother. Now that you are facing me like this, I understand that Goudstikker’s heirs want this painting back. I didn’t know that,” the relative reportedly told the store.
Brand’s investigation confirmed the painting’s authenticity and traced the item’s sale at auction in 1940, where he discovered that Seyffardt had bought the piece from high-ranking Nazi official Hermann Göring, who claimed to have acquired the entire collection during the first heist, according to a Dutch news agency.
“The family member sees a public display as the only way to return the painting to the Goudstikker heirs, where it belongs,” Brand told the outlet.
He confirmed to Global on Tuesday that the painting was given to a Dutch journalist and will be returned to its owners.
Last week, another work of art looted by the Nazis went on display for the first time at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris as part of France’s reckoning with looting during the Nazi era. The gallery is the first in the museum’s history to be dedicated to the artworks of Nazi-era orphans.
The painting by Belgian artist Alfred Stevens was originally intended for Hitler’s proposed museum in Linz, Austria. But in 1943, it was reassigned to Hitler’s mountain home in the Bavarian region of Germany. The museum was not built following the defeat of Germany.
No heir has ever come forward to claim the painting, and no one knows who owned it before 1942.
– Via files from the Associated Press
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