Soviet war loot returned to Netherlands

More than 100 drawings stolen by the former Soviet Union during World War II have been officially given back to the Netherlands.

The Old Master drawings had been stored in a museum basement in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, for more 50 years. They were first looted from Holland by the Nazis, who it is thought had earmarked the pictures for Adolf Hitler's private collection. But then, in 1947, they were stolen by the Red Army and taken to the USSR. . .

The 139 pictures are from the Koenigs Collection, which is considered to be one of most important collections of drawings in the world. They were traced to Kiev by the Netherlands last year. The drawings, which date mainly from the 15th and 16th centuries, were discovered still in their original black boxes with red seals at the Khanenky Museum in Kiev. The recovered pictures are all by German masters and include a group of six apostles drawn by Hans Holbein the Younger.

From the BBC. The Ukrainian authorities are to be praised for their prompt and straightforward actions -- not to be taken for granted, as the article notes: "More than 300 drawings from the same collection were traced to Moscow 10 years ago, but Russia has so far refused to hand them back."

Posted by David on April 21, 2004 9:58 AM